Page 54 of Holding On

“I thought you were on a Facebook break?” I say, coming up on Devon. She jumps and quickly turns the computer off.

“Oh my God, don’t you knock?”

“Don’t you hear me coming up the stairs?”

“I’m taking my key back,” she says.

“Please do,” I say. Of course, she doesn’t mean it. And I neither do I.

“Hey, Travis.” Luke pads down the hall and into the living area with nothing but a towel around his waist.

I nod a hello.

“Tell him what you’re doing, babe.” Leaning over her, he kisses the top of her head.

“I can guess.” Folding my arms, I make a pronouncement. “You’re cyberstalking the new recruit.” I know that her fire station just hired another woman, and this ought to be driving my sister crazy.

Luke looks up, surprised, and I think I’ve nailed it. He’s the fire investigator now for Rockland PD and the firehouse, so he isn’t in the line of fire anymore. But she is, and Devon always has a lot to prove.

But I’m wrong.

“She’s trying to find your birth parents.”

“Jesus, Luke. What are you doing?” she says.

“I’m keeping you guys from having more secrets,” he says. “It’s not healthy, and you know I’m right.” He winks at me and walks to the sink for a glass of water.

Birth parents.

Part of me is instantly angry. But mostly, I’m just confused.

“What? Why?”

“Because I think you need to be given permission or something to look for them.”

“Don’t search for them on Facebook. That’s just wrong.”

Her eyes grow wide. “I wasn’t. I know that’s wrong, Travis. I’d never do that. But there are forms you have to fill out—and we all agree that you should be able to look for them.”

Now I’m getting pissed, and it’s clear in my voice. “Who is the ‘we’?”

“You know, Chloe, Claire, Laurel, and me. And—”

“Did Geo go along with this?”

“Why are you getting mad? No, of course not. I would never bring this up to Geo.” She pauses, and I’m grateful Luke has stayed out of the conversation.

“Look. If I want to find them, I’ll find them.” I pause to show her that what I’m about to say is important. “I don’t need my sisters hovering over me, sanctioning, or giving me a roadmap to do this.”

“I’m not sanctioning you. I just thought you would think it would hurt our feelings. We want you to know it’s not going to. We would like to help you find them.”

“I don’t need help finding them,” I say. “How did this get started? Did you rope Maya into it using her legal expertise?”

She stands up and puts her arms around me, and I slip one arm around her. This all comes from love, I get it. But this is my business not hers. On some level, I think she knows this.

“I’m sorry to upset you. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I just . . . I don’t know.”

“Devon, you helped bring this family back together. You wrote letters to Chloe, and you got her back. You returned from Colorado. Two huge missing pieces in my life got restored. I’m happy. I don’t need to know my birth parents. Really, it’s fine.”

Something about what I just said makes her cock her head and look at me. I can’t meet her gaze. I wish I’d just kept my mouth shut.

I don’t need this right now.