I met him in the parking lot. “Lydia says your schedule is now appointment-free for the day. Any chance we can work at my place? We need to talk, and I don’t want that woman showing up at your office again.”

He paused before opening his car door. “May I ask what she wanted?”

“We can talk at my place.”

He got in. When my door closed, he cleared his throat and then said, “You’re obviously shaken, which means it was more than a stray relative seeking free legal advice. I’ve mentioned that I faced a false paternity suit before…”

I burst out laughing, mostly in relief. The paternity suit had been a scam that backfired spectacularly. Anyone who knew Gabriel wouldn’t have attempted it. He’d never be careless about anything that could cost him money.

He continued, “Ah, well, I can assure you, it won’t be the first time a relative—real or otherwise—popped from the woodwork hoping for a handout. I’m sure your family has their share of experience with that. And in mine, there are even more empty hands and wild stories intended to fill them. But we can work as well at your house as in the office, and Rose has been asking us to tea. Text, and tell her we’ll come at four.”

—

We drove to my house. Well, it’s not actually mine. I’m halfway through a two-month trial run. The elders offered me the Carew house for an excellent price, purportedly because it belonged to my great-great-grandmother and has stood empty for years. The truth is that they’re desperate for me to put down roots in Cainsville.

It’s a gorgeous place. A stately Queen Anne with a half tower, forming a window seat in my bedroom. In the past month, I’d been making the house mine. I’d lived in a Cainsville apartment for six months and never even added a throw pillow. Here, I had pillows, art, garden furniture…I still claimed I hadn’t made up my mind, but I was feathering this nest as fast as I could.

We walked in the front door. I kicked off my shoes. Gabriel lined his up on the mat, which he’d bought last week. He might counsel me not to make a decision too hastily, but I wasn’t the only one adding the little touches that turned this house into a home.

Gabriel headed straight to the kitchen to warm up the coffee machine. Even if we don’t have coffee right away, he’ll make that detour, as if the front door leads directly to the machine. Then he joined me in the parlor, where I’d curled up on the couch. He took the other end.

I shifted to sit sideways. “There’s no easy way to say this. The woman who came to the office claims to be your mother.”