“I will own my commitment issues,” she said as she got dressed for the day and headed to the kitchen. “And I’ve only had a few relationships that ever made it to the third date.”

April was busy putting the sofa bed to rights. Her thin shoulders slumped, and she had bags under her eyes. Nessa crossed the room and wrapped her cousin up in her arms. “You didn’t get much sleep, did you? Finding out that Nanny Lucy wasn’t perfect is tough on me, but I can’t imagine what this information overload about your father and biological grandpa is doing to you.”

“Thanks for that.” April bent to lay her head on Nessa’s shoulder. “And no, I didn’t sleep well at all. I still keep expecting to wake up in my car, or in my apartment when I could afford one, and find out this is all a dream. That some worthless man I’ve let con me into moving in together is going to come through the door at any time demanding I give him my last ten bucks so he can go buy cigarettes and beer.”

“Flynn and I will help you get through this, April.” Nessa gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “I smell coffee. Thanks for getting it started. Let’s put all this in a box and close the lid, toss it in the back of our minds for a little while, and make breakfast.”

April took a step back and finished folding the covers. “No problem. It’s actually the second pot. I’ve been up for a couple of hours. I read through the entire diary while I drank the first pot by myself. I got to admit, I’m a little jittery.”

“Then we better get some breakfast going to counteract all that caffeine.” Nessa crossed the living room and dining area and opened the refrigerator. “So what else did you find out in the diary? I only read a few parts of it. Did you discover anything else that would shock us as bad as what we read last night?”

Before she could answer, Flynn arrived, poured himself a cup of coffee, and sat down at the table. “Find out what?” he asked.

“April’s been up for a while, and she read all of Nanny Lucy’s diary,” Nessa answered as she broke eggs into a bowl.

“I started on the first page and read all the way to where she stopped writing.” April’s tone sounded hollow, as if she were reciting something for a school project. “The first few months of her marriage were pretty good, but then she got pregnant, and . . .” She paused. “Do I call him Grandpa even though he wasn’t mine?”

“Call him whatever you want,” Flynn said. “He’s been your grandfather for more than thirty years, so it would be weird to me and Nessa if you started calling him Everett.”