Fake tears made the woman’s eyes shine, and Jane felt nausea rise in her throat.
Jane forced her voice to stay level and cool. “Can I help you?”
Even though she knew exactly who this woman was. Even though she would never, could never forget that face.
“You do not recognize me?” The woman pressed a perfectly manicured hand to her chest, feigning hurt. “It’s me. Your mother.”
Jane felt Gabe step up closer to her, his solid presence at her back. Trinity and Maddy had gone quiet, sensing the tension in the air.
“I don’t have a mother,” Jane told the woman coolly. Then, ignoring her completely, Jane turned to Gabe, Trinity, and Maddy. “I’ll meet you here in an hour?”
Gabe’s eyes searched hers, clearly asking if she was sure she wanted them to leave. Jane gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile, though she felt anything but encouraged.
Relief flooded through her when her father appeared from his office, his tall frame looming behind her like aprotective shield.
“Pamela, what are you doing here?” Jack’s voice was hard as he stepped protectively beside Jane.
“When you didn’t call me back, I decided to take matters into my own hands,” Pamela said icily. Her gaze shifted to Jane, and her expression softened into something meant to look concerned. “Jane, baby, I know you must be mad at me. But sweety, I’m here to help you.”
“I doubt there is anything you can help me with,” Jane assured her, then turned to her father. “Dad, what is she talking about?”
“Your mother… Pamela called me a few days ago to tell me that I need to talk to you about—” Jack started, but Pamela cut him off.
“Jane, you need to come with me to a doctor to get tested,” Pamela’s voice dropped, taking on a grave tone. “I’m so sorry, but I might have passed down a genetic disease to you.”
The words hit Jane like a physical blow. She stopped mid-turn, her breath catching in her chest.
Gabe froze on the stairs where he had been about to leave with the girls. His eyes flew to Jane’s face, concern written clearly in his expression.
“You two run ahead,” she heard Gabe say to the tweens. “I’ll be right up.”
Jane turned slowly back to Pamela, disbelief washing over her. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, Jane, baby,” Pamela launched forward with her arms outstretched, but Jane recoiled instinctively.
“Do not Jane baby me,” Jane said icily, her voice shaking with fury. “You came all this way after all these years to tell me you might have handed me a death sentence because of your bad genetics? Get out.” The last two words came out as a hiss. “Get out of my inn and my life.”
“Jane, please,” Pamela looked devastated, though Jane was certain it was another act. “You must come with me. I have a doctor all lined up and ready to test you. We need to do this as soon as possible.”
“If I decide to be tested at all,” Jane told her, her voice cold and steady despite the trembling in her hands, “it will be on my terms and with a doctor I choose. Now get out.”
“Jane,” Pamela looked appalled, as if Jane were being unreasonable. “You cannot treat me like this. I am your mother.”
“Pamela, I think you should leave,” Jack said firmly, his hand coming to rest on Jane’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to my daughter about this. We’ll get back to you should we need more information.”
“Well, I never,” Pamela hissed, staring at them for what felt like forever. Her perfect facade cracked, revealing something cold and calculating underneath. Then she turned and flounced out of the inn, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
Jane was reeling, her mind spinning with the implications of what Pamela had just said. A genetic disease. Something Pamela might have passed to her. After thirty years of silence, this was why her mother had appeared in her life.
“Are you okay?” A voice beside her made Jane jump.
It was Gabe. She noticed the girls were no longer with him.
“I sent them upstairs to my mother’s suite,” Gabe explained, reading the question on her face. She remembered hearing that. “I know this is not my business,” he said, looking from Jack to Jane. “But I can tell when a person is not being honest or hiding something.” He glanced at the door Pamela had just exited through, then looked back at Jane. “That woman was not telling you everything, and I have a feeling what she isn’t telling you is what you need to find out.”
“He is right, sweetheart,” Julie said, stepping around Gabe. Jane had not even heard her grandmother approach. “Nothing is as simple as it seems with Pamela. As much as it galls me to say this, we need to find out what it is she is up to.”
Jane felt her breath coming in short gasps, panic rising in her chest. “You mean besides trying to ruin my life with the threat of a genetic disease hanging over my head?”
