The Good Race

Chapter Two

"I'm sorry," Jackie said from the doorway. "What did you say?"

Toby's eyes widened when he saw Jackie had returned. He hadn't intended to drop that particular bomb on her just yet and certainly not in that manner.

"I thought you were going to sleep," Toby said.

"I came back for some Tylenol," Jackie replied. "I have a headache."

Ryan jumped up and began rummaging through cabinets in the kitchen before he found the medicine stash and then shoved the bottle at Jackie, who seemed a little stunned but opened the bottle, shook a few pills out and washed them down with the glass of water Ryan handed her.

"I don't think I'm following." Jackie shook her head in confusion. "My brain is pretty fuzzy. Ryan and I are related?"

"Yes," Toby confirmed.

"Am I related to you?" she asked Toby.

"No."

"How exactly are we related?" Ryan demanded.

"You're brother and sister," Toby said.

Ryan's eyes grew wide. He sat down at the table because his knees gave out and took several long swallows from his beer. If Jackie thought it was strange that Ryan was seventeen and drinking alcohol, she didn't say anything.

"How is that possible?" Ryan asked. Jackie seemed no longer able to speak. In one day, she lost her father and gained a brother.

"You share a mother," Toby sat down at the table and motioned for Jackie to join them, but her legs wouldn't move. "That's what happened between me and Jimmy. Daisy Dolan and I were engaged. She got pregnant with Ry. But after she had the baby, she broke it off and left me. She walked away from me and Ryan. Shortly after that, she took up with Jimmy. They spent exactly one night together after getting drunk at a bar after a race. She got pregnant again with you, Jackie. She pulled the same stunt. Left you and Jimmy behind. Neither one of us have heard from her in all this time. I'm not even sure she's still alive.

"At first, I was too blinded with anger to hear anything Jimmy had to say. After a few years, there were too many hard feelings over the things each of us had said to and about the other. Finally, nothing but stupid pride kept us from clearing the air. Jimmy and I spoke one time since you were born, Jackie. We made an agreement and handed over the whole thing to our lawyers who drew up the necessary paperwork. If something happened to one of us, the other would make sure you two kids were together. Then, and only then, would we tell you the truth. Unless, of course, you tried to date. Not too long ago, Jimmy updated his paperwork and sent me copies. He wanted Jackie to stay with Ryan and go to Trent Academy with him. That's not something we have to think about right this minute.

"For now, Jackie, just know that you have family, and we're going to take care of you. We'll be with you from here on out. There is nothing you will have to worry about or want for. I'll handle all your father's affairs. I owe him that much."

Ryan dropped his face into his hands. He couldn't speak. He couldn't think. A sister? Jackie Reilly was his sister? He felt a soft hand on his chin and lifted his head. Jackie now sat there and was studying him.

"It's true," she said. "We have similar features. I always wondered why you never asked me out on a date. Oh, every other thing in a skirt, but never me. I thought I must look funny or something, maybe I was boring."

Ryan took her hand and smiled. "No, you're neither. I used to try to make myself interested. I thought it would be so convenient if we got together in the summers, but it never worked."

"It's nice to know there's nothing wrong with me."

"Or me!" Ryan said. When Jackie stayed silent, his jaw dropped. "Oh, there is nothing at all wrong with me, honey."

"I didn't say there was!" she finally laughed. "I just could never see us together that way either."

"All right, that's enough of this talk," Toby interjected. "You're giving me the creeps. Jackie, why don't you go get some rest? We have a lot of ground to cover, but we'll leave that for tomorrow."

Jackie sighed, but took Toby's advice. This time she closed her door. After a few minutes, her crying could be heard. Ryan and Toby just left her to grieve.