They moved into the large room, crowded by people their age. Right inside the door was a table covered in name badges and manned by three women. One of those women looked very familiar to Kenley.
“Name please?” the woman said with a bright smile.
“Zane Jackson.”
The woman stood up straighter, her smile glowing at maximum level.
“Zane? Is it really you?”
“Hi, Courtney.” The woman wasn’t wearing a name badge, but that didn’t keep Zane from remembering her name.
The woman clapped in glee and came around the table to hug him. Zane’s expression was pure shock as he hugged her back and then stepped to the side.
“Look at you! I can’t believe how tall you are.” She’d mentioned his height, but had her hand on his arm. As if what she’d wanted to say was that she couldn’t believe how filled out he was.
Thanks to Sidney, Kenley had seen a photo of Zane from high school. She knew he’d been kind of skinny.
“You look good,” Zane managed to say.
“Thanks. How are you? I always think of you when I come home to visit. Me and my two boys live in Denver now.” No mention of a husband. No ring on her finger.
Kenley fidgeted again, causing Zane to remember her existence.
“This is Kenley Carmichael. My girlfriend.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Courtney said, as friendly as could be. “You have the sweetest guy for a boyfriend. No matter how bad of a day I was having, Zane always had a smile for me when we passed each other in the hall.”
“Yes. He has a great smile.” Kenley resisted the urge to step between them. She was not going to be petty or jealous. Even though she’d banked everything on the hope that this woman would be a vile bitch, instead of a completely pleasant person.
Another person walked in so Courtney was forced to return to her post.
“You two go on and have a great time. I’ll try to catch up with you later, Zane.”
“O-okay,” Zane stammered and moved into the room while affixing the sticker with his name printed on it.
“So that’s her?” Kenley said.
“Her who?”
“The girl you’re pretending I am?”
Chapter 20
As Kenley’s words sank in, so did his heart. She somehow knew Courtney was his weakness. No, not somehow. Sidney must have told her.
He loved his sister, but he really wished she would learn to keep her mouth shut. Especially about things that were sure to get him into a heap of trouble.
The sight of Kenley biting her lip and looking around the room caused the air to get stuck in his chest. She was upset. She looked unsure of herself. He knew what that looked like because he’d felt the same way all through high school.
Ignoring the wave from his old friend, Dan, he took Kenley’s hand and led her outside to the large patio, moving to the darkest corner so they could have some privacy.
“You seem to have some information.” He wasn’t angry, but his words came out rather harsh. She pressed her lips together and looked away from him.
“I know you used to fantasize about a girl when you were in high school, and that girl looks like me. You thought we looked enough alike that you passed me over for a job I was qualified for so that you wouldn’t have to feel rejected all over again.”
Christ. She had a lot of information. But not all of it.
He nodded before he spoke.
“Yes, I had a crush on Courtney a long time ago. Yes, when I saw you I felt vulnerable and weak all over again. I was wrong not to hire you because of it, and I did the right thing eventually, which is how you came to work for me.”
“Because you wanted to use me to feel like a big guy now.” Her words stung and he tried not to lash back at her, though he didn’t like being accused of using her, for any reason.
“At first I tried to stay clear of you, because I didn’t want to feel like the nerdy kid drooling over the hot girl again. But then I got to know you and I tried to stay away from you for a different reason. You are my employee and a damn good one. I didn’t want to risk messing that up.” How futile that goal had been.
“But eventually, I realized I couldn’t stay away from you. I didn’t want to. Because I like you. You, Kenley. Not the girl I originally thought you looked like. In truth, I don’t see a lot of similarities between the two of you anymore. She’s very pretty, but you… you have my heart, Ken. You’re the woman I love, now that I’ve finally figured out what love is really about.”
Finally, he’d said the words that had been building in his heart for months. To his surprise, it wasn’t difficult at all.
He smiled down at her smile.
“You love me?”
“You. Only you.”
“Am I being stupid?”
“A little bit, but I still love you.”
She reached for him as he bent to press his lips against hers.
When he kissed her, everything changed. The people from his past faded into nothing and the only thing left was her and their lips pressed together, and the feel of his hand on her back through the thin fabric of her dress.
She was gasping for air when he finally released her, eyes blazing with some emotion he’d never seen before. He remembered her almost confession earlier and swallowed.
“I love you too.” She whispered. “I figured it out a little while ago.”
“And you didn’t say anything.”
“I was going to. I was waiting for the right time.”
“We’re so bad at this. I’m shocked we’ve gotten this far,” he said, causing them both to laugh. She leaned up to kiss him again.
He looked around the patio. Some people were staring at them. Ellen Dunning, whom he remembered had once told him she would go out with him if he stopped hanging with the losers. Those losers had been great friends.
“I thought I had something to prove to myself by coming here, but I was wrong. I’m happy with my life now. I don’t need my past to remind me of that.”
“We’re free to focus on our future?” This question might have freaked him out earlier, but now he had the answer.
“Yes. We’re free.”
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
“Do you want to get out of here?”
He kissed her again, in case there were any questions, and then she whispered in his ear, “I thought you’d never ask.”
They were officially in love. He’d told her and she’d said it back. They’d both survived the ordeal.
It didn’t matter how he’d gotten there. He was on the right track now.
* * *
Zane will be home tomorrow, Kenley told herself as she trudged in to work Wednesday morning.
After the reunion they’d gone back to his house, where they’d stayed the rest of the night and all day Sunday. But Monday he had to go out to Ohio to meet with a few clients. She was counting down the hours until he returned.
She was in this new relationship with all her heart. She wasn’t holding back anything from fear. There were no guarantees in life, but she was going to live hers to the fullest.
She was thinking of the reunion with Zane when Officer Porter walked in. A genuine smile lit up her face at the sight of him. Now that there was no pressure of romantic involvement, she found Scott to be a great friend.
He always seemed to drop in to visit at the end of her shifts when Zane was out of town. She might have been irritated, but she knew Zane had probably asked this of his friend out of concern for her safety. She couldn’t be angry at him for caring about her.
“Officer.”
“It’s Scott.”
“You’re still wearing your uniform. I can’t tell.”
“I’m definitely here in the capacity of a friend right now. And I hope you’ll still want to be my friend when I leave.” At his words she noticed how nervous he appeared.
“Is it bad news? Is Zane okay?”
“I’m sure he’s fin
e. It’s not that. And I don’t think it’s bad, or I would have just kept it to myself.”
He sat down on the guest chair across from her desk and took off his hat.
“I did a stupid thing.” He let out a sigh, but didn’t say anything else.
“I’m going to guess there’s more to the story. If you want me to help, you’re going to have to tell me the stupid thing you did.”
“Remember when we were on the date to nowhere and you told me about how you were adopted?”
“Yeah.” Unease twisted her stomach.
“I offered to run your DNA to see if it got any hits and you said you didn’t want to know.”
“Right.”
“Well, Kenley, I’m a cop who’s training to become a detective, and you were an unsolved case.”
“You didn’t.” She gasped.
“When I went through your house after the robbery, there was an empty soda can and well…” He winced. “I was supposed to pick a case from the files we were given, but I wanted to see if I could figure out yours.”
“And did you?”
He peeked up at her. “Do you want to know?”
“You said it wasn’t bad.”
“It’s not bad, but there’s no happy ending either.”
Did she want to know? All her life—despite her loving parents—she had wondered what had compelled someone to leave their child in a library. It had shaped her in some way, however minor. But now she might be able to finally know what had happened. If she was courageous enough.
“Tell me.”
She sat down in the other chair, just in case she wasn’t as ready as she thought. Scott shifted toward her and took her hands in his.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s not just one database for fingerprints and DNA that you put it in and it shoots out a match.” Hmm. That was exactly the way it worked on television.
“Okay.”
“First I looked back to articles and stories about missing persons the same time you turned up in Pennsylvania. I found something in New Mexico. A woman had filed a report that her daughter had taken her granddaughter away and when she returned the little girl was missing. The police questioned the mother of the toddler, but all she would say was that her daughter was safe. I spoke to one of the detectives who questioned her and they said they tried everything to get her to confess to doing something to her child, but she remained adamant that the little girl was safe.
“When the woman died a few months later from cancer, they suspected she had killed the little girl in a drastic attempt to keep them together in the afterlife or something.”
Kenley’s bare arms were covered in goose bumps.
“I read through the reports and contacted some of the woman’s friends. They were more forthcoming with the details now than they had been back then. Apparently this woman was afraid of her mother and did not want the grandmother to have custody of the little girl. They said the older woman was cruel and abusive, but was the next of kin.
“She also had enough money to fight for custody, so even if the woman, Martina, had left the child with someone else, there was no guarantee the grandmother wouldn’t have gotten custody at some point. According to Martina’s friends she wasn’t willing to risk it. No one seemed to know for sure where she went, but she was gone for two weeks.
“Once I had a scenario that matched, it was simply the matter of running your fingerprints against those of the missing toddler.” He swallowed. “It was a match.”
“Oh God.” She covered her face with her hand in shock. She was originally from New Mexico and her mother’s name was Martina. “What was my name?”
“You were born Amanda Marie Jennings. There is no father listed on your birth certificate.”
“And my grandmother?”
“Died two years ago. From the sounds of it, she only got crazier as she got older. You were lucky, Kenley.”
“My mother abandoned me to protect me, not because I was bad.”
“Is that what you thought?”
He leaned over and put his arms around her as she started to cry. Why, she wasn’t exactly sure. She must not have known how much this mattered to her.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you think they will.”
“What’s not working out?”
It was Zane’s voice. She hadn’t heard him come in. Scott released his hold on her and she stood, realizing how this might look if someone had just walked in.
* * *
Finding Kenley in Scott’s arms was a bit of a jolt, but he trusted his friend, as well as the woman with the tears dripping off her chin.
“Porter, why have you made my girlfriend cry?”
“It’s not his fault,” Kenley defended the other man. The ring box in Zane’s pocket felt heavy. He’d been planning this moment since that day she’d looked at him with forever in her eyes while he’d been holding his niece. He’d been practicing what he would say since he picked up the ring. He’d been sure he was ready. But now it would appear she wasn’t.
“Kenley, are you angry at me?” Scott asked, his face pale. “I completely overstepped and you have every reason to hate me or report me.”
“Report you? What the hell did you do?” Zane stepped closer. While he trusted Kenley, he was now having doubts about Scott. Kenley moved with him, staying between the two men.
“It’s not what you think. It has nothing to do with us,” Kenley said.
“I was hoping we would share everything,” he told her, his glare still on the policeman.
“I’m not going to report you. I’m actually glad you did what you did. Now I know the truth. So, thank you.”
“If you’re sure?”
“I am. But I think you should probably go,” Kenley suggested.
“I’ll stop by tomorrow to check on things. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
Scott nodded at Zane before Scott pulled his hat on his head and walked out of the office. Kenley locked the door behind him and turned the sign to say they were closed.
“You’re being ridiculous,” she said while rolling her eyes. “There is nothing going on between Scott and me.”
He followed her to his office where she sat on the sofa and patted the seat next to her. He didn’t want to sit. He needed to walk.
She let out a breath and said the one thing he never expected her to say.
“My real name is Amanda.”
* * *
An hour later, Kenley finished the story and leaned back against the cushions, feeling exhausted. Zane mirrored her pose and shook his head.
“That is some story.”
“I still can’t believe it’s my story.”
“The thing I really find unbelievable is that you ever thought it was your fault. You’re an amazing person. And even if you were the brattiest three-year-old in existence, it still wouldn’t have been reason for someone to cast you aside. How could you ever think such a thing?”
“I guess the same way I thought you only wanted me because I looked like the girl of your dreams.” It did seem silly now. She knew Zane loved her.
“You are the girl of my dreams, Ken.” He kissed her and she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. “Would you consider changing your name?” he whispered.
She shook her head. “I couldn’t do that to my father. I’d always complained about the name Kenley because it was unconventional, but it’s who I am. I can’t think of myself as Amanda.”
“It wasn’t your first name I was talking about.” He pulled out a square velvet box and got down on one knee. With a snap, the box opened to reveal a diamond ring. “Will you marry me, Kenley Rose Carmichael?”
On the same day she’d been given her past, she was also given her future. Who knew getting fired could turn out to be such a great thing? She went to his desk and pushed the papers to the side before turning back to him with a big smile.
“Sur
e thing, boss.”
Epilogue
“Hunter? You ready to go? Come on, man. We only have thirty-two minutes.” Brady stepped through the door that separated their kitchen from his brother’s.
“Can you help me with my tie?” Hunter asked as he hurried into the room in his dressy new clothes. He’d decided he wanted to use some of his money on new clothes so he would look nice at Kenley and Zane’s wedding. Michaela had taken him shopping and the results of her effort looked pretty nice.
“Yeah. I think I remember how to do a tie.”
“You’re not wearing a tie?” Hunter gave him a look that had judgment written all over it.
“I’m not. I’m wearing khakis and a dress shirt. That’s good enough for a wedding on a boat.”
“You look nice.” Hunter shrugged.
“You look even better,” Brady allowed as he pushed his brother’s chin up so he could see. A few slashes of silk between them and the tie was snug and straight around his neck.
“Don’t you boys look handsome?” Mick said as she stepped in wearing a low-cut dress and highheels. She didn’t dress up for work, and he never took her to the kinds of places she’d need to wear something like the ensemble she was wearing now. He made a mental note to change that in the future.
“You look pretty,” Brady said.
Hunter followed his complement with, “You’re so beautiful, Michaela.”
“Are you trying to one up me in front of my girl?” Brady teased his brother, though Hunter didn’t understand the joke.
“Oh! I almost forgot my gift for them.” Hunter ran off.
“Hurry up!”
“I am!”
“You did a great job with his clothes. He looks like a player.”
“That wasn’t my goal. I was just happy to find something that didn’t have itchy tags. He hates itchy tags.” When she smiled at him, something in his chest leaped with happiness. Michaela had opened her heart and her home to him and his brother.
She was an amazing person and sexy to boot. He couldn’t wait a second longer to make her his.
* * *
Brady gave her a look she hadn’t seen before. He was rarely serious, with exception to the few times she’s seen him mad. He was serious now.
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