Love Is Thick Than blood

pen against the paper, trying to appear calm despite the tension that had settled between them. Octav

ked carefully, her journa

in front of him. His normally calm demeanor seemed fractur

. "I don't know. I guess I believ

n maybe you'll understand why I do

d. "What do

y. "I wasn't entirely truthful when I said I was encouraged to donate blood at t

r pa

in mystery. My mother died when I was young, and my father never spoke about her or the life they had before I

r spine. "What does that have

le working on a genetic research project. My DNA-my blood-it carries markers that don't make sense. Mark

bother

another bloodline. A connection I didn't know existed. And I think it's tie

at she had expected to hear, but it wasn't this. "So you t

ertain that person is connected to me in ways I can't explain. T

tling about his story, but at the same time, it felt oddly familiar. She couldn

any answers

during the blood drive promised to run additional tests. T

r finger on it, but something about Octavio's sto

ly history, poring over old documents and photographs her mother had kept in a battered trunk. Her family had alw

and yellowed papers, a pattern began to emer

handwriting was unfamiliar, but the words were haunting: "You

s attention. It was written shortly before her mot

an old photograph of her mother standing beside a man she didn't recogniz

h hitched. I

had taken of Octavio at the blood drive. She held it

nd drove straight to Octavio's office. She didn't c

in so soon, but the look on her fac

ked, concern etched

he photo from her bag and handed it

g. For a moment, he said nothing. Then his expressi

ora said, her voice shaking. "Who

her, his face pale.

d to tilt arou

whisper. "This photo was taken years before I was born.

been pulled out from under her

ng in. If Octavio's father and Nora's mother had known each other, it me

trembling. "Why would they keep th

ng in her eyes. "I don't know. B

m clear. All Nora and Octavio knew for certain was that their lives were intertwined in ways they

e thought consumed them both: What if the truth w