Rydin' the Storm Out (12 page)

Ryder whooped and picked Molly up and swung her around. They were both laughing as he set her down.

“We should go and talk to my mom and dad. They can give us advice and the name of a good attorney.”

He didn’t need a contract, but if Molly wanted one, he would be fine. “We’ll need a contract written up for the house purchase and we should make copies of that note that Mr. Jepson wrote—in case Jeffrey changes his mind.

“In the meantime, if he comes back here, you do not let him in this house if I’m not here with you. Hopefully, that was a one-time incident, but just in case, I don’t want you alone with that asshole.”

“Yes, sir.” Molly saluted.

But she didn’t need to be told twice. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Jeffrey Jepson, ever again if that were possible.

“Congratulations, Gunnar. Do you feel different?”

It was a stupid question, but really, what did you say to a twenty-five-year-old man who just got adopted? It wasn’t something Molly had experienced before.

“Yeah, I feel different. I feel great. I finally have a last name I can be proud of.”

Gunnar was all smiles, as was Jeremiah. Jeremiah walked over and put his arm around Gunnar’s shoulders. Molly couldn’t help but snap a few pictures. She wasn’t asked to take pictures today, but she wanted to for all of them. It was an important day for this family. She and Ryder still hadn’t told Gunnar and JT that Ryder was moving in and buying the house with her—they hadn’t told anyone. They decided to wait until after tonight. All he really needed to move was his clothes, his bike, and his truck. Some of the workout equipment was his, but he was going to leave that there for his brothers. He said he could work out there, or buy more for his and Molly’s place. That sounded great—his and Molly’s place.

“Let’s go into the living room and open your gifts.” Joci was smiling and leading the way into the living room.

It was now mid-November and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Ryder was happy, incredibly happy. Gunnar officially became his brother today. He’d felt like a brother for a long time now, but today, it was official. Soon, he was moving in with the woman he loved with his whole heart. He couldn’t wait to tell everyone. They decided to wait until after they had eaten and Gunnar opened his gifts. They didn’t want to take any focus away from him.

Ryder was beyond happy that Molly was letting him buy the house with her. He knew it was hard for her to overcome all the years she had fought to not become the woman her mom was. All that self-hate took a long time to get rid of. Ryder was determined to help her with that. She was a good woman and nothing like what she had described her mom to be. Now all he needed was for her to open up a little more about her childhood, especially her father. That seemed a little harder for her.

Gunnar opened his gifts. Molly had picked up a beautiful jewelry/wallet valet with his new name engraved on the top.

“Sweet. This is awesome. Thanks you guys…and girl.” They also bought him two dress shirts for the holidays with his initials monogrammed on the cuff, and ties to match with Sheppard monogrammed on them as well. He kissed Molly on the top of the head and hugged JT and Ryder.

His mom and dad had gifts for him and there were gifts from his aunts and uncles and grandparents. They would be getting together during the week with them, but tonight was just the immediate family.

“I have one more special gift for you, Gunnar,” Molly said holding up a small white box with a purple butterfly on the top.

Gunnar gingerly took the box from Molly and looked at it with his brows furrowed. “You’ve already given me so much. What’s this?

“This is something very special to me. When I was little, my mom found this amazing little chocolate shop, ak Kreations. It was our treat for special occasions. These were the treats that she would buy me every year for my birthday and Christmas and anytime I hit some sort of milestone in my life. Open it.”

Gunnar smirked at Molly and began opening the box. As he opened the lid the most delicious aroma wafted up to his nostrils. Chocolate. Glorious chocolate. There nestled in a gold foil tray were 12 round morsels wrapped in gold. He picked one out of the box and unwrapped the foil wrapping and smiled. As he bit down he groaned in appreciation.

“God, that’s amazing. What on earth is this? It tastes better than it smells, and it smells fabulous.”

He chewed his chocolate as Joci peeked into the box clearly loving what she was smelling.

“Truffles. My favorite chocolate truffles. Aren’t they amazing?”

Gunnar swallowed his truffle and handed the box to his mom. “You’ve got to try one. You’ll never eat anything better than that. Thanks, Molly.”

Molly smiled her most brilliant smile as the box was passed around to each person in the room.

“Jeez, these are great. Wow, Molly, you’ve been keeping secrets from us,” JT teased.

Molly nodded. “Well, I told you these were for special occasions and this is the first special occasion I’ve been invited to with you all.”

Gunnar stood up and said, “I’ll be right back.” Gunnar walked out to his truck and came back in with a box.

“Mom, since today I officially leave my old name behind, I thought tonight we could look through this box. There are some pictures in it of people I don’t know and thought you could help me with them.”

“Where did you get them?”

“When Keith died, his wife, Dianna, found some of his things she thought I might want. Connor brought it over yesterday.”

Connor was Keith’s best friend and had professed his love to Joci, which Jeremiah hated. But, Connor had always been there for her and Gunnar, and Jeremiah understood; he hated it, but he understood.

Gunnar sat down and opened the box on the coffee table. He pulled some pictures out of the box and laid them on the table and set the box on the floor. The picture on top was a picture of Keith and Joci when they were much younger. Gunnar looked so much like Keith, it was uncanny. When Gunnar had met him at the hospital, after Joci’s accident, he looked like an old decrepit man. His hair was thin and of no color, his skin was ashy from the chemo and other drugs. He was a shell of the man he had once been.

There was a picture of Keith on his motorcycle, and a few pictures of Keith with another woman—all being thumbed through and passed around on the table.

“Hey, that’s a picture of my mom.”

Everyone looked at Molly with furrowed brows. Molly pointed to a picture of Keith with her mom—the other woman.

Joci’s eyes widened as she took a closer look at the picture. She looked up at Molly with such surprise on her face.

“Your mom is Tori?”

Everyone looked at Molly with indescribable looks on their faces. Molly swallowed hard and nodded slowly.

Joci looked back at the picture and then back up at Molly. She looked at Jeremiah and then slowly looked at Gunnar.

“Is Keith your father?”

Gunnar’s head snapped to attention. He looked at Molly as her face flamed a bright red. JT hissed out “holy fuck” and Jeremiah and Ryder were stone silent.

Ryder put his arm around Molly, hugging her tightly. “It’s okay, Molly.”

Molly’s voice was weak. “I don’t know who my biological father is. While my mom was pregnant, he left her.”

“Sounds like Keith.” Joci looked back and forth between Molly and Gunnar. How could she have not seen that before? They looked so much alike now that she saw them in this light.

“Gunnar, sit next to Molly, please?” Joci asked.

JT moved over and Gunnar sat next to her. You could have heard a pin drop.

Jeremiah was the first to find his voice. “I’ll be damned, would you look at that?”

Same hair, same eyes, same mouth, same coloring. They looked like brother and sister.

“How old are you Molly?” Joci asked.

“Twenty-four. I’ll be twenty-five in January.”

Joci started counting. Gunnar was born in May. He was two months old when Joci caught Keith and Tori together. If Molly were born in January, Tori would have already been pregnant in June. She would have been newly pregnant when she was in the delivery room with Joci, but she didn’t know it then.

“Then your mom married someone else?”

Molly swallowed the lump in her throat. “Yes. Before I was born she married my stepdad.”

Could Molly be more mortified? She doubted it. She still wasn’t up to speed with everyone else. But, what she was getting out of this conversation is that Gunnar could be her biological brother. Her mom had told her that she had cheated on her best friend with her biological father.

“One time when I had asked my mom about my biological father, she had told me that she loved him so much that she was willing to give up the friendship of her best friend for him. She knew it was wrong, but she had fallen head-over-heels for him, that he was her world. When he found out she was pregnant, he dumped her and took off. She had told me to forget about him, that he wasn’t worth my time or attention.”

Molly couldn’t believe this was happening. Her mom had never told her she had a biological brother.

“Where is your mom now, Molly?” Joci needed to know if this was what she thought it was. For certain, Gunnar and Molly needed to know if they were biological siblings. Well, half-siblings, but brother and sister just the same.

“She’s in a nursing home. She started drinking when I was about eleven. She drank…a lot. A few years ago she had a stroke and she’s never fully recovered. She remembers some days, but most days she doesn’t. I’ve tried asking her again about my biological father, but she won’t talk about him.”

“She said she’d never forgiven herself for cheating on her best friend with him. Was that you, Joci?”

“Yes. It was me. She cheated with Keith, Gunnar’s biological father.”

They continued looking at the pictures as Molly sat completely still. She was afraid to move, or breathe, or do anything. Joci and her whole family must certainly hate her now. She
was
a terrible person, born of two cheaters. What kind of person could she ever be with genes like that?

“I would like to go and see her,” Joci said, looking at Molly.

Jeremiah wrapped his arm around Joci’s shoulders and kissed the side of her head.

“Baby, is that a good idea with you being pregnant? You’ve had such a hard time of it. Please don’t put extra stress on yourself or the baby.”

Joci looked at Jeremiah and smiled at him. She kissed him on the lips and touched the side of his face.

“If Gunnar and Molly are biological siblings, they have the right to know. Since Tori married someone else before Molly was born, his name would be listed on her birth certificate. The only person that might be able to confirm who Molly’s father is, is Tori. They could have blood tests completed, but this could save them that if Tori can speak to us about it.”

Joci looked at Molly and Gunnar. “How do you two feel about it?”

Molly was quiet, waiting for Gunnar’s reaction. Gunnar looked down at Molly. “I want to know. Do you?”

Molly was stunned, tears were stinging her eyes. “Don’t you all hate me?” She looked around at everyone. Joci got up and walked around and kneeled right in front of her. She took Molly’s hands in hers and looked her right in the eye.

“Why would we hate you? You’re not responsible for the sins of your parents. Look around you at these people in this room. JT and Ryder have Jeremiah, but their biological mother is a nightmare. Sorry boys.” Joci looked at JT and Ryder. They just smiled at her and nodded.

“Gunnar’s father, who is quite possibly your father, was certainly a nightmare. My parents were great but died when I was very young. I was left to my own devices with my sister, which is what drove me to Keith in the first place. Each of us has things to overcome. Look at you. You’ve turned out fantastic in spite of your parentage. We do not hate you Molly. We all love you. My son loves you most of all.”

Molly burst into tears and hugged Joci. Her feelings were all over the board. My God, she was fortunate to find these people. Little did she know years ago when she met Joci just how deeply their lives would intersect.

Joci hugged Molly for a long while patting her and rubbing soothing circles across her back. When Molly was able to pull herself together, Joci framed Molly’s face in her hands and swiped the tears away with her thumbs. “Now. Do you think we can go and see your mom? I want to see if she can remember.”

Molly nodded. “We can try and see if she’ll remember. Most days she’s not very cooperative.”

Joci looked at Gunnar. “Are you okay with this, honey?”

Gunnar smirked. “Yeah. In one day I gained a dad, two brothers, and a sister. How many people get to say that?”