I suddenly remembered that Kate’s kids had gone out of town for spring break this week. I imagined not having them home would make life lonely for her.
“Kate, do you want to stay and watch a movie with us?” I asked, surprising myself.
For a moment, I thought she might say yes. Then, she offered an amused smile. “No, thank you, Bianca. I’m afraid I have more important things to do than watch TV, but you go ahead.”
Instead of feeling judged, I leaned back against the couch cushions. “You know what? I think I will.”
After she left, Joy joined Daniel and me on the couch, and the three of us watched the movie I Can Only Imagine. Just when Amy Grant made her appearance on screen, there was another knock on the door.
“I’ll get it.” I strode across the room, and when I opened the door, I found a clean-cut man dressed in a suit, holding a leather briefcase.
“Bianca Morgan?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Special Agent Banks.” He showed me his badge and explained he was with the FBI. “I need to speak to you and Daniel Serrano regarding Tiffany Jackson.”
I glanced at Daniel before turning my attention back to the man. “Daniel is recovering from surgery.”
“Yes, Ms. Morgan. I’m aware of that. I’ll try to make my visit as brief as possible.”
“Come in,” Daniel called from the couch, pausing the movie.
Despite my apprehension, I stepped back and allowed the agent to come inside. Daniel beckoned from the couch. “I’d stand to welcome you, but—”
“I understand.” The agent smiled like this was just a regular visit from your local FBI agent. No big deal.
“Do we need a lawyer?” I asked, remembering my father had told me to always seek counsel before talking to the police. I supposed the same advice applied to the FBI, but I didn’t know. I’d never interacted with an FBI agent before.
“You don’t need a lawyer,” the agent said. “I’m just here to ask a few questions and provide you with some information.”
What kind of information? I wondered.
“Joy,” Daniel said. “Would you mind giving us a minute? Maybe you could go check on the garden or—”
“Actually, this concerns Joy as well,” the agent said.
My stomach twisted. Had Joy done something wrong? No, the agent had said this was regarding Tiffany Jackson. He probably just wanted to follow up on my belief that Joy’s mom had worked as a nurse in South Carolina under a different name.
I’d meant to do a search for Tiffany online to compare her photo with the one in the museum, but with Claudia leaving, Daniel’s accident, Joy missing, Jillian’s party, Daniel’s talk of marriage, his surgery, and everything else that’d followed since seeing the picture, I hadn’t gotten around to it.
“Please, have a seat,” Daniel said, gesturing to the chair opposite the couch. The agent sat while Joy and I resumed our previous spots.
“I’ll get right to the point,” Special Agent Banks said. “Ms. Morgan, I understand that you recognized Tiffany Jackson from the photograph of Joy and Libby Serrano in the museum.”
I nodded. “I thought Libby and Tiffany were the same person, but I don’t know for sure. They may have just had the same scar.”
The agent pulled a photograph from his briefcase and placed it on the coffee table. “Can you identify this woman?”
I studied the photo that showed Tiffany dressed in nurse’s scrubs, carrying a large purse. The quality wasn’t the best, and I imagined the photo had been taken from a hospital security camera.
“That’s Libby,” Daniel said before I could speak.
“Are you certain?” the agent asked.
“Positive. But what’s this all about?” Daniel asked.
The agent turned his attention to me. “Ms. Morgan, were you aware that a baby was kidnapped from the hospital the day after you were discharged?”
“What?”
The agent nodded. “The FBI spoke to Wynona Morgan, your aunt, after the baby went missing. While you were out of the residence, her home was searched.”
“Why?” I said, shocked and confused. “Did you think my Aunt Wynona stole the baby?”
“All leads had to be checked, but after a thorough investigation, you, your aunt, and your mother were removed from our list of suspects.”
“Of course, we were removed from the list of suspects. I gave my baby away; I didn’t try to steal another one.”
The agent nodded and started to speak, but I interrupted him. “Why didn’t I know about this?”
“You’ll have to ask your aunt and mother. Perhaps they didn’t want to cause you unnecessary worry.”
I sat back, shocked. The days after I left the hospital were a complete blur. I mostly slept, but at some point, my mother had woken me and forced me to go next door to visit the retired librarian because Aunt Wynona’s house was being sprayed for bugs. I remembered thinking it was such a random event. Now, I understood they needed me out of the house while the police searched for the missing infant.
“Your mother and aunt were concerned about your baby,” the older agent continued. “The FBI assured them that your child was safe with the family who adopted her.”
“Yes, I recently met Claudia, so I know she’s fine. But what about the missing baby? Was she ever found?”
Something shifted in the agent’s demeanor. From his briefcase, he withdrew two photos and set one of them on the coffee table. I stared down at the young couple, thinking there was something familiar about the woman, but I couldn’t quite place her.
“This is Giselle and Charlie Kline, the couple whose baby was kidnapped,” the agent explained. “The photo was taken eighteen years ago, but here’s a more recent one that shows them with their ten year-old-daughter, Paulette.”
“Paulette,” I said, happy that the Klines had been able to have another child. Not that one child could replace another. Still, I didn’t even know these people, and it broke my heart to think about what they’d been through. Maybe this second child had brought them some comfort.
“When was this photo taken?” Joy asked, leaning closer to get a better look.
“Just a few months ago,” the agent said.
I stared down at the photo, confused. “But she looks—”
“Paulette looks just like Claudia,” Joy said.
My heart leapt to my throat. Joy was right. The Klines’ daughter did look just like Claudia. And even more unsettling was the fact that Paulette and her parents were all holding violins.
“They own a music studio,” Special Agent Banks said. “They’re a very musical family.”
“Like Claudia.” My heart was beating so hard I could barely think.
“Are you saying Claudia was the baby kidnapped from the Klines?” Daniel asked.
The agent nodded, and had I not been sitting down, my knees would’ve buckled.
“But what about my baby?” I asked. “If Claudia belongs to the Klines . . .” I couldn’t breathe. Oh, Lord, what happened to my baby? Who took her and where is she?
My stomach roiled, and I thought I might be sick. Daniel took my hand and held it tight.
“We’ve developed a theory,” the agent said as if he hadn’t just delivered the worst news of my life. How was I supposed to care about his theory when my baby was missing?
Oh, Lord, where is she? Where is she?
“While working at the hospital,” the agent continued, “Tiffany told several people that she had a newborn at home. We believe that was a lie. Our theory is she switched the Klines’ baby with yours and then stole your baby to raise the child as her own.”
Joy sucked in a sharp breath. “You think my mother kidnapped me?”
The agent nodded. “When the Klines’ baby was reported missing, Tiffany was questioned, but for some reason, authorities believed her claim that the child was hers. According to the report, agents took a sample of blood from Tiffany’s baby, but that blood type didn’t match the Klines
because—”
“Because I wasn’t the Klines’ baby,” Joy said, piecing it all together. “I was Bianca’s baby. I am Bianca’s baby.” Joy turned and stared at me with wide eyes. “You’re my mother, Bianca.”
“That’s our theory,” the FBI agent said. “We’ll have to confirm it with DNA testing.”
My body shook as all the pieces of this jumbled puzzle slid into place. I didn’t need a DNA test. I knew with every fiber of my being that Joy was my daughter.
Her eyes filled. “Of course, you’re my mother. It all makes sense. All of it.”
Daniel started to speak, but his voice cracked. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around Joy and me and pulled us close. I clung to him, and I clung to Joy, overwhelmed by a mixture of confusion, terror, understanding, and jubilation.
Tears streaming down my face, I didn’t know whether to be happy, sad, mad, or just relieved. In the end, I chose to be happy that, through a miracle, I’d been reunited with my daughter.
In the end, I chose joy.
Chapter 54
Bianca
Finding out that Joy was the daughter I’d carried for nine months, given birth to, and had held in my arms all those years ago was unbelievable. They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and honestly, the whole thing was surreal.
Looking back, I should’ve known it all along. While Joy and I didn’t look like twins, there was a similarity between us I couldn’t believe I’d missed.
Daniel’s brother claimed he’d seen the resemblance the first time he met me. My mother said the same thing about Joy, although neither one of them had voiced their opinion until after the truth was revealed.
As wonderful as this discovery was, part of me felt a loss. After all, for a brief time, I’d thought of Claudia as my daughter. In many ways, I still did even though I knew that between the Cavenaughs and the Klines Claudia had enough people to love her.
A few weeks after Claudia returned from meeting the Klines, she called while I was blow-drying my hair. We’d exchanged a few texts, and I’d learned that her biological mother was originally from France. She’d met Claudia’s biological father while studying music in Charleston, South Carolina. They now owned a music studio just outside of Charleston.
After talking for a few minutes, Claudia told me she was going to return the “Claudia” necklace. “It’s part of your family history,” she explained. “I wouldn’t feel right keeping it.”
“You’re part of our family history,” I said. “I want you to have it, and I’m sure my dad feels the same way. In many ways, it’s because of you that my dad and I were able to reconcile.”
She grew quiet, and I asked what she was thinking.
“I’m thinking that after everything that’s happened, hearing you say that is one of the nicest things anybody could’ve said to me.” Her voice wavered, and she sniffed hard.
“Oh, Claudia, honey. Are you okay? I’m sure this has been really hard.”
“It has. The Klines want me to come live with them in South Carolina and my parents . . . well, they’re trying to be understanding and supportive, but all this is breaking their hearts.”
“I can’t imagine.”
She pushed out an exasperated breath. “Maybe I’ll just move to Rose Island and go to community college with Joy. She told me she’s staying on the island after high school graduation so she can continue working with the interior designer while she takes a few classes.”
“She is, and we would love to have you here on Rose Island. You could even stay in the guest room in my apartment.”
She sighed. “I know I can’t really do that, but maybe I could bring both my families down for a visit.”
“You’re welcome anytime. I mean that.”
“I know you do.”
Claudia and I ended our call with promises to talk soon, but I imagined she’d be pretty busy over the next few months with finals and sorting out her life. My prayer for her was that she and both her families would be able to make peace with what happened to them.
Picking up my mascara, I resumed getting ready. Tonight, Vicki and I were babysitting Anna and Nick’s kids so they could attend some military event on post. Twelve-year-old Hailey had asked Vicki and me to dress up so she could practice taking pictures of us on the beach with her new camera.
In the past, I would’ve shied away from having my picture taken, but I was getting better at that. As instructed by Hailey, I was wearing my blue and white dress with pearl earrings.
Glancing at myself in the mirror, I thought, Not bad. I turned to the side and placed a hand on my stomach, which had gone down a little bit due to the small amount of weight I’d lost. I hadn’t been dieting, I’d just been trying to embrace the idea that I didn’t need to punish myself for being overweight. And I didn’t need to punish myself for wanting a piece of cake or for even eating that piece of cake.
At the same time, I’d finally demanded that Vicki stop filling my break room with all sorts of tempting sweets. While I understood her heart was in the right place, sugar was a real problem for me. The less I consumed, the better I felt. And that meant limiting the number of sweets that surrounded my personal space.
Right on time, Vicki pounded on my door. As usual, she barged into my apartment without an invitation, claiming that we were going to be late.
“I’m ready,” I said, coming down the hall.
“Hello, hot mama!” She grinned at me, and I laughed.
“Hello yourself,” I said. “You’re looking very pretty.”
“Maybe, but Bianca . . . you look gorgeous.” Her voice held so much emotion I wondered if something was wrong.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “We better go.”
“Vicki? What is it?”
She blinked hard. “Nothing. At least, nothing I want to talk about, okay?”
“Okay.”
Giving my sister her privacy, I said nothing as we drove out to Nick and Anna’s house. Something was obviously going on with my little sister. She’d been acting strange the last few days, and I wondered if she was just jealous that things were going so well between Daniel and me.
Although Daniel and I were still planning on getting married, we’d decided to wait until this fall to get engaged. Given everything that’d happened, I was perfectly fine with that. In fact, now that I had my daughter, I was perfectly fine with anything.
At Nick and Anna’s house, I knocked on the front door, but nobody answered. Vicki stepped right past me and walked into the house. “Hello?”
“Do you think they forgot or had a change of plans?”
“They’re probably down at the beach.” Vicki marched through the kitchen and opened the back door, leading to the porch.
I followed her, awed as usual at the incredible view of the ocean from Nick and Anna’s house. Down on the beach were several lit lanterns arranged in the shape of a large heart. A group of people stood nearby, including a man dressed in a black tux.
“Oh look, Vicki. I think someone’s going to propose. I wonder if we know who it is.”
My little sister gave me a blank stare.
“What?” I said. “Have you become so jaded about love and marriage that you don’t think a beachside proposal is romantic?”
She gave me the biggest eye roll of her life, then she laughed, the sound filling me with relief that she was okay. “Oh, Bianca. Are you that dense? Look again.”
“What?”
“Just look, okay?”
I glanced back down at the beach, and after a beat, I realized the group of people was our family. And the man in the tux was Daniel.
My Daniel!
My hands shot to my face. “What’s going on?”
“What do you think is going on?”
“Daniel’s proposing? Tonight?”
She nodded.
“I don’t believe it.”
“I guess not,” she said, laughing again. “Thank goodness I’m here, otherwise the poor
man might’ve been left standing on the beach all night waiting for you to clue in.”
“So we’re not babysitting?”
She shook her head. “No, we’re not babysitting. That was just a distraction to get you here tonight.”
“Oh, Vicki.” I gave her a huge hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me. All I did was drive you here. And track down the lanterns for Daniel. But all this was his idea.”
From the dunes below came the sound of a cell phone. I glanced down to see Joy striding toward us. “Yes, she’s here . . . I think so . . . okay . . . see you in a minute.”
Joy hung up the phone and bolted up the stairs. “That was my dad. He was wondering if you were going to come down to the beach. You still want to marry him, right?”
I nodded. “Of course, I still want to marry him.”
“Good because he’s a nervous wreck.”
I smiled at Daniel, then looked at my daughter. “Are you okay with all this, Joy? With your dad and me getting married?”
“Of course, I am.” She smiled. “I’m really happy for both of you.”
I glanced at Vicki who nodded. “I’m happy for you, too. Now, go get your ring.”
“Okay.” Giddy beyond belief, I looped my arm through my daughter’s, and together we descended the steps.
Oh, Lord. Is this really happening for me? A daughter and a husband? Thank you. Thank you.
Joy and I took the path through the dunes. When we reached the beach, my mother shouted, “She’s here. She’s finally here.”
As though the whole scene had been well rehearsed, my entire family moved away from Daniel, giving him space. He looked at me, and our eyes locked as though we were the only two people in the world.
“I love you, Mom,” Joy said, leaning in for another hug.
She’d recently started calling me mom every now and then, and each time she did, it felt like my heart would explode with pure elation. I hugged her back. “Oh, honey. I love you, too. I love you and your father with all my heart.”
“I know you do. Now, go say yes and put my dad out of his misery.”
I laughed. “You got it.”
My heart pounding, I kicked off my shoes, then I followed the rose-petaled path through the sand to Daniel. With tears streaming down my face, I stopped in front of him and smiled. “Hey.”
Bianca's Joy: Rose Island Book 3 Page 26