Before Remi could reach the house, she spotted Zoe running toward her, meeting her halfway between the house and the winery. Tears were streaming down her face, her expression stricken with panic.
“Baby, what’s going on? Are you hurt?” Remi asked, grabbing her daughter and holding her.
Zoe shook her head, gasping for breath. “Mila’s gone and I don’t know where she is!” Her voice cracked. “She just found out that Aunt B slept with Dad … and … that he’s her father.” She looked up at Remi, eyes wide with confusion. “Mom … is that true?”
Remi sighed. Panic rushed through her. This was not howshe’d planned to tell her daughter the truth. This chaotic clumsiness had not been part of her plan.
“Where’s Bianca?”
Zoe shrugged. “She’s in the house.”
Remi grabbed Zoe’s hand and walked with her to the house.
Bianca sat on the sofa, hands covering her head. She looked up with red, tired eyes as Remi entered.
“What happened?” Remi asked Bianca.
“Harry’s freaking girlfriend … fiancée … whatever the hell she is, took it upon herself to tell my daughter something so personal …”
“What? What gave her the right?” Fury raced through Remi’s veins.
“So, it’s true?” Zoe asked. “Mom?”
“Zoe, sit,” Remi demanded.
“Mom, is all of this true?”
“Zoe, please sit down.”
She needed to get herself together—gain control of her own emotions, take hold of the moment and all it brought with it.
Zoe sat in the chair adjacent to Bianca.
Remi softened her voice. “It is true. Yes.”
Bianca turned to Remi. “This is my fuckup. So let me explain.”
Remi nodded.
Bianca turned to Zoe. “Yes, Zoe, it is true. Many years ago … I messed up. I made a horrible mistake. I betrayed your mother and I’ve regretted it every day since. Yes, your dad is Mila’s biological father.”
“So, she’s my sister, then.”
Bianca shook her head. “We didn’t plan for either of you to find out this way.”
Zoe stood up and paced the floor. “This is just so weird. So messed up. I don’t even know what to say or think.”
“This is certainly not your burden to carry, Zoe. It’s mine. All mine,” Bianca said.
“We have to find Mila,” Remi said softly, interrupting. She looked at Zoe. “Where do you think she went?”
Zoe looked up at her mother, eyes wet with tears. “She called a Lyft.”
Bianca pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her pajamas and went to the kitchen. “Harry has a GPS tracker on her phone. I tried calling him earlier, but he didn’t answer. Let me try calling again,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve made such a big mess of all this.”
Remi sank onto the sofa, letting her body ease into the cushions. She held out an arm to Zoe and gently said, “Come here, sweetheart.”
Zoe sat beside her mother, eyes still damp, releasing the tension of her shoulders just a little bit. Remi wrapped her arms tightly around her, holding her close.