“How can you fake something like this?” Rachel asked. “I put my information in, did the DNA test they sent me and this is the result they came up with.”
Her voice had now come to a desperate screech. He knew that desperation. He’d heard it before.
“How much will it take for you to leave quietly?” Ty asked, walking over to the desk like he was going to get a checkbook.
He wasn’t, but it was amazing how many people could come up with a number pretty quickly.
“I told you,” Rachel said. “I don’t want money. I’m just here to learn about my family.”
Another lie. He could tell by the way her voice quivered.
“What do you want to know?” Ty asked. He’d give her enough wiggle room for him to learn more about her motivations and trip her up in another lie or two.
He stole a glance at Ricky, who looked like he was barely keeping it together. How much more was this old man supposed to endure, searching for a grandchild who clearly didn’t want to be found? True, the child had had no say in the matter, but Luanne had done a good job of covering her tracks.
Rachel shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything. What other family members do I have? You’re my grandfather, but do you have brothers, sisters? What about my grandmother? Did she have any siblings? It sounds like I have a brother or sister somewhere. How close are you to finding them?”
Ricky glanced over at Ty before turning his attention to Rachel. “There aren’t any. I was an only child. My Rosie was an only child. Cinco was an only child. Luanne had him wrapped so tightly around her little finger that he would’ve never cheated on her. Never. A Ruiz might talk a good talk, flirt a little for attention, but we are one-woman men. So don’t you come in here and dishonor my boy’s memory.”
Ty knew most of this to be true. That was why he’d worked so closely with Erin Drummond in putting together a trust for the ranch. Ricky had no one to leave it to, not even a distant cousin a hundred times removed, at least not as far as they’d been able to find.
But the part about Cinco never cheating, Ty questioned. Mostly because, as he’d investigated Cinco and the life he lived before his death and during his estrangement from Ricky, he’d talked to a lot of people. By all accounts, Cinco had turned his back on the Christian upbringing he’d had at the Double R. He drank too much, partied too hard and there had been women. Lots of women.
Was it possible that Cinco had gotten one of them pregnant?
He looked again at Rachel, trying to see if she shared any of Cinco’s or Ricky’s features. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Warm brown skin. But half the planet had those features.
“Do you think it’s any easier for me, thinking that my mother had an affair with a married man?” Rachel asked, fresh tears filling her eyes.
Ricky shook his head sadly. “I know my boy.”
No, he didn’t. Ty had kept that information from the old man, not wanting him to pile more guilt upon himself for not raising him right. And now Ty deeply regretted that decision. He wouldn’t break Ricky’s heart in front of Rachel, but he knew that at some point, Ricky needed to hear the truth.
“But the DNA test,” Rachel said. “Doesn’t that mean something?” Then a weary look crossed her face as she sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. If you’re the only person left in your line and you have no leads as to who my brother or sister might be, this is it. I’m out of options. I’ll just have to hope someone from my mother’s side of the family will register in the DNA database and I can get...” She hesitated, then shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I should have known that this was all too good to be true.”
She took a step toward the door. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I just needed to find someone I’m related to.”
Then she paused, like she was trying to think through her next words. She turned to stare at Ty. “You want to know my ulterior motive? Fine. It’s completely useless now. I went online to search for relatives because I need a new kidney. I’m so far down on the list that I probably won’t get one in time. I knew Ricky was too old to give me one, but I had hoped he could connect me with other relatives who might have compassion on a single mom who’s just trying to stay alive for her daughter.”
A kidney? That was definitely one Ty hadn’t heard before. But he didn’t have the same suspicious feeling he’d had about her all along as she spoke now.
Could Rachel be telling the truth?
Rachel squared her shoulders, then looked over at Ricky. “Your money doesn’t do me any good. I’m sorry that I’m the product of your son’s infidelity, but I wasn’t the one who made him cheat. I’ll take my daughter and go back to the cabin for the night. I’d leave now, but I don’t think I’d find my way in the dark. We’ll be gone first thing tomorrow morning, and I won’t bother you again.”
Ty glanced at Ricky, and he could tell that her words had hit every sensitive spot in his heart.
Once again he wondered: What if Rachel was telling the truth?
“You need a kidney?” Ricky asked. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
Rachel shook her head slowly. “You were all so freaked out about the money. I can’t imagine how you’d feel if I had asked you for a body part. People are more likely to part with their money than their organs.”
The bitterness in Rachel’s voice shamed Ty. Crazy, considering Rachel was the one who had been
