2: Fine. I promise. Later, loser.
As his little sister, it’s my duty to never grant him the satisfaction of being right. Also, I already scheduled my Uber.
It’s midnight when I climb into bed. I grab my phone to stare at that name again:Gabriella Ruiz.If I read it enough times, maybe some groundbreaking detail will appear that I missed before.
“Screw it,” I mutter as I open a new browser tab.
I type out the words I’ve never allowed myself to put into a search engine since I first heard them on aDatelinespecial back in high school.
It’s probably expensive. I probably can’t afford it. But what else are emergency credit cards for? I deserve to know where I came from.
I search:adoption detectives.
Chapter One
SO, I WAS WONDERING…
Gretchen
“You guys aren’t invitednext time,” I say.
“Wait. There’s gonna be a next time?” My brother quirks a brow.
Of course there won’t be. I’ve finished college and I don’t plan on doing it again, but the point stands. My family is officially uninvited to any future events where I’m being recognized for…anything.
“What’s a college graduation, honey, without some hollering misfits in the audience?” The wicked half smile from my mom screamsyou know you loved it.
Fine. She’s not wrong. I love my family. I may not share their genetic code, but I’ll claim them as mine any day, just as they claimed me twenty-two years ago.
“Sure, but a foghorn? Seriously?” I look to Dad—the one with the guilty face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pulls me in for a hug, planting a kiss on my temple. “Proud of you, kiddo.”
I step back as my sister-in-law, Reagan, leans in. “I tried to confiscate the foghorn, I swear.”
“She actually bought it,” my brother whispers from my other side.
Reagan slaps Drew on the chest, but he catches her hand and hauls her to his side.
Our family may be small but we’re really close. Something that I hope bodes well for me when I ask Drew for a big favor later.
Over the next hour we pose for family photos, while I’m pulled away every few minutes to say goodbye to my classmates. We pose for pictures in our caps and gowns before waving each other off into our mostly unknown futures.
When pictures are done, my family and I trek back to my campus apartment where I’vevoluntoldthem to help me finish packing. My roommate opted not to walk at her graduation ceremony, so she drove off with her car packed to the brim earlier this week. Honestly, I wish I were her right now. Gridlock traffic, moving trucks bogarting entire blocks and stairwells clogged with people on move-out day is not for the faint of heart.
“Honey!” Mom hollers from the kitchen while Reagan and I pack up my bedroom closet. “Do I need to take you to see a specialist about your ramen hoarding problem?”
“Don’t speak ill of my boyfriends, Mom!” I call back. “They may be unhealthy but at least they’re cheap and easy.”
“Gross, Gretch!” Drew yells from the living room. Reagan chuckles as she zips up the first of many suitcases.
Dad pokes his head around the doorframe, announcing he and Mom are headed out to grab dinner for us. I could remind him that he’s in New York City, the food delivery capital of the world. Anything we want could be here in twenty minutes or less. But what he’s not saying is that Mom wants to explore.
When my family has visited in the past, we’d spend hours exploring the city. Bookstores, coffee shops, Central Park, Times Square, Broadway—you name it. We did it all. Mom has always had wanderlust in her veins, while Dad is the homebody. She moved to rural Illinois to live the quiet life he craved, and he makes sure tosweep her off for an adventure as often as he can. Two years ago, he surprised her with a ten-day Alaskan Cruise. The year before that it was two weeks in the United Kingdom and Ireland. And next month they’re off for a four-week tour of Italy. Today, it’s the one hour they can spare to stroll the streets of Manhattan in search of food.
My parents offer quick goodbyes to Drew and Reagan since they’ll be heading to the airport soon, and hurried plans are made for us all to meet in Chicago next weekend for a belated graduation celebratory dinner.
After they leave, Reagan returns to my bedroom to continue her assigned task. Meanwhile, I find my brother in the living room where he’s transferring everything from my bookshelves into boxes.
