Revealed: His Secret Child by Sandra Hyatt

that they all appreciated. She and Max had made their excuses and got ready to leave as soon as was polite.
    Soon she’d be in the sanctuary of her own home. Back in her own territory. She held tight to the prospect. After the whirlwind of the past twenty-four hours, she only had to get through one and a half more before she’d have some space to collect her thoughts.
    Laura looked about her then called, “Stephen. They’re going.” When Stephen failed to materialize, Laura touched a hand to Gillian’s arm and said, “I’ll be back in a minute, I’ll just go find him.” Carrying Ethan away as though she’d done it countless times before, she left Gillian alone.
    She breathed in the blessed silence, her first few moments alone since she’d gotten into the car with Max yesterday. Home. Soon. She had no idea how things would go from here. But the worst was over. She’d married him. Even saying the fateful words for better or for worse. So, he had what he’d wanted, his name on a marriage certificate beside hers. Ethan had parents who were married. And for what it was worth, and for however long Max’s interest lasted, she would be glad of it, would make the most of it.
    Gillian crossed to the large family photo hanging amidst a cluster of individual portraits. She’d glimpsed the photos when she first came in yesterday but had had other things on her mind than stopping to inspect them.
    The photo showed a young family beneath a spreadingautumnal oak. The shot wasn’t formally posed, far from it, almost none of the laughing and numerous family members were looking directly at the camera. Almost too numerous. She studied the picture then counted the children, trying to identify each of them.
    At the sound of footsteps on the tiled floor she glanced over her shoulder to see Max watching her, his expression remote, his arms folded across his chest. “The bags are in the car. Where’s Ethan?”
    â€œYour mom has him.” She looked back at the photo.
    Six children, not the five she knew about. Two of the boys, with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, identical except for their shirts. Two young Maxes. She was guessing around ten years old. And she was guessing one of them was the mysterious Dylan Carter had mentioned last night. A band tightened around her chest. A deep estrangement or death were the only explanations she could come up with for the fact that Max hadn’t so much as mentioned him. And of those two, given the warmth of his family, death seemed the most likely. But when? How?
    She turned back to Max, questions teeming in her mind. Now both his and his mother’s reactions on learning Ethan’s birthday made sense. But she read in his narrowed eyes and the arms folded across his chest, a warning to ask none of them. “I’ll go find the others,” was all he said as he left.
    He’d had a twin.
    And he wasn’t going to say anything about it to her.
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    They pulled into her driveway, ending the silence of the trip. A silence filled with unspoken questions. She hadn’t asked about his twin and he certainly hadn’t raised the subject. Would he ever? Did she have any right to ask or to know? She couldn’t come close to imagining how catastrophic losing a twin brother must have been for him. But the questions aboutMax and his twin were in some ways just a mental diversion from the more pressing question of what now.
    Max cut the engine but left his hands resting on the steering wheel. Too silent.
    She looked at her house, her haven. Now she would get some respite from the previous day’s—and night’s—upheaval. Space. Freedom. Finally. For however long she could make it last.
    There would be time to figure out next steps, to transition into their new arrangement. His urgency had abated from the time she’d married him.
    Max helped her and Ethan inside and carried their