Chapter 1 Prologue

• Grace sucked in a deep breath after she stopped the car on the side of the road. She had stopped shy from the long driveway leading to a massive house. Grace glanced at the rear-view mirror and at her eight-year-old son. The boy’s leg bounced in anxiety as he looked out of the window, toward the house. It was a nervous trait he had picked up from Grace. He ran his hands through his unruly hair which had red highlights running through it. His eyes flickered in her direction quickly before he glanced back out of the window. Grace knew her son like the back of her hand. After all, he was not only her son but her best friend, as well.
• "Liam?” Grace called out. “Are you feeling okay?" she asked quietly.
• He jerked his head swiftly, letting her know he was okay. "I have nervous butterflies in my stomach, Maa. You know how it feels, right?" he responded, staring at her, asking for her understanding.
• Grace nodded in understanding. They had traveled halfway across the country to come to this house. That was a long way from home. The house was a few miles outside the main city of Fairview and homed a family that Liam hadn’t met in the last five years. Neither Grace nor Liam knew what to expect from this trip since Grace had been too nervous to call in advance and speak to someone.
• The trip wasn’t spur of the moment, but it sure as hell felt like it. Grace had employed a private detective, who had promptly found everything there was to find about the Kains. Grace had looked over the information, and booked their tickets to Fairview, not thinking through the matter thoroughly before doing so. Now, she was filled with doubt about how good her decision had been.
• ‘Maybe it was better if we hadn’t come here,’ she thought. Liam was legally her son and there was no way to prepare for what might take place once they knocked on the door of the huge house. Was she ready to share the son she had adopted years ago? Could she give Liam up if push came to shove?
• Grace’s heart constricted in her chest, knowing that the last thought was not an option she could accept. She couldn’t survive without her son; he was her everything.
• Grace turned the engine back on and sat still near the driveway for a few minutes. She was tempted to turn the car and head back to the airport. She could simply book a return ticket home, to their cozy three-bedroom house in Crowell.
• But she knew she couldn’t do that because Liam deserved to meet his biological family and learn about his past.
• She drove up the kilometer long driveway and pulled up in front of the enormous three-story house. Taking another deep breath, Grace turned off the car and unhooked her seat belt. Liam followed her action and waited patiently for Grace to open her door. After climbing out of the driver’s seat, Grace walked over to where her son was already standing by the rear passenger door. He was all grown up and didn’t need her to open the door for him any longer.
• He reached out for his mother’s hand, not taking his eyes off the house in front of him. Grace wrapped her fingers around his small hands and started to walk forward and up the grand steps that led them to the porch. There were swings on either side of it. The house was a light grey color with darker accents.
• "Do you think you are ready?" Grace asked, looking down at Liam.
• He nodded nervously. "I think I am going to puke, though," he groaned softly.
• She snickered, glad for the distraction because she was close to puking as well. The broken tension was all it took for her to muster up the courage to press her finger to the doorbell.
• “Here we go. There is no turning back now,” she whispered.
• Liam and her lives would change after that moment, she was confident of it. She prayed it was a good change, because otherwise she wouldn’t know what to do with herself.