My nerves did a jig under my skin as Melanie and I sat across from Tucker at the lab. Marjorie had elected to continue shopping and not join us. She was afraid she couldn’t take hearing the results for the first time.

I wasn’t sure I could either.

“This is Dr. Melanie Carmichael,” I said to Tucker.

“Steel,” Melanie said.

“Yeah, of course. Sorry. Dr. Melanie Steel.”

“We appreciate you getting these results so quickly,” Melanie said, her voice stiff.

“Not a problem. Turned out all the samples were great. Very viable. This is a first for me. I’m normally asked to test for paternity. I’ve never been asked to test for maternity, though I’ve heard it’s becoming more common these days with surrogacy and egg donation.”

“Let’s get to it,” I said, biting my lip. “I can’t stand the suspense.”

“I’m getting there. As you know, a child inherits half of his DNA from his father, half from his mother, so his DNA should show similarities to half of his mother’s DNA. We look at twenty-five different genetic markers.”

“Tuck, I know how DNA testing works, and Melanie is a doctor, for God’s sake. Just tell us. Is WM the mother of RS or not? I can’t stand this anymore.”

Tucker nodded. “She is his mother.”

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Melanie let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t think anyone will be surprised.”

“No one but Ryan,” I said. God help him.

“As to the other samples, JS, TS, and MS are full-blooded siblings. The RS sample contains roughly half of the same genetic markers as the siblings’ samples, which means the four all share one parent—in this case, the father, since the DNA sample matching RS’s other markers is from a female.”

Thank God. I had allowed my thoughts to go a little crazy after Wendy had called the Steels “all of her boys.” It wouldn’t have surprised me if Tuck had said all three of them were Wendy’s kids. In fact, I’d actually hoped in some crazy way that would be the case. At least then, Ryan wouldn’t be alone.

He wouldn’t be alone now. His family wouldn’t desert him because he was only their half brother. I knew that. And I wouldn’t desert him, even though he might desert me.

But in his mind, he’d be alone. Oddly, though I hadn’t known him long, I knew that was how he’d see it. I couldn’t bear it.

“Thank you for doing this so quickly,” Melanie said again.

“I have a printout showing the results,” Tuck said, handing it to Melanie. “This explains everything. Roo knows how to read it, and I’m sure you do too, Doctor.”

“Yes,” Melanie said, “though I wish it said something completely different.”

“I’m sorry this isn’t the result you were hoping for,” Tuck said.

“It is what it is,” I said. “In my business, results are always a crapshoot.” But in my business, I wasn’t usually personally involved. “Thanks again, Tuck. You’re a lifesaver.”

Though he had probably just ended any life I might have had with Ryan.

Melanie and I left the lab.

“What now?” I asked.

“I take this to Jonah and Talon, and they decide.”

I turned and looked Melanie straight in the eye. “No, I’m going with you. I’m in up to my eyeballs now. I care about Ryan as much as the rest of you do. Whatever goes down is going down with me involved.”

She sighed. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

---

Sitting in Jonah’s kitchen with the two brothers, Marjorie, Melanie, and Jade wasn’t what I’d imagined for this Saturday evening. I was supposed to spend the weekend with Ryan. Of course, I’d been the one to bail. None of this was Ryan’s fault.

“I’m the oldest,” Jonah said. “I’ll handle this.”

“No, that’s not fair,” Talon said. “You and I should both tell him.”

“Look,” I said. “I’m about the farthest thing from a Steel family member sitting here, but I got the hair and I gave it to the lab. This involves me just as much as it involves any of you.”

“Are you saying you want to tell him, Ruby?” Melanie asked.

Shit, no. I didn’t want to tell him. “What I’m saying is—do we really have to tell him at all?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were crap. “I’m sorry. Of course we have to tell him. I just don’t want…”

“What?” Jonah asked.

I closed my eyes and then opened them. “I don’t want to lose him, damn it.”

“None of us want you to lose him,” Jonah said. “You’re the best thing that has happened to Ry in a long time. And we appreciate you getting the sample. Melanie told us how terrible you felt about it, how you refused at first. In fact, Melanie and Jade both thought we should have told Ryan before we even did the test.”

“I agree with them,” I said.

“Then why did you get the hair?”

I sighed. “Because I didn’t want him to get hurt. I thought maybe the test would be negative, and then he’d never have to know. If my involvement could have saved him being hurt at all, I wanted to do it.”

“What are your feelings for Ryan?” Jonah asked.

“Jonah…” Melanie began.

“It’s a fair question,” Jonah said.

“It is a fair question,” I agreed. “But I’m not going to tell you anything about my feelings before I tell Ryan. That’s what’s unfair about it.”

“She’s right,” Jade said, “and both of you guys know it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jonah said. “I’m being overprotective of Ryan, I guess.”

“Look, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Ryan. That’s why I gave Melanie the hair, if that makes any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Melanie said. “Don’t let these guys rattle you, Roo.” She smiled.

Only Tuck ever called me Roo. It sounded good coming from Melanie, as if we were old friends.

“No one’s rattling me. I just don’t want my involvement in this to be construed the wrong way. If I have a chance of Ryan forgiving me, I need to make it clear that I was trying to avoid hurting him.”

“We’ll make that clear.”

“Yes, you will. And I’ll see to it.”

“What does that mean?” Talon asked.

“It means I want to be with you when you talk to Ryan. I want to tell him I got the hair—” I stopped abruptly. I’d gotten it by accident. It was on my neck after our sweaty encounter. I didn’t really want to explain that to his brothers. “You know what? Never mind. You two talk to him.”

“We don’t have to tell him you gave us the hair, Ruby,” Jonah said. “One of us could have easily gotten it.”

I stood. “No, damn it. No more lies. Tell him where you got it, but tell him why I gave it to you. With the hopes that he could avoid being hurt. Please.”

“We will,” Talon said. “Absolutely.”

“Yes, absolutely,” Jonah echoed. His phone buzzed. “I’ll be damned. It’s Ry.”