Sisters Found

by Joan Johnston

  Hope had never heard Jake sing, and she was surprised to discover he had a pleasant baritone voice. Becky fell asleep during the sermon, and Hope sat with the child in her arms while the rest of the congregation rose to sing a final hymn.

  Hope got another surprise when the service was over and Jake’s parents approached her. At first, she thought they’d come to see their grandchildren. It didn’t take long before she realized they’d come to inspect her...and perhaps to make a comparison with Miss Carter.

  For the first time Hope regretted not being more subtle in her pursuit of Jake. It was obvious his parents knew of her interest in their son. It was not as obvious what they thought of the match.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Whitelaw,” Hope said as Jake introduced her to them. She regretted the red dress even more, when she compared it to the dark suit, beige blouse and sensible pumps worn by Miss Carter.

  “It’s so nice to meet you at last, Hope,” Mrs. Whitelaw said. “I’ve heard so much about you. Please, call me Rebecca.”

  “And I’m Zach,” Jake’s father said, extending his hand.

  “Thank you...Rebecca...Zach.” Hope stumbled over the names, aware of her youth, knowing how much easier it must be for Miss Carter to address Jake’s parents so familiarly. And wondering exactly what it was that Zach and Rebecca Whitelaw had heard about her. And from whom?

  She noticed that the greeting Jake’s mother gave to Miss Carter seemed less warm than the one she’d given to Hope. Hope hadn’t even considered the possibility that Jake’s parents didn’t approve of his prospective bride. She watched carefully to see what she could see.

  “How are you this morning, Amanda?” Mrs. Whitelaw said.

  “Quite well, Rebecca,” Miss Carter replied.

  Hope thought Miss Carter seemed nervous around Jake’s folks and wondered about the source of her anxiety. She was a teacher used to dealing with the parents of the kids she taught. But she was clearly uncomfortable with Jake’s mother.

  “Are there any last-minute wedding details I can help you with?” Mrs. Whitelaw asked.

  “Um. No. Um. Everything’s...done,” Miss Carter said.

  Miss Carter seemed embarrassed. Hope frowned. What did she have to be embarrassed about? Hope was the one who’d been seducing the groom.

  “It was nice seeing you, Amanda, Hope,” Mrs. Whitelaw said. “Will you be coming over for supper today, Jake?” she said to her son. “We’d love to spend some time with Huck and Becky.” She eyed Hope and said, “And it would be lovely to get to know Hope a little better.”

  Hope felt a chill run down her spine. Why would Jake’s parents want to know her better? Unless they suspected...

  They couldn’t know she and Jake had become lovers. It had happened only yesterday. She wondered if she looked different. Or if Jake looked different.

  She searched his features, looking for something that might give away the change in their relationship, but all she saw were cold blue eyes, chiseled cheeks, a square jaw, a slash of mouth and crow-wing black hair that had been left to grow down over his collar.

  He suddenly turned his gaze on her, and she wondered if he’d felt her perusal. Then she saw what his mother might have seen. The light in his blue eyes at the sight of her. The flex of his jaw muscle as he forced his gaze away from her.

  “Please say you’ll come,” his mother said. “It would be so wonderful to have you all there.”

  “Not today, Mom,” Jake said as he leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek. “Kane’s coming over with his new girl. And Amanda’s got some sort of surprise planned.”

  “Will I see you before the wedding?” his mother asked.

  “It’s going to be a busy week,” Jake said. “I don’t know.”

  “Would you make some time for me?” his mother said. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  “Sure, Mom,” Jake said.

  He gave his father a quick hug, and then his parents left, along with those members of his family who still lived nearby enough to attend church together. Hope nodded to each of them as Jake gave them a handshake or a hug.

  “Good to see you, Rabb,” Jake said.

  “You, too, Jake,” Rabb said. He glanced at Hope and said, “When is Colt getting home?”

  “Not till Friday, I’m afraid,” Jake said. “Thank goodness I’ve got Hope to help with the kids.”

  “Yeah. That was lucky, all right,” Rabb replied.

  “How’s it going, Avery?” Jake asked.

  “Karen can’t wait for the wedding reception,” Avery replied. “She thinks she’s going to get me on the dance floor.”

  “I heard you’ve been taking lessons,” Jake said.

  “There’s no way to fix two left feet,” Avery said with a grin.

  Jake laughed, then turned to his redheaded sister Cherry, who’d been a teenage juvenile delinquent, and the last Whitelaw Brat to be added to the pack. “You’re looking beautiful, as usual,” he said. “How’s Billy treating you?”

  “Like a princess,” Cherry replied.

  Billy Stonecreek approached with his twin daughters from his previous marriage and his and Cherry’s young son. “Seems only fair, when she treats me like a king,” he said.

  “I’m hungry,” the little boy said.

  “We’ve gotta go,” Cherry said. “See you soon.”

  “Mac and I can hardly wait for Saturday, Jake,” his sister Jewel said. “I never thought I’d see you marry again. I’m glad you found someone to love after that bitch—”

  Mac Macready put his hand over his wife’s mouth and said, “We’ll be there with bells on, Jake. How are you, Amanda? Any butterflies?”

  Hope turned to Amanda and saw her try—but fail—to smile.

  “A few,” Amanda admitted.

  “Happens to the best of us,” Jewel said with a friendly smile. “Don’t worry. You’ll make a beautiful bride. Don’t you think so, Jake?”

  Jake missed his cue because he was reaching for Huck, who’d made a break down the aisle of the church. He scooped the giggling boy up in his arms and turned back to ask, “What was that, Jewel?”

  “I asked if you don’t think Amanda will make a beautiful bride.”

  Jake crossed to Amanda, juggling the wriggling boy in his arms. “Absolutely,” he said, and leaned down to kiss her on the mouth.

  Hope heard Jewel’s quiet gasp when Amanda turned her face away, so Jake’s kiss landed on her cheek. Jake’s brow furrowed, and Amanda’s cheeks turned fiery red.

  “Hey, there, you guys,” Faith said. “Let’s get this show on the road. I want to see this surprise Miss Carter has planned for us.”

  Faith’s cheery interruption allowed everyone to begin moving again and smoothed over the awkward moment.

  Jake glanced at his watch and said, “Kane said he’d be at the house by one o’clock and it’s already after noon. You’re right. We’d better get moving.”

  “Who’s riding with whom?” Faith asked, looking from face to face in the crowd.

  Hope turned to Jake and said, “Do you mind if I take Becky with me and ride with Faith?”

  “Sounds fine. That way Amanda can ride with me.”

  “I have my own car,” Amanda said.

  “I’d be glad to give you a ride,” Jake said.

  “All right,” Amanda said. “If you insist.”

  Hope wished Jake hadn’t insisted. Or that Amanda had stuck to her guns. She followed Faith out of the church, wanting the chance to talk with her twin about her confused feelings.

  Hope swiped the baby’s car seat from Jake’s truck and put it in the back seat of Faith’s car. Becky was cranky and tired and didn’t want to sit in the seat, but Hope strapped her in anyway. “It’s for your own good, sweetheart,”
she crooned to the baby.

  “You could hold her in your lap,” Faith suggested.

  “Jake trusts me to take care of Becky,” Hope replied.

  “And you’re determined to prove to him what a good mother you’ll make for his children,” Faith said, eyeing her sister sideways.

  “Exactly.”

  Once they were on the way, Faith turned to Hope and said, “You made love to him, didn’t you?”

  Hope’s mouth gaped in surprise. “How could you possibly know that?”

  Faith chuckled. “I didn’t. Until you just confirmed it. But I didn’t think Jake could resist you for long, once you were sleeping under the same roof.”

  “All sex did was complicate things,” Hope admitted.

  “The man loves you. How could sex—”

  “He might have feelings for me, but he isn’t about to admit to them. I think he’s afraid of getting hurt again. And I don’t want him without those three little words.”

  “I love you,” Faith murmured. “Sweet words indeed. Have you figured out how to get Jake to say them?”

  “I have no idea what to do. The last time we spoke he said he was going to go through with the marriage.”

  Faith shook her head. “I don’t think he’s going to have much luck without a bride.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that Miss Carter’s in love with someone else. I don’t think she’s going to make it to the altar with Jake.”

  “That’s horrible! She can’t leave Jake standing there alone.”

  Faith laughed. “I thought you wanted the man for yourself. You should be glad.”

  “I don’t want him hurt like that. Who is Miss Carter in love with?”

  “Jake’s brother Rabb.”

  “Dear God. That’s...monstrous! What kind of shenanigans have you been perpetrating, Faith?”

  “I’ve only pulled a few strings. None of the people involved are wooden puppets, Hope. They’re all living, breathing human beings, free to make their own choices.”

  “If Miss Carter’s in love with Rabb, why hasn’t she said something? Why hasn’t she canceled the wedding?”

  Faith bit her lip. “I’m not sure.”

  “What if you’re wrong? What if Rabb and Miss Carter are just friends?”

  “Have you seen the way they look at each other?”

  Hope frowned, trying to recall whether she’d seen any glances exchanged at church between Rabb and Miss Carter. Then she remembered Miss Carter’s stutter when Rebecca Whitelaw had asked her about the wedding. Her sudden, inexplicable embarrassment. And the way she’d avoided Jake’s kiss. “What kind of surprise do you suppose Miss Carter has lined up for us today?” Hope asked.

  “I don’t know,” Faith said. “She said I’ll be astounded and that it’s something I won’t want to miss.”

  “Maybe the puppet is planning to pull a few strings of her own,” Hope said.

  “I’ll be glad when the other shoe drops,” Faith said. “I can’t stand to see so many people so ready to ruin their lives.”

  When they reached the back door to Jake’s ranch house, they saw that Jake and Miss Carter had arrived before them and that an additional pickup was parked behind the house.

  “That must belong to Jake’s cousin,” Hope said. “He’s supposed to be visiting this afternoon.”

  Hope had gotten out of the car and turned to open the rear door to get Becky when Faith gasped.

  “Oh, my God! Hope, look. Look!”

  Hope turned to see what had her sister so excited. A woman stood on Jake’s back porch. Hope felt her heart begin to pound.

  She was looking at herself. Looking at an exact replica of herself and Faith. She turned to meet Faith’s shocked gaze.

  “Who is that?” Faith whispered.

  “I don’t know what kind of trick Miss Carter is pulling here,” Hope said, shocked by the strange woman’s startling resemblance to her and her sister. “But I sure as hell intend to find out.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHARITY

  CHARITY WAS SHOCKED BY THE similarity between herself and the other two women. Amanda Carter hadn’t been exaggerating. They were the same height. Their eyes were equally dark, and their complexions equally creamy. Even more startling was the fact that they wore their hair the same way, shoulder length, with bangs and a part in the center. And they were all wearing gold hoop earrings and bright pink lipstick. It felt as if she was looking into a mirror—no, two mirrors.

  Charity started down the back steps of the house, compelled to get closer, to see whether her eyes might have deceived her. Maybe they weren’t the same. Maybe the similarities were all on the surface. She crossed to the woman closest to her and stood facing her. The woman was her spitting image, down to the mole at the base of her right ear.

  “What is this?” the woman said irritably. “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

  “My name is Charity Burnette,” Charity said. She realized her hands were trembling and crossed her arms and lifted her chin. It was eerie to see her behavior mirrored by the other woman, whose eyes narrowed when she realized they’d both done the same thing.

  “What are you doing here? Why do you look like us?” the woman demanded.

  “I’m here to attend a wedding with Kane Longstreet,” Charity replied. “I have no idea why I look like you.”

  By then, the other girl had joined her sister and Charity realized the second girl didn’t have a left hand. Charity wasn’t aware she was staring until the first woman said belligerently, “You can stare all you want, but Faith isn’t going to grow a hand.”

  “Faith?” Her own name was Charity. Was it possible the third girl was named— “I suppose your name’s Hope,” Charity said, fighting a rising hysteria.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Holy shit.”

  Charity saw the moment the other girls realized they were part of a triumvirate, Faith, Hope and Charity.

  “Holy shit is right,” the girl named Hope said in a shocked voice. “Who are you?” she repeated. “How is this possible?”

  “I have no idea,” Charity said. Then she realized that, of course, there was an explanation for the impossible. “I’m adopted,” she said. “I suppose...I guess...I suppose your mother...our mother,” she corrected, “gave me away.”

  “Mom and Dad would never do such a thing!” Faith protested.

  “Your parents are together? They’re married?” Charity questioned. When she’d thought about why her mother might have given her up for adoption, she’d always imagined an unwed and pregnant teenage girl who’d made a mistake and wanted to be shed of it. Never, in her wildest dreams, had she imagined that her married parents might have put her up for adoption.

  What was even more difficult to grasp was the fact that her parents had obviously kept two of their triplets, yet given her away. She couldn’t imagine how or why they would do such a thing.

  She stared at the other two girls, jealous of what they’d had. Real parents. Parents who’d wanted them. Parents who, based on Faith’s defense of them, must have loved them. It was hard to accept what she now knew to be true. The pain of it was unbearable. Those same parents hadn’t wanted her. Those same parents had gotten rid of her.

  “Are they still alive?” Charity asked.

  “Who?” Hope said.

  “Your parents. Our parents,” she corrected. She had to be related to these two girls. The identical features, the biblical names. It was too much of a coincidence. She had a sudden thought. “How old are you?” she asked, before Hope could reply to her first question. “When is your birthday?”

  “November 30,” Faith replied. “We just turned twenty-one.”

  Charity bit her lip to keep from crying out. Her
birthday was also November 30. She had also just turned twenty-one. “Your...our...parents. Are they...alive?” she asked again.

  “Mom and Dad are fine. I sat with them at church this morning,” Faith said.

  “I want to see them,” Charity said. “I want to meet them.”

  She watched the two girls exchange a glance. She knew what they were thinking, because whatever empathic powers they possessed, she possessed as well. “The shock isn’t going to kill them,” she said bitterly. “They must know what they did. They must have wondered if I’d ever show up on their doorstep.”

  “They never mentioned you,” Hope said. “They never even hinted at your existence.”

  Charity felt her insides shrivel painfully. Why had she been the one they’d given away? Why not the one without a hand? Or the pugnacious one?

  All her life Charity had felt unwanted and unloved. She’d thought it was because the father who’d adopted her had changed his mind and abandoned his wife, deciding he didn’t want to raise a child that wasn’t his own blood after all. Her mother had let her know what an affliction she was, how she’d caused the breakup of her adoptive parents’ marriage. It was a burden she’d carried all her life.

  But obviously there was more to it than that.

  How had her biological parents chosen which child to give away? And why had it been her? Why? The three girls were the same. Identical. Except Faith was missing a hand. Anyone would think they’d have given up the damaged child, not one of the perfect ones.

  “I want to meet them,” she repeated. “I want to ask them...” The word was stuck in her emotion-clogged throat. Why? Why? Why?

  “Let me take Becky inside and tell Jake where we’re going,” Hope said. She looked Charity in the eye and said, “I want some answers, too.”

  Hope was back a moment later, but Jake’s cousin Kane Longstreet was with her, his face white with shock. He was loose-limbed, with long strides that ate up the ground. His dark-eyed gaze focused intently on Charity, as though no one else existed. “What’s going on, Charity? Who are these women?”