by Natalie Ann
She looked down at the thick gold chain in her hand. It was somewhat gaudy looking, but she didn’t care. It belonged to her brother. He’d worn it on his neck, and it was almost like she could feel a part of him while she held it.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“I found it mixed in with my belongings when I left the service. I don’t know how it ended up there. It was fate, I guess, for me to have it. I believe it was meant for me to hold on to until I found where it needed to be. It’s meant to be with you.”
***
Later that night Drew looked at Jordyn in his truck driving home. “You’re awfully quiet over there.”
“Huh?” she said, looking distracted.
“I said you are awfully quiet. Everything okay?”
“It’s been a long day,” she said absently.
He knew that, and he saw that today. He’d had no clue Ben was going to tell her what he found. He hadn’t even known Ben found anything but was glad he told her around his family. Maybe Jordyn wouldn’t have preferred it, but he saw the way the Harpers rallied around her today.
They all came forward at different times to talk to her. To see how she was doing and ask if there was anything they could help with. Not that there was much, but the offers were sincere and Jordyn seemed to appreciate it.
“It has. You handled it well though.”
“Everyone has been so nice to me,” she said, almost in wonder.
“Why wouldn’t they be?”
“I’m no one to them. They just met me.”
He couldn’t believe she still felt that way. “You are someone to them. You’re someone to me, and that makes you family to them. Why is it so hard for you to accept that?”
“I’m trying. They make it easy, but it’s still so unfamiliar to me.”
He understood that and was happy she was at least trying. “So, when are you going to get a flight to Atlanta?”
She looked at him, no shock on her face. “I’m that easy to figure out?”
“You are. Were you going to tell me?” he asked, smiling at her.
“Of course. And I was going to see if you’d like to go with me. Otherwise I have a feeling you’d try to go without me.” She was smiling right back at him, teasing him the way he enjoyed so much.
“Well, let me know how your schedule is. Things are starting to warm up here. Spring isn’t that far away and I’m going to be getting pretty swamped at work.”
“Warming up,” she said, rolling her eyes. “This isn’t warm. What are you talking about?”
“It was in the high forties today. That is warm for the end of February. Once March first hits, we could have fifties. Of course we could have two feet of snow, too. You take the good with the bad and hope for the best.”
“More snow,” she said, cringing. He tried not to laugh at her. As much as she tried to adapt, she was still struggling with the winter.
“It could happen.”
“I’ll check my schedule this week and try to figure something out. Maybe we can go on a Friday afternoon or night so you only have to miss a little bit of work,” she suggested.
“Let me know what works and I’ll be there for you.”
Common Name
“Here we are,” Drew said when he pulled the rental car in front of the bank.
“It’s just a safe deposit box,” Jordyn said back.
It had taken a few weeks to coordinate their schedules and get a flight. In the end, they arrived late last night after the bank was closed. They checked into their hotel, grabbed some dinner and then went back to relax.
“It is,” he said.
“It’s probably empty.” She shut the door and waited for Drew to walk around.
He turned back to her, looked at the bank, then said, “At least the weather is warm.”
“Why are you being so agreeable?”
“Do you want me to argue with you?”
“No,” she said, frowning when she caught his smile.
“Relax, Jordyn. We won’t know anything until we get in there. Maybe it’s a dead end. Maybe all of your questions will have answers. Or maybe we get to enjoy the sunshine in the city before we go back to New York.”
He was right. She wasn’t usually this negative about things.
The last few weeks Ben hadn’t been able to find out much more about the Triple H Haven. Whatever they were—whoever they were—or if they had anything to do with her mother, they weren’t breaking the law. At least not that Ben could find.
“You’re right. Lead the way,” she said, holding the door open for him.
“What’s your plan once we get in there? You don’t know which one is his, right?”
“No. I hope they let us in to check at least. I hadn’t really thought that far. I guess I’ll be honest.”
“It can’t hurt,” Drew said.
They walked over to a desk area and stood there until the woman was off the phone. She smiled pleasantly at them. “Can I help you?”
Jordyn stepped up and showed the key in her hand. “Hi. My father, Tim Morris, passed away over a year ago. He sent me a package and this key was in it. We were able to find out it belongs to a box at this bank and I was hoping to be able to see what is inside. The problem is, I don’t know which box this key belongs to.”
The woman hesitated and Jordyn looked at her nametag. “Maryann, I know this sounds like an odd request, but I was wondering if we could go look. Or if I could give you the key to go look. Maybe it’s empty. I don’t have a problem with a bank employee opening it.”
Maryann started to type into her computer. “We have a very strict policy about letting people into safe deposit boxes without having them listed on file.”
Jordyn’s heart sank. It seemed like the possibility of her getting in that box was going to vanish before her eyes. So close.
“Could you go look inside it? Maybe there is something in there with instructions. I don’t know why he would have left me this key if he didn’t want me to know what was in there.”
“What’s your name?” Maryann asked.
“Jordyn Montgomery.”
“Tim Morris you said, correct?” Maryann clicked on the keyboard a few times. “Morris is a common name, so I have to weed through. Ah, here it is. Actually, there are two Tim Morrises listed. Do you know his middle initial?”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
Maryann raised her eyebrows. “You say he is your father, yet you don’t know his middle initial.”
“I never knew him. I didn’t find out about him until after my mother died.” She added what she thought might be puppy-dog eyes to her statement.
“Oh dear, you poor girl. So young to have both of your parents gone.”
Oh wow, it worked. Okay, maybe she could garner some more sympathy here.
“Yes. So you see my dilemma. When my mother died, she left me a letter that I found going through her things. In that letter, she named my father. Next to that letter was a box that had been shipped before my mother’s death. She never even opened it,” Jordyn said, sighing and trying for a woeful look.
Maryann’s eyes softened a touch. “Let me just check both of these records and see if I can find something.”
Jordyn turned her head and looked at Drew, trying not to cry. Maybe pulling off the woeful look was easy because she was feeling like that right now.
“I’m sorry. I don’t see your name on either of the safe deposit boxes.”
She didn’t want this to be a dead end, but unfortunately she’d felt all along the possibility was huge. Maybe she wasn’t meant to know anything else other than who her father was.
“What about his account?” Drew jumped in and asked. “We know he still has an account here with the bank. What if for some reason Jordyn’s name is on that? Would that be enough to get her access to his box?”
“Yes, it would.” Maryann sighed. “It’s going to take me a minute. There are even more Tim Morrises with bank accounts in our s
ystem. Our system isn’t only for this specific branch.”
Drew flashed her one of his charming smiles. “We’d really appreciate it. We came a long way. Just flew in last night and are going to leave later tonight.”
Maryann smiled back at Drew, a blush starting to cover her face. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what I could find.” She started to type some more. “Where are you from?”
“We flew in from upstate New York,” Jordyn said, wrinkling her nose at Drew.
Figures he would be able to get Maryann to look into it. She thought Maryann was being sympathetic to her plight, but maybe it was the smile Drew had been flashing the whole time.
“That is a long way. There’s no one waiting, so I’ll check out what I can until someone else shows up and needs assistance. Have a seat.”
If that was the best they could get, Jordyn was going to take it.
A few minutes later, after Maryann had been busy typing away, she stopped and said, “Well, today might be your lucky day. Can I see some ID? I guess I should have asked that first.”
“Sure.” Jordyn fished her wallet out of her purse for her driver’s license. She handed it over and waited a second while Maryann glanced at it and looked at Jordyn more carefully, then handed it back.
“You are listed on a savings account here.”
“It’s got four thousand two hundred and eighteen dollars in it, right?”
“Yes, it does.” Maryann looked shocked. “If you knew that, why didn’t you give me the account number?”
Jordyn wasn’t sure how to answer that. She didn’t want to say Ben found out the amount. Now she wished she hadn’t blurted out that information in the first place.
“I don’t have the account number with me.”
Maryann nodded. “Well, let me just cross-reference back to the two safe deposit boxes to make sure I’ve got the right one.” A few more clicks and finally: “It’s box number thirty-four. If you go past the tellers and take a right, it’s your first left.”
“Thank you so much,” Jordyn said.
Her heart was racing now, more than she had ever remembered it before. Drew reached out and threaded his fingers through hers and they walked together toward the room.
“Here goes,” she said a moment later when she slid the key in and turned it. She opened the door and pulled the box out. It was small; there couldn’t be much in there.
Drew laid his hand on hers before she could flip the lid up. “You okay? You want me to look first for you?”
“No. I’m good. I’m ready for this. I guess I hope it’s not empty at this point.”
“Me too.”
She lifted the top. There wasn’t much in there. Just a few envelopes facedown. She pulled one out and recognized her mother’s handwriting, and felt her eyes fill.
Opening it up, she pulled out the paper and read the few short sentences. Stay away from Jordyn and me. You didn’t want us before and you got your way then. I don’t want you now. It’s going to be my way. It was dated almost thirteen years ago.
“It looks like it was within months of when Patty said Tim showed up looking for Trent,” Drew said, almost reading her mind.
“Yeah.”
She felt like her throat was closing. Anger maybe? How could her mother have made that decision for her? It didn’t seem fair that Jordyn was never given a choice.
She picked up the other envelope in the box, saw it was addressed to Brandon and Katy Morris, and still sealed and stamped “returned to sender.” The address was in Georgia, but she wasn’t sure how far away it was. She’d deal with that later.
At the bottom of the box there were a few old pictures. One of a boy and girl. She turned it over and saw Brandon and Katy written on it. Her brother and sister. He’d kept a picture of them, but yet it seemed he’d had no contact with them anymore either.
One other picture. An old faded picture of two girls. Two teenage girls in dresses. “That’s my mother,” she gasped, chills running down her spine.
“Are you sure?” Drew asked, looking more closely.
“Yes. Look. The dress. That’s one of the dresses I showed you. I’d recognize my mother anywhere. I’ve never seen a picture of her when she was younger, but I know it’s her. I’d say she was around thirteen here.”
“Now what?” Drew asked.
“Now we find Katy and Brandon. We’re close, I feel it.”
Libby’s Daughter
“What are you going to do? Just go knock on the front door?” Drew asked when they pulled in front of the address that had been on the letter in Tim’s safe deposit box.
He’d been shocked at how well Jordyn was holding everything together. Though to be honest, he shouldn’t have been. He knew she was strong; he’d seen signs of that for months, but this just blew his mind.
She’d marched into the bank with a purpose. Sure, she’d been nervous, so had he, but she’d been direct with the lady at the bank. She never wavered, even when he knew she wanted to.
Honestly, he wasn’t sure he could have been as cool and collected as she’d been and was impressed.
Then, when they left the bank with everything in that box, she immediately pulled her phone out and started to search for the address. It was less than an hour away, so she set the GPS and turned to him, then said, “Drive.” So he did. He wasn’t about to argue with her.
Her face was set. She wanted answers and he wanted to help her get them. He didn’t dare mention the fact that her siblings most likely weren’t living there anymore. The letter had been returned as undeliverable after all and that was a long time ago.
But then again, who knew? Maybe it was her lucky day. Maybe someone there could provide her with something.
“If I didn’t have such aversion to social media, I could do a search that way. I probably wouldn’t have much luck, though, especially with our time line.”
“I guess we’re going to find out,” he said, smiling at her. He took a deep breath, opened the car door and followed her up the front steps.
She looked over at him. “Wish me luck.”
He touched her hand, rubbing his thumb on her palm. “I’m here for you. Always.”
She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, squared her shoulders and knocked on the door. “There’s a car in the driveway, so I hope that means someone is home.”
They waited a few minutes with no response, so Jordyn knocked one more time. A moment later the door opened and a woman was standing there.
He wasn’t good with ages, but she looked to be somewhere in her forties. Pretty, with short brown hair, and wearing old jeans and a T-shirt. “Can I help you?”
“I was wondering if Brandon or Katy Morris lived here?”
The lady frowned, then said, “No.”
“Oh,” Jordyn said, looking deflated, and Drew could almost feel her pain and frustration. “Sorry to bother you.”
She turned to leave when the woman said, “They both moved away after college. Do you know them?”
Drew turned back and said, “Did they live here? I mean, are you their mother?”
“Yes. My name is Betsy Morris. I’m their mother. Is something wrong? Is she okay?” Betsy said, turning sharply to Jordyn.
Drew looked over and saw the color drain from Jordyn’s face, and thought for sure she was going to pass out.
“Whoa. Hang on,” he said, reaching for Jordyn and supporting her by her shoulders. “Can we just sit on your porch for a second?”
“Sure. Please, bring her to the chair. I’ll go get her some water.”
Drew watched Betsy run back in the house, leaving her door wide open. He thought that was odd. She was obviously very trusting to do that with two strangers on her doorstep. Then again, Jordyn wasn’t looking so well right now.
Betsy came back out with a bottle of water, quickly took the top off and handed it to Jordyn. “Drink it. Slowly now. Does she need to lie down?”
“No,” Drew said. “I think she’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your names.”
“Drew Palmer and Jordyn Montgomery.”
“Montgomery?” Betsy gasped and grabbed at Jordyn’s hand, dropped to her knees and started to search her face. “Libby’s daughter?”
***
Having never hyperventilated before, Jordyn wasn’t sure if that was what she was doing or not, but she was pretty sure she was. Just hearing that the woman standing in front of her was her brother and sister’s mother was enough. But then when Betsy recognized her as Libby’s daughter, the breath was knocked right out of her.
She nodded her head once, and started to take deep breaths in and out. Her heart was pounding, almost squeezing inside her chest, the roaring in her ears louder than she thought possible.
“I can’t breathe,” she gasped out.
“Let’s get her inside,” she faintly heard Betsy say to Drew.
“Come on, Jordyn,” Drew said, “I’ve got you. Try to stand up or I’ll carry you.”
She wasn’t about to be carried in. No way. That was way too embarrassing. So she gripped his hand and held onto him when she stood up on shaky legs, then followed Betsy into the house.
“Please, have a seat. Or lie down if you need to. You’re looking awfully pale right now. Then again, I’m not feeling so well myself. I can’t believe it, not after all of these years. Are you really Libby’s daughter?”
“She is,” Drew said, answering for her. Which was a good thing, because even though her brain was working, she couldn’t seem to form a thought.
“I can’t believe…after all of these years,” Betsy repeated again. “You look so much like her.”
Jordyn took a deep breath and looked at Betsy, saw the tears in her eyes and finally said, “How do you know my mother? I’ve never heard your name before.”
Betsy seemed to hesitate, then said, “Libby never mentioned me?”
“No,” Jordyn said, shaking her head frantically.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Betsy looked a little sad and maybe a little…guilty. “How is Libby doing?”
There was no way to stop the tears from filling her eyes and running down her face. “She passed away almost a year ago.”