Catching Her Rival (Mills & Boon Superromance)

by Lisa Dyson

  “Oh, okay, thanks.” He was ready to leave to search the halls for the Allie and Charlotte when he thought of something. “I’m not sure where they are. Can you look up a name and tell me where the unit is?”

  “We’re not allowed to do that, either.” He went back to tapping on his phone.

  Jack pulled a twenty from his wallet. “What if I say I can’t remember which unit is mine?”

  “You didn’t say you had a unit, too.” The guy was either high or not very bright.

  Now Jack just needed to remember the guy’s name. He knew the lawyer was Gerard Stone, but couldn’t remember the son’s first name.

  “Can you look me up? The last name is Stone.”

  The guy set his phone down and punched in some information on the outdated computer behind the counter.

  “Peter Stone?” The guy never looked up.

  “Right.”

  “Unit three sixty-five.”

  “That’s it. Thanks. Can you remind me how to get there? It’s been a while since I’ve been here.” Jack took a chance the guy wasn’t going to figure out he’d given the information out to the wrong person. He hadn’t even asked for ID.

  “Go around the corner and through entrance C, up the stairs to the third floor.” The guy went back to his phone, laughing at something on his screen.

  “Thanks so much.” Jack pocketed the money.

  Jack followed the guy’s directions, and as soon as he opened the fire door on the third level, he heard a loud discussion.

  Allie and a man were arguing.

  “There’s no way we’re paying for information that’s rightfully ours.” Allie was adamant, and if the guy knew her even a little, he’d realize she wouldn’t back down.

  “Look,” the guy said, “if you want the file, you’ll have to pay. My family needs the money. Thanks to my dad’s legal debt, my mom had to move in with her sister.”

  “That’s not our fault,” Allie told him. “Now let us see our files or I’ll make a call to my lawyer.”

  “Get out!” The man suddenly became angry and shoved Charlotte into the hallway.

  That was all Jack could take. He was about to step forward when Allie yelled, “Stay away from her!” She grabbed something that looked like a pipe and held it up as if ready to strike, placing herself between the two of them.

  The guy put his hands up. “Hey, no need for violence.” He was probably five-seven or -eight and two hundred pounds, all in his gut.

  “You’re not getting a cent from us,” Allie reminded him. “Now give us our files.”

  “Okay, okay. I had to give it a shot.” He appeared to consider his options before reluctantly asking, “What year was it again?”

  “1986. April.” Charlotte spoke up.

  The guy moved some boxes around while the women watched. He huffed and puffed as he worked. Finally he pulled out a box and dropped it in front of Allie. “Here it is.”

  The two women pounced on the box, opening it to rifle through the folders inside. “Here’s the Miller file, Eleanor and Bart,” Allie said as she pulled it from the box. “And here’s the Harrington file.” She looked at Charlotte. “Your mom’s first name was Grace?” At Charlotte’s nod, Allie handed her the folder.

  The women sat side by side on the cement floor, their backs against the cement. Each had their own folders in hand, just staring at them.

  “If that’s all,” Peter said, “I’ve gotta get going.”

  Neither of the women even took notice of Peter as he rolled the door closed, locked the storage unit and left.

  * * *

  ALLIE’S STOMACH WAS about to revolt.

  “We actually have these in our hands.” Charlotte wiped a tear from her cheek. “Are you ready to open the files?”

  Allie only nodded. Words were impossible for her right now.

  They opened the files, and both went for their original birth certificates.

  “This is a Rhode Island birth certificate. Not a New York one,” Charlotte noted. “How can that be?”

  “We can figure out that part later,” Allie said. “Read what yours says.”

  “Baby Girl born on April 16, 1986,” Charlotte read and went on to name the hospital in Cranston.

  “Same here,” Allie said quietly. She swallowed, unable to even imagine what they would discover about themselves.

  Charlotte’s next word gave Allie chills. “Mother—”

  “Barbara Sherwood.” Both women said the name at the same time, and they immediately knew what that meant. “We’re really twins,” Allie said on a sob.

  They dropped their files and hugged for a long time. Allie had a biological sister. Not just a sister, but a twin sister. She never wanted to let her go. She’d found something she hadn’t known she’d been looking for.

  “What else does it say?” Allie asked when they finally disconnected. She pulled tissues from her purse, handed one to Charlotte and wiped her own tears, as well.

  “The Father space is blank.”

  “Mine, too,” Allie said. “She must not have known who he was, or maybe he was married and she didn’t want to name him.” Allie didn’t really care. Her birth mother had split them up, probably for the money, never giving them another thought.

  “This says our mother was twenty when she gave birth,” Charlotte said. “That’s pretty young. Especially to have twins.”

  “If our parents paid thirty thousand each,” Allie reminded her, “I’m sure she had a big payday.”

  They searched through their respective files to see what other information was there.

  “Here’s a page of notes that seem to have been made by the lawyer,” Charlotte said. She squinted to read the handwritten page. “This says something about our mother being an inmate at the Cranston Women’s Correctional Institute.” She turned to Allie. “Does that mean she was in jail when she was pregnant with us?”

  Allie looked at the page of nearly identical notes in her own file. “Sounds like it.”

  “I wonder where she is now.” Charlotte sounded wistful, while Allie had no interest in finding out or ever meeting their biological mother. Eleanor Miller would always be her mother.

  “We can do an internet search for her later,” Allie said to placate Charlotte, who merely nodded.

  They looked at each other. “We’re actually sisters. Twins,” Charlotte said. “It seems unreal.”

  “I know,” Allie agreed. “I wish we’d known each other our entire lives.” Her voice broke as she spoke. Damn. She never cried.

  They hugged again, and when they broke apart, Allie realized that Jack had been a silent witness to the entire thing. He stood with his back against the wall, obviously not wanting to interrupt.

  “Where did you come from? I thought I told you to stay away.” Allie smiled at him through her tears, though, and she realized his eyes were red. She stood and went over to hug him, their earlier disagreement be damned.

  “I was hoping to see you take on that guy with, what, a pipe?”

  She nodded. “Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

  He put his arms around her and squeezed. No hug had felt better except the one from her twin sister, who decided to join the embrace.

  Allie whispered in Jack’s ear, “I guess telling people that Charlotte and I are twins wasn’t a lie, after all.”

  * * *

  “WE NEED TO CELEBRATE,” Charlotte said a few minutes later with no ideas in mind.

  “I bought a bottle of champagne this afternoon, and it’s chilling in my fridge,” Allie said. “I was hoping we’d have something to celebrate.” She looked at Jack. “You’re welcome to join us.”

  “Of course he is,” Charlotte said, wishing the two of them would make up already. “If not for him, we might never have met.”

  “That’s true.” Allie said.

  They all had their own cars after getting back into town earlier that day, so Charlotte had a few minutes alone to ponder what she thought she knew and what
she’d learned tonight.

  Things didn’t add up. Why was her corrected birth certificate from the state of New York and not Rhode Island like her original? She’d used it her entire life. How could her adoptive mother have picked her up in New York if she was born in Rhode Island?

  Allie’s information seemed so clear, whereas Charlotte’s made her question everything except her relationship to Allie.

  All three of them arrived at Allie’s apartment at the same time. Harvey barked in greeting from his crate, and Allie immediately let him out. She’d picked him up that afternoon from Penny.

  “I’ll take him out,” Jack offered and hooked the leash to Harvey’s collar. They headed out the door.

  While Jack was gone, Allie got the champagne from the fridge as well as three glasses. “You’re pretty quiet,” she said to Charlotte.

  “I guess I’ve got more questions than answers right now,” Charlotte admitted.

  Allie removed the foil, untwisted the metal cage and held a kitchen towel over the top of the bottle. With little effort, she twisted the bottle, uncorking the champagne successfully.

  “At least we have the big question answered,” Allie said.

  “But why did my mother tell me I was born in New York? And how on earth did she manage to get me a birth certificate from that state? I’m wondering if it’s a forgery.”

  “That’s possible, I guess,” Allie agreed as she poured the bubbly into the glasses.

  “My hands are still shaking,” Charlotte confided to Allie. “I have an actual sister.”

  Allie’s smile was genuine. “And a twin sister, no less. Should we start dressing alike since we missed doing that as kids?”

  The women laughed, coming up with several things they’d missed out on, like taking each other’s place or playing pranks on strangers.

  With all three glasses half full, they heard Jack coming back with Harvey, who was so glad to be home that he ran around the apartment several times before settling down.

  “I’m really happy for both of you,” Jack said as he lifted a glass. “I hope you each get what you’ve been looking for from this wonderful news.”

  “To being twins!” Both women spoke at once, and they laughed. Then they all clinked glasses and took sips of their champagne.

  “I’ve got to take off,” Jack said a few minutes later, “but let’s meet tomorrow to get the Fairleigh project off the ground.” He put his empty glass on the counter and said to Allie, “My office at nine?”

  “You don’t need me, do you?” Charlotte asked. “I really don’t know anything about what you guys do.”

  “I think we can handle it,” Allie told her. “We’ll save you for face-to-face meetings.”

  With that settled, Jack took off, leaving the two women alone to digest their incredible news.

  * * *

  THE NEXT DAY, Jack went early to the rehab center to visit his grandfather. He hadn’t been there in several days and discovered Granddad had improved considerably.

  “You seem bothered by something,” Granddad said as Jack pulled a chair closer to where his grandfather was seated.

  Jack shrugged. Even Granddad could see he was torn. Should he end things with Allie once they finish with the Fairleigh project? “I’ve got a lot on my mind. You know, business stuff.”

  “Looks like there’s more to it than that.” Granddad was obviously doing better to be so observant.

  They discussed the animal-food account as well as the Fairleigh account.

  “Good job, Jack,” his grandfather said with a big smile. “I’m proud of you. Now tell me about this woman you have to work with.”

  “She’s one to watch out for.” Jack began explaining her maneuvers, and his grandfather’s demeanor changed abruptly.

  “You’ve got to cut yourself loose from her,” Granddad ordered gruffly. “She’s a devil in disguise, and you can’t trust that she won’t hurt Empire with her tactics.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Jack said, unable to stop himself from defending her. “For example, she’s actually fallen for the dog she’s been fostering.”

  “So what? She still wiggled her way into the Fairleigh account.”

  Jack was no longer so upset about how Allie had found out about the account, so he hadn’t shared that tidbit with his grandfather. “In the long run, we’ll do a better job for Fairleigh with Allie’s help.”

  “Even though she was deceptive about being related to this artist?”

  “True,” Jack admitted. “But it turns out they are related. They’re twins, adopted to different families as infants.” He took a different strategy, feeling as if he needed to present both sides to Granddad. “I’m pretty sure you’ve met Allie before. She came in to interview for a job a few months ago.”

  After finding out that Allie had interviewed with Empire, Jack had requested her file from HR and discovered that his grandfather had given the go-ahead to hire her, but he’d been overruled by several others who thought she would be a bad influence after her run-in with law enforcement.

  “Tell me more about her.” Granddad waited patiently.

  Jack told him about her background, including both her time at DP and the accounts she had now in her own business.

  “If I wanted to hire her, she must have a spark. I never hire anyone without it. Maybe she will be good for the Fairleigh campaign. If she works out, maybe we try to hire her.”

  Jack wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, but he’d handle it when and if the time came.

  He left the rehab center a little while later, wondering why he’d defended Allie to his grandfather. He headed to his office, where he was to meet her, and he found Allie standing at his office door.

  “Your receptionist told me to come back.”

  She wore high heels with black pants and a white silky blouse that was ruffled at the bottom. The first few top buttons were open, and she wore a large necklace with stones the same color as her eyes.

  Those eyes. Damn those eyes.

  He reluctantly looked away and said, “Let’s go into the conference room.” He gathered his laptop and his file on Fairleigh and led the way.

  She carried a large burgundy tote bag over her shoulder, more like a feminine brief case than a purse. She pulled out a laptop and several pages of handwritten notes on a legal pad.

  She hadn’t said a word since explaining her arrival at his office door.

  “Before we begin,” Jack said, “I want to get something straight.”

  She stared at him until he continued.

  “If this business relationship is going to work, then you need to promise that you’ll be honest. No deception.”

  She glanced away and then back at him. “Deal.”

  He wasn’t sure if he could trust her. “We’ve made that deal before.”

  “I know.” Her tone was serious. “I’m trying hard to be more like both you and Charlotte want me to be.”

  “We’re not trying to change you.”

  She nodded. “I know. But I also know that you both think I have talent that I should be relying on more, and I’m beginning to think you’re right. Though I wish I’d been able to showcase that before the Fairleigh account was awarded.”

  “What’s brought about this change of heart?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think it has something to do with Charlotte being my sister. It’s as if she fills a hole in my life, and when I look at her and her life, I can see how mine could be if I allowed it.”

  “Wow. That’s great.”

  Neither spoke for a few minutes, and then she said, “We should get to work.” They hadn’t discussed their future, but they had two weeks for that.

  “Where would you like to start?” He wanted to give her the opportunity to voice her ideas before he threw his own at her.

  “I know the town’s budget isn’t very large,” Allie began formally, as if speaking to a stranger, “so I thought we might be able to get Chuck or someone interviewed o
n the local news about how the town is coming back after the devastation of Hurricane Lorraine.”

  That was actually brilliant. He’d hoped to get them a radio ad because it would be less expensive than a TV ad, but Allie’s suggestion was free.

  “I like it,” he admitted. “I’m not sure Chuck is the right person to do it, but we can revisit that later.” He typed on his laptop, wondering if she had any more impressive ideas.

  “There’s also a free newspaper in Fairleigh,” she said. “I haven’t checked it out yet, but getting ads in that and papers for surrounding towns might be worthwhile if the price isn’t too high.”

  Another good idea.

  Jack had known Allie was intelligent, but he hadn’t realized she was so creative.

  “I was also thinking they need a website and a Twitter account, as well as a Facebook account.” Allie checked her notes. “We can come up with a hashtag like #FairleighIsBack and get people to tweet upcoming events and post them on Facebook.”

  Jack’s excitement about the campaign escalated. Allie was really good at her job.

  “The artists probably have their own accounts,” Jack added. “I’m sure they would tweet something about Fairleigh if we ask.”

  “I like that,” Allie said. “Maybe come up with a widget they can download for their personal websites.”

  Jack sat up a little straighter after getting her approval. “Fairleigh also needs a new motto on the sign coming into town.”

  “That was my impression, too,” Allie said, “but when I mentioned it to Chuck, he said the motto can’t be changed. Something about it being there from the time of the town’s inception. They’ve tried out different things, but there’s a group in town who complain too loudly to ignore.”

  “Really? That’s too bad.” He hadn’t known about not being able to change it, but Allie had done her homework thoroughly. Jack could definitely see how she must have impressed his grandfather.

  They spent the next hour deciding who would do what and when they should meet again.

  Jack didn’t want Allie to go. He thought about inviting her to lunch, wanted to hear more about how she was doing after finding out about her twin sister, but thought better of it.

  He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.