“Ellinwood. Your grandmother’s maiden name was Ellinwood. Mabel was the daughter of a viscount, and it seems her family was quite disappointed when she chose to marry an American and move to Boston. When your mother came of age, Mabel decided she wanted her to have a traditional coming out in High British Society. An attempt, I would assume, to reconcile with her family.”
Joanna’s head was spinning. She’d known—vaguely—that her Grandmother Mabel was from England, but she’d never given it much consideration. Her mother’s side of the family had always been a bit obscure. Especially given she and her sisters had never had the opportunity to meet any of them.
“Neither of your parents wanted Anne to travel overseas,” Ruth continued. “But Mabel was adamant, and gave little choice in the matter. Jacob wrote to her nearly every day and, at first, she wrote him back, but gradually the letters slowed, and then stopped.” Once again, Ruth looked to the painting. She stared at it for several seconds. Then she sighed, straightened her spine, and met Joanna’s wide gaze. “When your mother returned, some nine months later, she was carrying a child.”
Had Joanna been drinking something, she would have spat it out, so great was her shock. She threw the blanket over her legs aside, but paused shy of leaping to her feet. “What are you saying? Mother was—Mother waspregnantwhen she returned from London? But…Father wasn’t there.”
“No,” Ruth said quietly. “He wasn’t.”
“I don’t understand. I—we—have a brother or a sister? A half-brother or sister we’ve never known about?That’sthe secret?” As a wave of relief cooled the fires of Joanna’s disbelief, she slumped in her seat. All things considered, a hidden sibling wasn’t such a terrible thing. And if the indiscretion had occurred before her parents were married, well, then, it wasn’t even really an affair. Certainly it was notpreferable. But neither was it wrong. Except…
“Why?” she asked. “Why would Father have kept this a secret? Why would he have kept our sibling from us? Were they taken back to England to be raised with the Ellinwoods?”
“Not exactly.” Ruth’s eyes glistened. “The baby, a girl, was kept here.”
“Then why have we never met her?”
“Because, my dear, that baby isyou.”
“No.” Joanna’s denial was swift and immediate. “No, that’s not right. That’s not true.” Auburn curls whipped across her face as she shook her head wildly from side to side. “I was born after Mother and Father were married.”
“Yes, you were.” Pushing out of the rocking chair, Ruth walked to Joanna and sat down beside her. She gently took her granddaughter’s trembling hand. “When your mother came home and shared that she was expecting, your father married her the very next day. It was a lovely ceremony. Sweet, and simple, and full of love. After it was over, your parents never spoke of Anne’s indiscretion ever again. You were, for all intents and purposes, their firstborn child, Joanna. And they made the decision to raise you as such.”
There was a ball of ice in the middle of the Joanna’s chest, growing larger and larger with every inhalation. Her breath hitched. Tears swarmed, stinging the corners of her eyes like the jabs of angry hornets. Her skin felt alternately hot and then freezing cold. Her teeth began to chatter. “But I wasn’t…I’m not…I’m not my father’s daughter. I’m notyourgranddaughter.”
Ruth slapped her.
The sound was like a gunshot.
Joanna’s head whipped to the side. She gave a sharp gasp and gently cupped the side of her face where the throbbing outline of Ruth’s hand was burning to the touch.
“You—youhitme,” she accused.
“And I’ll do it again,” Ruth said evenly, “if you ever dare speak such nonsense. Iamyour grandmother. Youaremy granddaughter. Maybe not by blood. But in every other way that matters, wearea family, Joanna. You, and I, and your sisters. And we will continue to be a family. This changes nothing.”
Except it did.
It changedeverything.
If there was one thing Joanna had always been certain of, if there was one thing she had always believed in, it was where she came from. Those ties, thoseroots, made her who she was. She had red hair and blue eyes because of her mother. She had an inherent stubbornness because of her father. She had an iron will because of her grandmother.
Or at least, that was what she’d always assumed.
But how could she inherit a trait from someone she was not related to?
How could she be part of a family when her very existence was a secret?
How could her father and grandmother haveliedto her all these years?
Her heart felt as if it had been cleaved in two.
One piece from before she knew the truth.
One piece from after.
And they were both bleeding.
“Who is he?” Unable to sit beside Ruth any longer, Joanna sprang to her feet. At the moment, she didn’t know what was worse. Learning she wasn’t who she thought she was…or the knowledge that the truth had been withheld from her for all these years. “My…that is to say, the man who my mother…”
