The Unknown Sister

by Rebecca Winters

  Their mouths met once more in a lengthy kiss, a kiss that went on and on. Shadows of the evening darkened the interior before Catherine realized what she was inviting. He’d warned her it was up to her to set the boundaries.

  Tearing her lips from his, she moved to the passenger side, and with trembling fingers, fastened her seat belt. Casting him a covert glance, she saw the way his chest heaved with emotion.

  He placed his hand on her thigh as they started home in silence. It remained there, communicating his need. Helpless to do otherwise, she covered it with hers.

  They were on fire for each other. She didn’t care. David had become her whole world. She couldn’t remember life before him.

  “MR. BRITTON?”

  “Yes, Louise?”

  “May I see you for a minute, please?”

  He’d barely walked into his office when his phone rang. But his secretary’s tone suggested there was something that couldn’t wait. “Of course,” he said.

  “Just give me a minute.”

  Before he could get to his real work, he had to deal with the messages on his desk—urgent messages to call his mother, Mitch and his manager at the day trading office. They’d probably called him at home, too, but he hadn’t even checked his voice mail last night. He closed his eyes, trying to summon his usual sense of purpose. It seemed his Monday morning was starting off with a series of problems.

  All he could think about was Catherine.

  They were going to have lunch together, but it wouldn’t be for five hours. He might be able to last that long if he could hear her voice in the interim. As soon as he’d dealt with whatever business Louise was worried about, he’d phone Catherine at her office.

  With that thought brightening his mood, he sat at his desk and waited for Louise

  “You’re here early this morning,” he said when she appeared.

  “I know.” She shut the door, another sure sign of trouble. “Shannon White is outside in reception,” she began in a quiet voice. “Barbara and I told her there were no job openings. She said that wasn’t the reason she’d come.”

  David didn’t believe that, but he kept his opinion to himself. Whenever he was forced to think about Shannon, he experienced a feeling of distaste; with each incident, it was getting stronger.

  “I reminded her that you couldn’t see anyone without an appointment. That didn’t matter to her. She said you’d make an exception as soon as you heard her news.”

  “What news?” he asked in a dull voice.

  “She’s found out that her twin is alive. An identical twin. A woman who’s been spotted in downtown Portland.”

  He froze in his chair.

  The thing he’d been hoping would never happen had come to pass.

  So…today was payback time for the happiness he’d shared with Catherine yesterday. He should have known everything was too good to last. That was what she’d been saying all along. This latest bombshell proved how true that was.

  He had no idea when or how Shannon had found out the truth, but that was irrelevant. She knew now, and wouldn’t let it go.

  “That’s news, all right, provided it doesn’t turn out to be a false lead,” he said for Louise’s benefit.

  “Thank you for alerting me. I’ll tell you what. Let me have five minutes to get organized, then send her in.

  “While you’re at it, inform Ken that because of this interruption, I’ll be starting the lab meeting ten minutes later than planned.”

  “Very good, Mr. Britton.”

  David understood his selfish reasons for hoping things would never get this far. But strictly speaking, the situation wasn’t about him or his agenda.

  No matter how he felt about Shannon, she had every right to pursue her lead. As the head of the Britton Institute, he would have to treat her as fairly as he would any other participant. Beyond that, he didn’t have the right to give her information.

  Catherine was the only person who could do that. But she didn’t know she was a twin, otherwise that would have come out during his conversation with her on the drive home from Eugene. After what he’d learned, he could guarantee she wouldn’t want to be found, even if she did know. It wasn’t his place to tell Catherine anything, let alone persuade her one way or the other.

  He heard a tap on the door. “David? Your secretary said it was all right to come in.”

  “Of course.” As Shannon entered the room, he remained behind his desk to keep this meeting formal and brief. “I was just heading over to a staff meeting when Louise said you had some news that could be meaningful. I can spare a few minutes. Sit down,” he said as she started toward him, her face and body radiating excitement.

  His suggestion checked her movement. She found one of the chairs opposite his desk and perched on the edge of it.

  After having been with Catherine all weekend, it was agony to face a euphoric Shannon and behave with any normalcy. He had to rate this moment as one of the most difficult of his life.

  “Before anything else is said, Shannon, I want you to know that I recently learned of your interest in working for this institute. I’m sorry to have to tell you that despite your credentials, it’s our policy not to hire anyone who’s a participant. I was on the verge of asking Louise to send you a letter informing you of that.”

  “I understand. Oh, David—you’re not going to believe what happened to me Friday night! I drove into Portland around seven and went to the same restaurant where you took me for dinner. That waiter, Steve, recognized me.”

  Forced to sit there without groaning, David listened while she explained how the impossible had happened.

  Obviously, it wasn’t impossible.

  In fact, the more she talked, the more he knew in his gut that an eventual meeting of the twins would probably occur.

  “I think the chances of this happening have to be in the billion-to-one category. You don’t know what this means to me, how excited I am! She could easily have been a brother, but all along I’ve been hoping for a sister.”

  If this were anyone but Shannon, you’d tell her you’re happy for her.

  David nodded. “It sounds like a promising lead.”

  “I know it is!” she cried, her expression animated. “Whoever our mother is, she must have given birth in a hospital here in Oregon rather than Washington.

  “As I told you before, after my adoptive mother died, I went through all her papers, but didn’t find out anything about my adoption. If they had a birth certificate, I never saw it.

  “When I checked birth records at the Washington State bureau of vital statistics, nothing turned up. Now I can check the Oregon records, as well. If I can find my twin, maybe her adoptive mother has more information about our births. I lay awake all night thinking about how wonderful it would be to find our birth parents, as well.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “David? I have a couple of ideas I want to run past you.”

  He feared what was coming next. “Go ahead.”

  “I’ve decided to hire a private investigator, but I also thought I’d take out a half-page ad in the Portland newspaper showing my picture. I’d offer a reward for added incentive. I could put something like, ‘I’m looking for my identical twin sister. She recently had dinner at the Crompton Steakhouse. If you’re that person, or if you know the name or address of the woman who looks exactly like me, phone me immedia—”

  “Wait a minute, Shannon,” he broke in quietly.

  “Before you do anything, I want you to think seriously about what you’re saying.”

  The eagerness left her face. “Why?”

  “The institute was created for the genetic study of twins. In the whole time since its establishment, there have only been two sets of twins who happened to be united because they’d responded to our ads.

  “Even though all four of them had been anxious to locate their twins, they found when they met that they had to go through a long, difficult period of adjustment.”

  Shannon shook her head. “
I still don’t understand what any of that has to do with me.”

  He sat back and folded his arms. “Think for a moment. Your mother’s been gone a year. You’ve had twelve months to absorb the realization that you have a twin. All this time, you’ve been busy planning and anticipating a meeting. You answered our ad in the hope that it would lead you to him or her.

  “Maybe you’re ready for this monumental meeting, but your twin may not be. That’s why you will have to tread carefully, however you go about tracking her down.”

  “What do you mean? When I heard I might have a twin, I could hardly wait to meet her!”

  “Nevertheless, she may not feel the same way.”

  “But we’re the same flesh and blood.”

  David patently didn’t want Shannon to find Catherine, but he was required by law and his own code of ethics to give her the same advice he would give any participant who had come to him under these circumstances. It was vital that his conscience be free on this score, at least.

  “Nevertheless you’ve lived apart for almost three decades, without the slightest knowledge of each other. A year ago, you learned you were adopted because your mother told you. But what if, for some reason, your birth parents couldn’t afford both daughters, so they kept one and gave you up? What if they’re all alive, yet never told their daughter she has a twin sister?

  “Can you understand the damage that could be done to their family if your newspaper ad were to expose their secret in such a public way?

  “The shock would be traumatic for all concerned. Trust would be lost and might never be regained. The daughter these parents loved might even run away. A divorce might result, because one of the parents had always wanted to tell their daughter the truth, and now it was too late to repair the damage. There are all kinds of devastating possibilities.”

  She lowered her head. “I guess I didn’t think about it to that extent.”

  David felt he was making some progress. “Suppose your birth parents gave up both of you. What if your twin’s adoptive parents never told her she was adopted, let alone that she was a twin?”

  Her eyes flashed impatiently. “I can’t imagine anyone doing that anymore. Not in this day and age.”

  “You’d be surprised. Some adoptive parents are afraid to tell the truth for fear they won’t be loved as completely by their adopted children. Or they know the adoption was illegal and someone could get into trouble with the law if the news were to come out.

  “Try to imagine how difficult it would be for them and their daughter to be approached by a private detective, or to see your picture in the paper. They could lose their daughter’s love, the confidence of their friends, their employers, their neighbors. They might even end up in court.”

  He sat forward in his chair. “I learned a lot from the two sets of twins who found each other through my institute. Getting together with your sibling isn’t just about you, Shannon. It’s about whole families. In your case, you’ve lost your parents and you don’t have brothers or sisters. For you it’s much simpler. You’ve had time to think and prepare. You’re open to a relationship.”

  “And you don’t think she is.”

  At this point David was searching for words that wouldn’t make him a complete liar. “Maybe she knows she’s adopted. Maybe she knows she’s a twin. But what if it doesn’t mean anything to her? That’s entirely possible. She may never have looked for her twin, never had any desire to meet him or her.”

  Shannon shook her head. “That’s the part I can’t believe.”

  “I understand that. But because she doesn’t know you, she might not have your curiosity. Maybe she’s happy with her life, maybe not. She could be married or single. She could be divorced. She could have children, or she might not.

  “She might still be living at home taking care of an aged or sickly parent, like you were before your mother passed away. She might not want a twin in her life adding more complications.”

  Taking advantage of her silence, he said, “Then again, one day this woman might look for her twin, just the way you are. Maybe she’s afraid to do an active search until her parents are gone, so it won’t hurt them.

  “Maybe she’s always wanted to find her twin, and her adoptive parents have been helping her. Maybe she’s married and her husband doesn’t want her looking for a twin when she’s needed at home, so she has to go about it in secret.

  “Perhaps one day she’ll see an ad like the one you responded to, and she’ll contact the institute. The problem is that you assume finding your twin will make both of you happy. It could. It might. But there’s a lot of hard work that goes on when you try to bond with a blood relative you’ve only just met.

  “For what it’s worth, I’ve talked at length with those twins who met through my facility. Along with their joy, they experienced pain and frustration. Even fear and anger. These emotions are bound to flare up when our lives are all so complicated, anyway.

  “No matter how much you might want it, Shannon, you have to be prepared for the possibility that a bonding might never occur.”

  He cleared his throat. “I realize my words have dampened your excitement. But because of my position as head of this institute, I was compelled to say them.” Everything he’d said was exactly what he would have told anyone in her circumstances. He had to issue these warnings, had to convey the complexity of such a situation. He’d tried to ignore the special knowledge he had in this case.

  Shannon expelled a sigh. “I never expected this when I came here this morning. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I certainly wouldn’t want to be responsible for hurting anyone.”

  In that moment David felt deeply sorry for her. He wished this whole situation were a nightmare that faded by morning.

  “Having said all this, I have to tell you that, naturally, you’re still free to do what you want.” Should she ignore his advice and find a way to meet Catherine, anyway, he hoped she would do it with discretion.

  He glanced at his watch and got to his feet. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cut this short because I’m late for an important meeting.”

  Crossing the office, he opened the door for her.

  Instead of walking past him, she stopped and put a hand on his arm. “David?” Her eyes held too much longing. Once again regret for past mistakes was torturing him. “I need to talk to you some more about this. Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight?”

  No more lies.

  “Much as I appreciate the invitation, Shannon, I can’t. I’m involved with someone else.”

  As she slowly let go of him, pain flickered across her face. “Is it serious?”

  “Yes. Very.”

  Tears glazed her eyes. “So fast?”

  Her bewilderment that he could have started seeing another woman this soon after their dinner date deepened his guilt. For her sake, he realized he had to be frank.

  “Sometimes love happens like that,” he said as gently as he could. “I’m planning to marry her.”

  She blinked.

  David was halfway out the door before he thought of one more thing. “As I told you the first time, if your twin should ever come to this institute looking for her sibling, I’ll call you immediately. That’s a promise.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “MS. CASEY?”

  “Yes, Janine?”

  Her impressionable young secretary shut the door.

  “There’s a really gorgeous guy out there to see you.”

  Catherine could think only of one man who fit that description, but they weren’t planning to have lunch for at least two more hours.

  She continued her drawing, but nothing seemed to be coming together. “I take it he doesn’t have an appointment.”

  “He said he didn’t need one.” Janine walked over to the drafting table. “I’m supposed to give you this.” She handed Catherine a small brown-paper bag.

  Curious, she stopped what she was doing long enough to peer inside. Her pearls! The ones she’
d worn to church yesterday. Her heart turned over, and she felt dizzy for a second.

  “Send him in, Janine.” She slid off her stool and hurried to the desk for her hairbrush.

  “Shall I hold your calls?”

  “Yes, please.”

  She’d just finished running the brush through her hair when he appeared in the doorway with his potent masculine presence.

  “I know I’m early, but I couldn’t keep away.”

  Catherine knew what he meant. It had been ludicrous to think she could get any work done, not after the weekend they’d spent together. “Stay where you are,” she said in a shaky voice.

  His beguiling smile melted her bones. “I don’t trust myself, either. There’s something I want you to see. It’s about two blocks from here. We can grab a bite along the way.”

  She couldn’t imagine what made him sound so excited, but it didn’t matter. All she wanted was to be with him.

  “I’m coming.”

  She picked up her purse and followed him out of her office, past Janine’s desk, mouthing that she’d be back soon. Her secretary happened to be on the phone, but it didn’t prevent her from staring at David as she smiled in understanding.

  They hurried to the corridor. When the elevator doors closed them inside, David pulled her into his arms. “It’s a good thing we’re alone. I’ve got to do this before I can think about anything else.”

  Catherine lifted her mouth to his, feverish for the contact of his lips. They were still locked in an embrace when the doors opened on the main floor.

  She reluctantly let go of him and turned to leave, almost bumping into someone blocking the exit.

  “Dad!”

  While David stood there with enviable calm, still holding her hand, she felt embarrassment scorch her cheeks.

  “Hi, honey.” Her father’s eyebrows were raised.

  “If you’re not too busy, how about introducing us?”

  “Of course!” She stammered, feeling like an idiot. “Dad, I’d like you to meet David Britton. David, this is my wonderful, famous father, Cameron Casey.”