Cait gave a quick nod of acknowledgment. “I better go. The uncles will come up with an apple crisis and they’ll need me.” She kissed Forey’s cheek, then turned and kissed Kelly, too, like she’d done for her entire childhood.

By the time Cait got to her Jeep, she was blinking back tears. She was nearly home before she saw the box that was on the floor, tucked half under the passenger seat. Instinct told her that Kelly had put it there, and instinct said that Kelly had arranged the whole meeting. “Bet she volunteered to cook with Forey just to get me there,” she said aloud. The thought of that sacrifice made her smile. Kelly and Adam and all the Hatten family had been a big part of her life. Her dad had dragged himself to their frequent parties and there were times when he and Adam almost seemed like friends.

At the breakup with Jared, Cait had lost much more than just a boyfriend.

She didn’t think about where she was going but she went down the weed-infested drive to the Fredericks house. She needed somewhere quiet and private where she could look at what Kelly had left for her.

With the box in her hands, she sat down on the old mattress under the windows. As she knew it would be, the box was full of information about Robbie Hatten.

Cait took a breath. Her father. Biological. His blood was hers.

Her first shock was how young he was. Dads had lines at their eyes, and skin tanned by years of sun. But Robbie Hatten was a teenage boy and as pretty as a model.

It took hours, but she read it all, studied every photo. It was hard to judge herself, but she thought she had his eyes. They were certainly the same color.

She put the box to the side, leaned back and thought about it all. What if her mother had revealed the truth when Cait was born? Caitlyn would have been raised in the Hatten family. She would have been the daughter Kelly often said she’d always wanted. Raised in that big house. Adam would have acted as her father. Her life would have been full of sports and animals. Adam’s coaching job had brought hundreds of big, good-looking athletes through their home. One of them might have been Cait’s first boyfriend. Kelly’s passion for animals would have introduced winged, clawed, hoofed creatures into Cait’s life. Adam said he’d once woken up in bed with a monkey.

Miguel had been there that day and he’d said, “How dare you say that about Kelly!” Everyone had laughed, even Adam.

Most important, she would have always known that Jared was her cousin. She did not want to think about how her life would be different if she’d known that.