Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [138]
"I just want to know one thing, Kate. Why, after screwing up your own family, did you go looking to screw up someone else's family?"
Who are you talking about? Jeremy's family, the Ambersons?"
"No."
"Then who?" Kate asked in confusion. "I don't understand."
"I want to know why you went looking for the child you gave up eight years ago."
Kate's breath fled from her chest as the last secret came to the surface. "You know about the baby? My father told you that, too?"
"He didn't have to. That baby is my niece. Her name is Amelia. She was adopted by my brother, Mark, in Hawaii eight years ago. She has a locket with Nora McKenna's name on it."
Kate put a hand to her heart. She'd never expected this. "Amelia? Her name is Amelia?"
"That's right. And she's happy, healthy, and she loves her father."
"What about her ... her adoptive mother?"
"You mean her real mother? The one who took care of her, stayed up with her at night, that woman?" His voice was unforgiving. "What does it matter, Kate?, You gave your baby up. You can't have her back." He shook his head. "I still can't believe you did it. But Jeremy was dead, so it all makes sense now. He came onboard to be with you when you had the baby. After he died, you couldn't bear the thought of keeping his child. So you gave it away. You pretended it had never happened, just like everything else you denied."
"You must think I'm a terrible person," Kate murmured, seeing the hardness in his eyes.
"I think you've had second thoughts and decided to hire a shark attorney to get your daughter back, but you can't have her. I have enough on all of you to thwart any efforts to take back Amelia. So don't even try."
"You have enough ..." Her voice trailed away as her brain finally caught up. "You came here to find your niece's mother, not to do a story about us winning the Winston, didn't you?"
"That's right, Kate. I couldn't care less about the damn race. I only care about what happens to Amelia. I won't let you take her away without a fight."
Kate snapped her fingers. "That's why you took that medical bill from Ashley's apartment. And you mentioned that you thought Caroline had a drinking problem. You were collecting evidence. What about me? What did you find out about me when you made love to me last night?" A terrible pain stabbed at her heart as she realized the depth of his deceit.
For the first time, Tyler looked guilty. "Last night wasn't about Amelia. It was about us, but we both knew there were secrets between us."
"Yes, we both knew," she said wearily. Her heart was as heavy as a stone.
His eyes softened just for a minute. "Why couldn't you tell me, Kate?"
"I didn't even know that was your question. I thought you were probing into what happened during the race. I had to protect my family."
"And I have to protect mine. I'm sorry if it hurts, but you made the decision to give your baby up. Now let her be."
"It wasn't Kate's decision, it was mine."
Kate drew in a shaky breath as Tyler turned to the woman standing in the doorway.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"Kate isn't the mother. I am."
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tyler was stunned to hear the words coming from Caroline's mouth. Caroline? No. That wasn't right. Kate was the mother. It had to be Kate. Kate and Jeremy. Was this just another ploy to confuse him? The McKenna sisters sticking together, no matter what?
"That's right, Tyler," Caroline repeated with a forcefulness he couldn't ignore. "I'm the one who got pregnant and gave up a child." Caroline walked into the room, her head up, her step purposeful.
"You? But I don't understand," Tyler said. "You were only --"
"Sixteen years old." Caroline held up a hand as Kate started to interrupt. "It's okay, Kate. I want to tell him, to be done with the secrets. It's true. I had a baby, and I gave her away."
"Willingly?" Tyler asked.