“My two uncles, but they pretty much stick to the easy chairs and watch football. The entire family will all arrive Christmas morning after the cousins’ kids open their presents.”
He studied her, the way her eyes were alight, moving a little as she became lost in thoughts he couldn’t be privy to. He wanted to know what those thoughts were and what that touch of emotion might be. “So you’re heading to your home. What are your family traditions?”
Kay’s head snapped towards his direction, and she cracked a bit of a smile. “We go to church early Christmas morning, then decorate the tree before opening presents. Apple cider.” She inhaled as if searching for the scent. “Somehow apple cider always tastes best that morning, even though it’s always made the same.”
Van grabbed their empty plates, carrying them to the dishwasher. “Funny how that happens. The magic of Christmas, my aunt calls it. Things are just different that day.”
When he faced her again, their eyes locked onto each other. There was something disarming about nostalgia. It stripped away barriers and opened one to scrutiny they might not otherwise have allowed. Van let her look at him, let her search him without flinching or turning away. Their family stories were different, but the same on some level. They both had loved ones to go home to, but he wondered if she missed having a mother there as much as he missed having a father. That thought led so naturally to images of a family of his own that he might have been startled.
Thankfully, Kay broke their stare first, grabbing her purse before hopping down from the barstool. “I really appreciate last night. Definitely much better than a hotel.”
Van inclined his head. “My pleasure. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll take you home.”
Kay wasn’t surprised to find a note from Thomas pinned to her door when she got back to her apartment. The plastic shopping bag hanging from the knob was entirely unexpected though. A peek inside revealed an iPhone box. She frowned, grabbed the bag and unlocked the door.
“What the…” She slipped the box from the bag and onto the breakfast table before ripping open the note.
Sorry for being a dick. I know I broke your phone, so I thought the least I could do was restore your communication with the world.
Thomas
She bit her lip and ran her hand along the box. It had been her plan to get a new phone on her way out of town this afternoon. She wasn’t sure what to think of this surprising gift. Part of her was grateful and relieved that she wouldn’t have to waste time at the cell phone store. Another part wanted to delicately return the gift because keeping it might lead to more inappropriate feelings on Thomas’ part. Then there was also the part that felt a twinge of guilt for some perceived wrong she might have done to him.
“Oh, Thomas. What am I going to do with you?”
A flick of her hand sent the phone box across the table. She slapped the note down and then began to shed her clothes as she headed for the shower.
Her bags were already partially packed for the trip, so while she slipped into some yoga pants and a T-shirt, she tossed a few last-minute items into her satchel. She was just in the middle of brushing her teeth when she heard the knock.
Thomas’ head was low when she opened the door. Her hand holding the toothbrush fell away from her mouth, and she offered him a pasty grin. She motioned him inside, then turned back to the bathroom. When she returned a few minutes later she found him opening the iPhone box.
“You didn’t have to do that, Thomas.” He shrugged but didn’t say anything. “But I really appreciate it.”
When he glanced up at her with puppy eyes, she punched him in the shoulder affectionately. A grin finally broke through his sad face, and he chuckled. “Well, pull up your lappy and log me into your cell phone account so I can activate this thing. You’re going home for Christmas today, right?”
Kay didn’t answer, only sighed as she opened her laptop and pulled up the account. While he bent over the screen and started the activation process, she carried a few bags out to her car for the trip.
The moment she re-entered the apartment, Thomas was there holding her phone out to her with a cocky grin. “So, here you go. Now I won’t have to worry about you on the trip.”
“Worry, my ass. I’m sure you’ve got lots of dates and plans lined up for Christmas week. The man with ‘no family worth a shit’ will have plenty of alternatives ready for this holiday.”
Thomas pointed a finger like a gun and smacked his lips at her. Then his smile curled down, and he approached her with a serious expression. Both of his hands settled heavily on her shoulders, and for some strange reason she had the urge to back away from him. “I really am sorry for last night.”
“Stop apologizing. We’re good.”
He nodded and frowned. “Where did you spend the night, anyway?”
“Grrr.” She made a noise in the back of her throat as she gently slipped his hands away. “None of your business, Thomas. Let’s just move on, ‘kay?”
“Yeah, okay.” He reached into the back of his pocket and pulled out a little box, messily decorated in silver snowflake wrapping paper. “So it’s Christmas. Friends get each other gifts, right?”
Kay took the box with nervous hands and opened it. “Oh, Thomas … wow…”
It was a fancy clutch handbag, just like one she’d admired a few months ago when they’d been shopping at the Galleria in Dallas. She’s considered purchasing it at that moment, but it always seemed wrong to buy for one’s self just before Christmas.
“Well, have fun with the fam, okay. Let’s hang when you get back.”
She stared at the bag, rubbing her hand over the flap and thinking it was entirely too expensive a present to receive from just a friend. When she looked up and saw him making his way to the door, she stopped him. “Oh, wait, I’ve got something for you, too.”
As she watched him open the shoebox-sized package, she felt a little sheepish. His gift was lavish and probably much more than she should have accepted. Her gift to him bordered on silly. Still, his eyes lit up when he began pulling out assorted Breaking Bad items.
“Whoa, it’s Blue Ice rock candy. Cool!”
Rolling her eyes at his juvenile enthusiasm, she couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, and I’m sure one of your girlfriends will enjoy the bath salts.”
His eyes were alight with happiness. To her credit, she didn’t flinch and pull away when he kissed her cheek. It was no more than a second’s contact and not inappropriate for friends, but considering the things he’d said the night before it still made her uncomfortable. “Thanks, Kay. This stuff is awesome.”
By the she finally got on the road, it was well past noon. The farther she got from Dallas, the farther Thomas got from her mind. Instead, images of Van and that very enticing kiss haunted her. She wondered what he was doing, whether he was thinking of her.
Swallowing and shaking her head to stop her thoughts from following that path, she hit a button on her steering wheel to dial her brother Jeremy.
“I was wondering if you were going to call.” Without even a hello, his voice sounded through her car’s speakers and she rolled her eyes.
“Hello to you too, brother.”
He snorted, and she could just about picture his raised eyebrow and knowing grin. “Everything all right? I thought you’d get on the road before noon.”
She’d texted him that she would call him when she started the drive. Her dashboard showed 3:15, much later than she’d originally anticipated. “I’m good. Just couldn’t seem to get things together.”
There was a moment of silence before she heard him take a deep breath, “You’ll get here pretty late.”
“Or early, depending on how you look at it. Might as well ‘fess up, Jeremy. What’s going on there at the big house?”
He hated when she called it that, even if the truth was Arrington Manor was in fact a “big” house. Still, he took her reference in the tone she meant it. She felt suffocated by their family’s wealth and stature.
As soon as the opportunity had presented itself, she’d left for college. Jeremy felt differently, which was probably as it should have been since he was the heir. He would take over the estates and also the seat on the House of Lords when their father retired or passed away.
“We have some guests.”
“The cousins are here from Durma?” She practically shouted the question. Their Durman relatives rarely traveled to the United States and certainly never for holidays.
“Kay, this is about Aunt Iggie.”
She focused on making her way around a slower vehicle and then when in the clear, pressed hard on the gas. Angst tightened up into a ball in her belly, and she subconsciously scratched at her abdomen. “She’s alive?”
Agnes “Iggie” Rawley was their father’s only sibling. When Kay was just an infant, Aunt Iggie had run off with her lover, and they’d never heard from her again. At least not in person. Kay had lived all of her life being constantly compared with Iggie. If their mother was the personification of womanhood, Iggie was who her parents did not want Kay to take after.
“Apparently she died years ago. But she had a son, Kay. He’s not much younger than you, probably. He’s staying here at Arrington while he works to get her cottage in order.”
The slew of emotions churning within her were as acidic as the bile rising into her throat. She swallowed and considered the implications of his words. “How do you know he’s her son?”
“I know exactly where your mind is, Kay. I’m not going to deny that I thought the worst, too. At least reserve judgment until you meet them.”
“Them?”
“Oh,” Jeremy added, “Oh, he has a friend with him. A woman named Sealla and their daughter Nichole.”
She gritted her teeth a few seconds, “I’ll see you in the morning, brother.”
Kay sat, back straight, in front of her dressing table, brushing her blonde locks in long, careful strokes. “Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven…”
When Nanny Bridget entered the room, a pretty pink frock draped across one arm, Kay looked up at the woman and nodded an acknowledgment dutifully. She was rewarded with a proud grin of approval.
“Your hair looks most fetching, Miss Kay.”
“Thank you, Nanny. I brushed it one hundred times.”
“Ah.” Nanny’s gaze turned far away, and she hugged the dress against her chest as if embracing a memory. “Your momma’s hair would sparkle like golden strands. I do believe she had the most lovely blonde hair I have ever seen. Ever in my entire life.”
Nanny was from the old country, as Kay’s daddy called it. Her momma had insisted the woman be brought here from Durma to be the children’s nanny. Kay thought the woman was ancient and stuffy, but her mother insisted she obey her nanny and follow her instruction. And Kay wanted nothing more than to make her parents happy.
“Your momma is a lady, Miss Kay. Never forget that. She never gave her mother and father a single moment of worry. She was dutiful and always remembered her bearing. She was nothing like your Aunt Agnes. You must remember all of the distress that woman has caused your poor daddy. And you must never, never go down that path.”
Kay’s eyes were wide, and she listened to Nanny, raising her hands when the woman began removing her dressing gown to put her into her birthday dress. The woman tugged and patted and brushed the wrinkles from the ruffled pink dress.
“Ah, you are going to be the prettiest eight-year old in all of the United States. The only prettier girl I have ever seen was your darling mother at this age.”
Kay’s lids snapped open, and she rubbed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets to wipe away the memories she’d been dreaming. She could hear chattering down the hallway, and it irritated her to no end that the newcomer was with her family enjoying game night.
After not getting home until early morning, Kay had slept until almost noon. Too much of a wimp to deal with the idea of Aunt Iggie’s son in her home, she’d texted Jeremy that she was going to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. When she returned and found her father, her sister-in-law Meg and the newcomer huddled together, engaged in some sort of clandestine conversation, she’d ducked into the small parlor and laid down for a nap.
Suddenly the door opened and a couple burst inside, the woman slamming the door and leaning against the frame.
“I want you. I love you,” the man said.
“This is crazy, Bren. You need to go home. Jim’s waiting for you, and someone’s going to miss you at some point. They can find you here. It isn’t like no one could ever track down your mother’s family and figure out where you are. They’ll find all of us here if that happens. You’ll be an accessory if—”
“You aren’t listening. I don’t give a damn about being made an accessory. I can’t stand the thought of not being with you, of leaving you. It’s us, Hope. You and me and Michelle. I don’t care if we have to leave the country together. I’m with you.”
Peeking up from her perch on the sofa, Kay watched the brunette woman’s chest rise and fall with a deep breath before she took several steps towards the man
“You had better mean that because I don't think I could take waking up one morning to find you've gone back home. If we do this, it will be forever, Brennan Rawley.”
Just as the woman reached up and kissed the man, Kay grabbed the back of the couch and used it to swing her body around. “So you are the lost Rawley.” She proclaimed, startling them both as she dropped both feet onto the ground with a thud.
“I'm your cousin, Kay. Funny though, Jeremy said her name was Sealla.”
Sealla/Hope went deathly pale, grabbing at her neck as if choking.
“Kay,” she murmured. “It is so good to finally meet you.”
Eyes narrowed, Kay advanced on the couple. “And the baby’s name was Nichole, as I recall,” she added.
“Kay—” Bren began.
“What game are you two playing? You're after our inheritance! You're frauds!”
“He really is your cousin. Trust us.”
She scoffed, “Trust you! You think I would trust you?”
“She's definitely your cousin, Bren. You think just alike.” Sealla/Hope said, voice heavy with sarcasm.
Brennan didn't apparently think that was funny because he gave Hope a withering look and then reached out towards Kay’s arm. Reacting in alarm, Kay snatched herself from his grasp and backed away.
At that moment, the door to the parlor opened as Daddy and Jeremy entered.
“My girl, Kay, you're finally home to meet your cousin!” the old man exclaimed, hobbling to her with his cane.
“Cousin?” she jeered. “He's a fraud! Her name is Hope. They've been lying to all of you. How could you have accepted his claim at face value?”
“Are you blind, Kay? Can't you see that he's your cousin? We all look just alike.”
“Didn't you hear what I said? I heard them talking. He just proposed to her. He called the baby Michelle. He called her Hope. She was talking about making him an accessory to some crime. They’re not who they said they are!”
“I knew it!” Jeremy joined in. “I knew they weren't—”
Kay momentarily felt a rush of vindication as she saw her brother hurry to take her side. But that was squelched quickly when her father rammed his cane onto the floor to get their attention.
“Be quiet, both of you! I know very well their real names, and there is more to this story than I thought either of you should know. If you will sit down, I will explain everything.” His voice was full of authority, and both Jeremy and Kay immediately dropped onto the couch, quick to do their father’s bidding.
“Would you like to tell them, or shall I?” he asked Hope.
“Well, I started all of this, so I suppose I should. It's true that my name is Hope and Nichole’s real name is Michelle. Several months ago. . .”
There was a rushing in Kay’s ears as she listened to Hope’s story. As an intern with the firm, she’d interviewed many clients, and
she tried to listen to this woman’s story with the same open mind under which she did her job. It wasn’t unusual for clients, especially criminal clients, to give monologues about how the judicial system had failed them. But something about Hope’s recitation raised her hackles. How dare this woman take justice into her own hands and steal a baby from her grandparents?
“And so we decided to come to New Durma. We didn’t know that we’d find Brennan's family. We were desperate, and he knew that he had this property that might be a safe place for Michelle and me. We didn't want to deceive any of you, but we couldn't be sure what to expect and you must understand—it has always been Brennan's hope to find his roots. We just didn't think it would be under these circumstances and—”
“I've heard enough,” Kay said in a low, firm voice. “Do you realize the danger you've put us all in? You’re both fugitives! Kidnappers! The consequences of us just being privy to this information—”
“They did what they had to, Kay,” her father defended. “They saved that little girl from—”
“How do you know that?” Kay’s eyes pierced Hope with a look meant to intimidate. “How do you know that what that prostitute said was true?”
“I know,” Hope told her in a harsh tone.
Bren stood beside her. “If Hope says what Justine said is true, then it is.”
Kay shook her head. “The courts would not have given the baby to the Taggerts if there was even one sliver of a possibility that she would have been in danger. The justice system—”
“Failed her,” Hope finished, and the way she said the words sent a cold chill along Kay’s arms. At that moment Meg entered with a crying baby, clearly the center of their entire discussion.
Hope took the child, rocking her against her chest to soothe her, then twisted so that Kay could see the baby full-on. “Look at her, Kay. The system failed her.”
And then Hope turned on her heel, stomping from the room.
“What's going on?” Meg asked, looking to each person in the room for an answer.
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