Free Secrets of the Fall by Kailin Gow

tore the letter apart!  That was Aunt Sookie’s handwriting.  What was a
letter from Aunt Sookie doing there in the box?
    Then
it dawned on me…the reason why Nat would have that harmonica.
    It
couldn’t be.  No, it just couldn’t be.  I shook my head, hoping it couldn’t be
true…
    One
look at Drew’s anguished grim face told me it was.
    Nat
was Aunt Sookie’s son.
     

 
    Chapter 7
     
    Summer
     
    I tore out of Nat’s room as quick as I could,
with Drew running behind me.
    “Wait
Summer, hold on,” Drew yelled after me. I didn’t want to hear anything more. I
was in shock. Why didn’t Aunt Sookie ever told me she had a son?  Why didn’t
Nat ever told me he was Aunt Sookie’s real son.  Suddenly everything made
sense.  The way Nat had almost the same coloring as Aunt Sookie.  The way he
acted differently than everyone in his family.  The leadership trait and personality…very
much like Aunt Sookie’s.
    Clues
from the past suddenly made sense.
    How
Nadine Donovan, Drew and Nat’s mother mentioned to me last time I visited her
here at the mansion, that Aunt Sookie married the wrong man instead of the
other one who was her perfect match. Aunt Sookie bore a baby once by that man,
and her best friend Nadine, who was already married and stable, probably
without the struggles a struggling actress like Aunt Sookie, had raising a baby
on her own. 
    So
Nadine adopted the baby as her own, while always sending the baby boy over to
Aunt Sookie’s for the summer to raise and spend time with his real mother. It
was so shocking…I wanted to double check if that could be true.  I needed to
talk to my mother who was Aunt Sookie’s older sister. I needed to confront her
on this.
    At
the same time, I thought of what would happen between Nat and I. My heart sank.
I didn’t feel any perversion either. Only love. I still loved Nat, but now, if
he was Aunt Sookie’s son, then he and I would be blood-related. We would be too
closely-related to even have children. A relationship between us would be
taboo, forbidden.
    Drew’s
arms caught me by the waist and he held me tight. “I’m so sorry Summer.  I
didn’t want to be the one to show you. But I had to let you know. I was shocked
to find out, too. I mean, he’s my brother still, but now I know we’re not
blood-related. That’s why we’re so different. But he’s still a Donovan by
adoption. I…”
    “When
did you know,” I finally asked, wanting to understand. Did Nat know all along
but didn’t tell me, didn’t let me know that we shouldn’t, couldn’t, be
together?
    Drew
took a deep breath and said, “Nat didn’t know until he was getting ready to go
on the secret mission. Mom and Dad never told him he was adopted. Looked like
they were going to take that to the grave if Nat didn’t find this harmonica and
the note. Even Mom was incredible in keeping the secret. Aunt Sookie’s not here
to ask and Mom denied it. Dad is gone….”
    I
had to sit down. My knees started buckling. We were headed downstairs, but I
just sat down on the stairs and put my hand to my head. This was too much to
take. It was as though fate had once again snatched Nat away, but this time, it
was because we literally could not be together biologically. I felt sick to my
stomach. Nat and I were blood relatives. And we had sex.
    “Are
you alright, Summer?” Drew asked sitting down on the stairs next to me.
    “I’m
just processing this, Drew,” I said. “I’m in shock, but I’m trying to wrap my
head around all this.”
    “Like
I said,” Drew said. “I hate to be the one to let you know, but there wasn’t
anyone else who could. Rach doesn’t even know, and Mom is in denial, especially
since she’s missing Nat and Dad right now.” Drew looked down. “You probably
think I would bring this up so I can make you forget about Nat and choose me,
but I couldn’t do that, no matter how much I want to be with you.”
    “It
doesn’t matter,” I finally said after a