There was no music, no sound except the tires on the pavement as Jamie drove south on State Line Road. His whole life had been a lie. Yeah, there was good news. Philip Parker, the father he thought had rejected him even before he was even born, wasn’t his father after all, and Ben Bellini, the man who had taught him everything he knew about how to be man, was. Still, everyone he loved had been lying to him. It didn’t matter whether they knew they were lying or not. He glanced into the rear view mirror at Jess then glanced over at Jake. Jess had said she’d figured it out last month, but Jake hadn’t known anything about it at all. Sure, some of them had known longer than others; like his Mom, Ben, and Jess. He wasn’t sure it mattered how long who had known what. Lies, it was still all lies. What was he supposed to do with this new information anyway? Was he going to have to change his last name to Bellini? Mom’s last name was Bellini now and the baby would be a Bellini from birth. Jake and Jess were only half siblings to him, but he would share both parents with the baby. He shook his head. Even if he didn’t have to change his last name, maybe he should.
Crap! He shook his head again and glanced in the back seat catching Jess looking back at him.
“You ready to talk yet, Jams?” She said as she locked eyes with him.
“As ready as I’m going to get.” He replied, his voice sounding calmer than he felt. “Tell me everything. What you know, when you knew it. How you figured it out. Don’t leave anything out.” He commanded.
Jess took a breath. “Last month Joey Bellini was acting as my protection detail and pretending to be Pauli. We were in Ben’s kitchen playing a romantic scene for the paparazzi, who were by the lake with telephoto lenses. I was sitting on the island and Joey was standing in front of me. I was staring into his eyes, thinking how familiar they were. But, before I could figure anything out, you called me and said Ben and Mom were back together and wanted everyone to come home for dinner. It was really at dinner when I figured it out.” She looked at him through the rearview. “You know, your place at the table is directly across from mine, and I looked at you. You had Joey’s eyes, then I looked at Ben and they were his eyes too. I just put it all together. I didn’t know how it could have happened; I just knew you had the same eyes as the Bellini brothers. So I stole your toothbrush and Ben’s and, after I was back in L.A., I sent them to a lab I found online. It only took about a week to get the results back, and I wanted to talk to Mom and Ben to give them a chance to explain. It just didn’t seem like a conversation that I wanted to have over the phone, so I waited. I was sure neither of them knew; you know Mom couldn’t pull off a deception like that for all of these years, and I wanted them to be able to talk through it. I wasn’t sure when or how I was going to spring it, but then I got home today and heard about what you’ve been going through this week. I decided to talk to Ben right away.”
She paused and looked at his reflection in the rear view mirror. “I talked to Ben before we went to Papa’s. He must have talked to Mom when she and I got back from shopping.” She shrugged. “That’s it, you know everything I know.”
Jake looked at his brother. “You know, Ben would have moved heaven and earth to protect you before, because he thinks of all of us as family, but now that he knows you’re his biological son, I’m sure it’s gone to a whole new level.”
Jamie blinked. He was Ben Bellini’s biological son. Dante and Teadora Bellini were his grandparents; suddenly he had a Nonno and a Nonna but no Nana Evie. He felt like his world had tipped on its axis. Hell, his world had tripped on its axis.
Jess looked at Jamie. “You know, Jams we all still love you. You gained a father, a real father. You haven’t lost anything.”
Jake chimed in. “You’ve been calling Ben, Dad for the last month. It just happens to be true, but that doesn’t make everything else false. Now, can we take a left and hit the Martin City Jack Stack? I’m starving.”
Jamie turned on his blinker and took a left on Blue Ridge Parkway. He parked the truck, but didn’t move. He turned and looked at Jess. “You know you left Gabe back there, right?”
Lane started to cry as the Kids left the house. Ben held her in his arms, stroking her hair as he told her that everything would turn out fine. Gabe watched as Ben lifted Lane into his arms as though she weighed nothing at all and carried her toward the master suite. Gabe heard the door close as he walked to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water. This would make one of the best scripts he’d ever read, not that he’d want to exploit the Bellini family, even if Jess would allow it.
A few minutes later, Lane walked into the kitchen where Gabe was sitting at the island, a bottle of water in his hand. It was nearing dinnertime and she had no idea when the kids would be back. She knew that Jake and Jess would keep Jamie safe and grounded. The kids always said that blood is thicker than water and Parker blood is thicker than molasses. She smiled. Guess it was really her blood, Valle blood, that was thicker than molasses.
“Gabe, it appears that dinner might be late. Can I get you anything, maybe a snack to tide you over?”
Lane walked toward the refrigerator. She was sure Gabe had heard the family drama that had played out earlier, and while he was a guest in her home and she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, she still wasn’t prepared to discuss any of it with him.
“Jess sent me a text a couple of minutes ago.” He looked at his phone, “It says, ‘We’re bringing back Jack Stack’.” He smiled his movie star smile. “I hope that means something to you.”
Lane smiled and gave a light laugh, “It means I hope you’re hungry and that you like barbeque. Because, if I know my kids, they’ll have enough food for a small army when they get back.”
Chapter 17
Ben entered the kitchen and bent to kiss Lane’s cheek, “Did I hear the kids are bringing Jack Stack?”
“Yes, Jess sent a text to Gabe.”
“Joey just called to say he landed at Johnson County exec. He has Evie with him. They should be here in about 15 minutes.”
He looked at Gabe. “Did Jess give you an ETA?”
The garage door opened and all three of them turned, expecting to see the Parker Kids returning with barbeque, but were greeted instead, by Pauli who held his duffle bag.
Ben looked at him and raised his chin toward the garage door. “Take it back to the car. Jess brought a guest home and Evie will be staying here, so you and Joey are either at the Parker House or staying with the folks this trip.”
Pauli nodded, dropped his bag, walked into the kitchen, and hugged Lane. “You look amazing.”
“I feel much better now that I’m through the first trimester. We saw the doctor yesterday and got our first ultrasound.” She replied.
Ben had known for months that Pauli had a thing for Lane, and he thought his baby brother held the embrace just a little too long this time. He cleared his throat. “Pauli, this is Gabe Greer. Gabe, this is my youngest brother, Pauli.”
Gabe stepped forward, flashed his movie star smile, and reached out to take Pauli’s hand. “Dr. Bellini, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Gabe Greer, Grammy award winning singer, star of both the big and small screens had just told Pauli that it was a pleasure to meet him, and it left Pauli speechless. It took a few beats for Pauli to realize that Gabe Greer must be the friend Jess had brought home. Oh, this is not good. He thought.
“Nice meeting you.” Pauli replied.
Lane smiled, thinking that would make nine for dinner. The kitchen table would only seat six comfortably.
“The kids are out picking up Jack Stack. I’ll set the dining room table.” She announced to anyone who was listening.