Excerpt of Included!

DOWN RIVER“Damn it . . .”He tried to straighten. “Sarah thought she wanted the child. Thought it wasfate, meant to be. She took her to California to start a new life. Two years latershe came back, crippled, disillusioned. She didn’t much care for being a parent.She wanted me to take the child.”“Why do you keep saying ‘the child’ when you mean Grace?”He tilted his head. “Grace is not her real name. I gave her that name.”“Her real name ...?”“Sky.”“Jesus.”“She wanted me to take the child, but I had a new family.” He paused.“I’d already lost one wife. I didn’t want to lose another. But she was mydaughter. ...”“So you bribed Dolf to raise her. You gave him two hundred acres to helphide your secret.”“It wasn’t like that.”“Don’t—”“The land was for Grace to inherit! She deserved it. None of this was herfault. As for Dolf, he was lonely. He wanted the job.”“Bullshit.”“It’s true. His wife left him years ago. He never sees his own daughter.Grace has done great things for him.”“Even though it’s all a lie.”“He was in a dark place, son. We all were after your mother died. Thatchild was like the sun rising.”“Does Grace know?”“Not yet.”“Where’s Janice?” I asked.“She already knows, son. I told her. There’s no need to drag her into this.”“I want to see her.”“You want to hurt me. I understand.”“This is not about you. We’re done with that. This is something else entirely.”“What do you mean?”307