Page 56 of Drive
It was incrediblysweet.
When she had finished, she fell silent, waiting for Larry to come back with questions, but he saidnothing.
“Larry?” she asked, guessing she’d losthim.
She heard the working of his mouth, as though he’d opened it to speak. “I-I’mhere…”
Rainey frowned. Jacques squeezed her foot. “You okay,Larry?”
He was silent for a moment. “There’s nothin’ else? Nothin’ else they can do for her?” His voice came out so frail, so lost, Rainey felt a sting in her heart. She allowed herself a healthy gulp of wine beforeanswering.
“I’m afraid not. Not unless a donor turns up on theregistry.”
Again,silence.
Andthen…
“Rainey…” His voice was low now, almost a whisper. “What if… what if there was anotherdonor?”
“Well, if some good Samaritan decides to be tested with the nationalreg—”
“No, I don’t mean a stranger,” Larry said, his voice still low, but now hesitant. “I mean… someonerelated.”
Rainey sighed. “Larry, Holi doesn’t have a big family. We’ve testedeveryone.”
This time, she heard Larry’s sigh over the line. “No, youhaven’t.”
“Yeah, we have. Everyone who’s closeenough—”
“Rainbow, baby, you haven’t,” Larry said, sounding defeated. Then he grumbled, “Dylan’s going to have my ass forthis.”
“What?” Rainey sat bolt upright. Her spine tickled with a cold sweat, and a hard knot the size of a grapefruit sprouted in her stomach. “What are you saying,Larry?”
At the change in her tone, Jacques’s eyes searchedhers.
Larry made a sound in his throat like the grinding of gears. “There’s… um… aboy.”
“A what?”Her lungs held no air, so the words came out as dry ascornhusk.
“Your, uh, your daddy… has a son.” Larry stopped to clear his throat. “He’s probably nine or ten now. Last I heard, he lives in Kentucky with hismomma.”
The phone trembled in her grasp, and it felt too heavy to hold. Sitting up straight felt too taxing. Her lips wentnumb.
“Jesus, Rainey, you’re white as a sheet.” Jacques took the sloshing wine glass from her hand, set it on the table before them, and gripped her by the arm. Rainey couldn’t be sure, but he might have been the only force that kept her from spilling off the settee and onto thefloor.
“You okay, Rainbow?” Larry asked. “I guess I gave you a shock. Sorry,darlin’.”
She made herself speak though her voice shook along with the rest of her. “N-nine or ten? Larry… How long has Dadknown?”
Again, the gear-grinding sound prefaced his words. “Rainey, you know yourdaddy.”
His words were like a blow to the gut. Because they were true. She did know her daddy, which meant this nine or ten-year-old brother in Kentucky wasn’t just someone who turned up in the last week or so. Dylan Reeves had known of him for a good, longwhile.
“All along?” she asked, her tone accusing. “Since he was born?” A child nine or ten years old would have been conceived ten or eleven years ago. Years before her parents divorced. Years before they’d lost John Lee. And even after losing John Lee, their father hadn’t thought it significant to let Rainey and Holi know they had anotherbrother.
“Notallalong. Dylan and Gloria weren’t together but three weeks when he was recordingTennessee Moonup in Louisville. But she tracked him down a few months into her pregnancy. Thought they might try to give it a go…” Larry’s voice trailed off for a long while. “‘Course, your dad was still married to Melinda, but he took care of Gloria and the baby. Paid all their bills, found them a place to live, looked in on her when hecould.”
“What a prince,” Rainey muttereddryly.
