I hope you can find a way to forgive me for not sharing this information with you years ago. The more time that passed, the harder it became to tell you because I knew you’d be hurt and angry. Losing you and your respect would have been more than I could have endured.
Several years ago, I began a search for your birth mother. I thought you might someday want to know your family medical history. Your mother’s name is Barbara Sherwood. Unfortunately, she died from a drug overdose a few years after you were born. She didn’t name a father on your original birth certificate. I have no idea whether you have any other living relatives or where your twin sister is, but I hope you will take this information and find her so you’re not alone.
Again, I hope you will someday be able to forgive me and remember that everything I have ever done was because of my love for you.
Charlotte read the letter a second time and then dropped it onto the coffee table. She put her hands over her face and shook her head.
Her mother had lied to her. Not just a little lie, but a series of lies that had continued nearly three decades.
No wonder her mother had hidden this letter for Charlotte to find after her mother’s death.
Charlotte had believed her mother was the epitome of honesty. She had recently bragged to Allie that her mother would never have kept her twin’s existence a secret if she’d known about it. She was the kind of person who would return to a store if she’d been given too much change, just to correct the mistake.
Charlotte’s text message alert sounded on her cell phone. She picked up the phone from the dining room table. The message was from Allie.
Checking to make sure you’re okay. Jack and I are here if you need us.
She’d been truly blessed to have found Allie, and their meeting had been purely accidental. Charlotte’s friend Jack had taken her to a family wedding. His cousin was marrying Allie’s younger brother. After Jack confused Allie for Charlotte a few times, both he and Charlotte met Allie. Charlotte found her sister, and Jack fell in love with Allie. Charlotte couldn’t be happier for the two of them. In fact, she and Allie’s mother, who had warmly embraced Charlotte like a daughter, had been instrumental in getting them to face their feelings for each other.
She looked at Allie’s message on her phone again. What should she say? She was too exhausted physically and emotionally to talk right now.
Thanks. I appreciate it. Will talk to you in the morning.
Charlotte sent the message and headed upstairs to bed, leaving her mother’s letter on the coffee table.
Two months later
ALLIE MILLER SAT in her office Thursday morning and checked her calendar. A thing she hadn’t done since September had rolled into October at the end of last week. It wasn’t as though she had a lot on the calendar, unfortunately. One thing stood out, though. The advertising conference she’d registered for months ago was in two days. Which meant she probably had an email this morning telling her she could check in electronically for her flight tomorrow.
Damn. She’d forgotten all about it. She’d signed up for it back when she’d been optimistic about her financial future and still worked at DP Advertising. Before she nearly joined her former boyfriend in federal prison, thanks to his extortion scheme that she hadn’t been aware of until after the guy’s arrest. That was followed by her being unfairly let go from DP because everyone assumed she’d known about it and was somehow involved.
She sighed. The conference would be worthwhile, but she didn’t want to spend a week away from Jack. Not to mention the toll it would take on her bank account. After being blacklisted in the ad industry, she had opened her own agency and didn’t have much money to spare.
Allie made a few phone calls, ending with a call to Jack at his office at Empire Advertising, his grandfather’s successful firm.
“Hey,” she said when he answered.
“Miss me already?” His tone was teasing. “I just dropped you off.” They had settled into a routine where they stayed in her Providence, Rhode Island, high-rise apartment during the week and spent the weekends at Jack’s house in Newport. A bonus was having her newly discovered twin sister, Charlotte, right across the street from him.
She explained to Jack about the conference. “So I’ve paid for the airfare, which is nonrefundable, and the conference people told me I couldn’t get a refund at this late date. I can still cancel the hotel room because I really don’t want to go.”
“It would be a great trip to make together,” he said. “I was dealing with Granddad’s health when I heard about the conference and decided I shouldn’t be that far away from him.” His maternal grandfather, now living comfortably in an assisted-living facility in Providence, had raised Jack. His grandfather had banished Jack’s father when it was revealed that his father’s latest affair with one of his college students had precipitated the argument between Jack’s parents—an argument that led to his mother’s fatal car accident.
“How weird would it have been if we’d met at this conference instead of the wedding?” She laughed.
“We would have lost all this time together,” he reminded her. “You know, if you don’t feel you can afford it, I can help you out.”
“It’s partially the money, since I haven’t been able to snag a big-name client like John Wentworth or Raymond Foster to keep my company afloat. But truthfully, I’d miss Harvey.” She was teasing about their rescue dog, but she didn’t want to get too mushy by telling Jack she’d miss him terribly. Their relationship still felt too new to jump ahead too quickly.
“You’d miss Harvey?” The humor in his voice came through clearly.
“Sure. I’ve gotten quite attached to him.”
“Glad to hear it.” He chuckled. “Hey, what about Charlotte?”
“What about her?”
“You were looking for something to get her out of this funk. What about giving her the trip? She wouldn’t have to attend the conference, but it’s a week’s vacation on an island.”
“What about the plane ticket? I can’t put it in her name.”
He was quiet for a few seconds. “See if you can get a credit. I’ll pay for a new flight once Charlotte agrees to go.”
The idea was a good one. They’d both been troubled about Charlotte’s well-being since her mother’s letter. Charlotte was consumed with grief and anger; her therapist had been unable to help her cope. Charlotte was determined to keep searching for their biological relatives and had emailed and left messages over social media for anyone who might know or be related to their mother, Barbara Sherwood. Allie thought her motivation was because Charlotte was still angry her adoptive mother had known about Allie and never told Charlotte.
“I’ll also chip in for the hotel room,” he added. “Tell Charlotte she can relax and Allie Miller will just not show up for the conference.”
“That’s perfect!” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it herself. Her sister had been so good to her since they’d met, and this trip would be a nice way to repay her. “This is really a great idea, Jack. She’s been spending a lot of time searching for our other biological relatives, and I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been working much. I’m worried. Her next art show is in a few weeks and I don’t see how she’ll be ready.”
“Then make sure she accepts the trip.”
“Trust me, I’ll make sure she does.”
“You are pretty persuasive,” he teased and then changed the subject. “Why don’t we plan a road trip to Vermont this weekend? The leaves are probably almost gone, but we could