“No,” said Landon. “I don’t think anyone ever cared enough to make that happen.”
I huffed, making my light-brown bangs flutter. “And why not? Why the hell did the Sperm Donor” — Ez snickered again — “buy that house and just leave it neglected for — how long did he own it, anyway?”
“I think he had it for about twenty years,” Mom said. “That’s what the property records say. And I don’t know why he neglected it.”
“He invested in a lot of properties, not all of them well-maintained,” Landon said. “When my dad wanted to develop any choice piece of land on the west side of town, half the time he had to go through Max Kantera.”
I rolled my eyes. “And why didn’t he leave it to his real kids?”
Gary shot me a look that was a mix of encouragement and pity. “You’re real.”
“Are we sure?” Landon pinched my arm.
I jumped. “Hey!”
“See?” he said as the others laughed. “Definitely real.”
This was why he was annoying. Though those crinkles around his eyes when he laughed were kind of cute.
“Well,” Jay said. “Maybe I shouldn’t say—”
“What?” I asked.
“Sometimes people will leave someone something so one heir doesn’t sue the estate with a claim for more. By citing you specifically in the will, he made it clear he knew of you and thought of you and was clear about his intentions.”
“So he left me a haunted house so he wouldn’t have to leave me anything else? What afucking great guy,”I bit out.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
“I don’t know his reasons,” my mom said, her eyes a little watery now. “The property is beautiful and probably valuable, so I’d like to think he really did want you to have a legacy that meant something. Kayla, sweetie, you are as real and important to me as any person on this earth.”
Landon got up, pushed me toward the middle of the couch so I was next to my mom, and sat on the other side of me. I gave in to my mom’s hug and tried not to cry. It wasn’t her fault my father was an asshole.
When I’d recovered and the hug ended, Ez moved to the piano and started playing while we kept talking.
I still had a lot of questions. “Since I didn’t go to high school here, I don’t know the kids — my stepsiblings. I can’t believe I’m saying that. Anyone know them? Gary?”
“They were all in school behind me. Andy’s the younger one. Good guy,” Gary said. “He works at the space center now. The other two are fraternal twins, and you’ve never seen twins more different. Annabel is pretty cool. She’s still around, working for the family business. Max Junior is a tool.”
“Chip off the old block?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Gary said. “He ran with a loud, obnoxious crowd. Studied PR but was second-in-command for a while at his dad’s company.”
My undergraduate degree was in marketing, so we had that in common. “What does he do now?”
“Last I heard,” Landon said, “Max Junior had been pushed out of the developer business and was looking for a job. I had a little contact with him when my dad’s company worked with Max Senior. He was less than honest and sloppy with the details. He did everything he could to keep his sister from taking his place, but she’s been second-in-command for a while now and will probably make the company that much better now that her father’s gone.”
Her father.Myfather. My father, the Sperm Donor Developer Haunted House Proprietor.
Did I look like him? I didn’t get my mom’s red hair or freckles. My longish hair was light brown with hints of gold, and my eyes were hazel, not blue like hers. Though Gary had hazel eyes, so maybe those did run in the family. My real family, the Fetheroles.
My brain was still a jumble, but just hanging out and talking with these dear people actually had made the news a little more bearable.
“So what’s next?” I asked.
“Your father specified that he wanted the lawyers to tell me first about the house, so that I could tell you,” my mom said. “Now that you know, you can pick up the keys to the house anytime you like.”
“Yeah, but what am I going to do with a crumbling haunted house?”
