The Unknown Sister

by Rebecca Winters

  “I made a huge faux pas just now and I hope you’ll forgive me,” Janine was saying.

  Her secretary made so many of them, Catherine had lost count. But Janine was cheerful and easy to work with, two traits Catherine prized in a secretary. In time she would grow into a capable assistant, or so Catherine hoped.

  “Of course, Janine. What’s the problem?”

  In a hushed voice she said, “I didn’t know you had a twin sister. When she came in, I thought it was you! I figured that you’d slipped out the rear door and you were returning. I think it made her mad.”

  Shannon was in reception? Why wasn’t she at work?

  Catherine had to force herself not to erupt. “If my sister’s upset, then it’s directed at me,” she said in a soothing voice. “I was planning to bring her here one day and introduce her to everyone, but it appears she’s beaten me to it. Send her in.”

  That was a problem of Shannon’s. She was always beating Catherine to it. Whatever it was, she was invariably one step ahead. Shannon’s methodical brain was driving Catherine crazy. She didn’t know how much longer they could live together without there being some kind of explosion.

  “Surprise!”

  “Hi, Shannon. You gave my secretary a jolt!”

  “I know. I didn’t mean to.”

  “I realize that. You and I have been so busy getting acquainted with each other, I’m afraid I haven’t gotten around to letting other people know about you yet.

  “Anyway…what are you doing here? When I left home, I thought you were getting ready to go to the hospital.”

  “I called and said I’d be in late.”

  Catherine frowned. “Is anything wrong?”

  “No. But I want to do something, and I’m afraid to try it alone.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I gave everyone who helped us get together a gift. But I still haven’t given David his. I thought maybe you could take an early lunch and go over to his office with me.”

  “Not today,” Catherine blurted in panic. “I’m due at a new site in a few minutes.”

  “You don’t think it’s a good idea, do you.”

  “Do you want the truth?” she asked with pounding heart.

  “Of course.”

  “No. I think it’s a bad one.”

  “That’s why you always change the subject when I want to talk about him, isn’t it? You don’t think there’s any hope for me.”

  Beneath her desk, Catherine’s legs trembled. “I think that when a man doesn’t show interest in a woman after a first date, you have to accept the fact that nothing is going to happen. If it hadn’t been for all of my brothers’ insights, I probably would have made that mistake many times in my life.”

  Tears filled Shannon’s eyes. “How do I get over him, then?”

  Dear God. If I knew the answer to that question…

  “I—I guess by meeting someone else. Why don’t you return Phil’s call and go out with him?”

  She shook her head. “If you were never interested in him, then I’m sure I wouldn’t be.”

  “Actually, at one time I was. Very interested, I mean. Let’s face it. Most women find him nature’s gift.”

  “What happened?”

  “I learned he’d been married and divorced. It frightened me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I felt like he knew too much about women, about life. Sometimes he tried to psycho-analyze me. I hated that. One day he made me really angry.”

  “What happened?”

  “During one of our verbal skirmishes in the garage, he said I must have had a bad experience with a guy and that’s why I was so prickly. Of course, it was the truth, but I’d never let him know it.

  “He had this ability to push all the right buttons and get a rise out of me every time he opened his mouth. At the time, I was a lot younger and too immature to handle a man like him.

  “But you talk to any of the crew today and they’ll tell you he’s the greatest. Jack says there’s a lot about Phil that nobody knows. He idolizes the guy.”

  “Really?”

  “I’d love to see Phil try to take you on. We might look alike, but you could outpsychoanalyze him any day of the week.”

  “You think so?”

  “Shannon, you intrigued him enough that he called you for a date. If you want to know the truth, he never asked me out. He just talked about doing it. With hindsight, I can see that I didn’t challenge him.”

  “If I did decide to go out with him, he’d probably lose interest like David did. I couldn’t bear that.”

  Catherine groaned inwardly. “Maybe you won’t be interested in him, either.”

  “I have no idea. I have to admit he’s attractive.”

  “Keep in mind Phil’s been through a divorce. It’s possible that his fear of a relationship not working out is greater than yours. Now, I really have to cut this short because I’m late for the site.”

  It was a lie, but she had to escape. When Shannon had mentioned going to David’s office, Catherine hadn’t been able to think about anything else. She wanted to be with him again so badly, she felt as though she was dying inside.

  “Under the circumstances, I might as well go to work. I guess I’ll see you around six.”

  They gave each other a hug, then left the office for the underground car park. Whenever they were seen together in public, heads turned, and today was no exception. It was a phenomenon Catherine wondered if she would ever get used to.

  After waving Shannon off, she drove toward Cedar Hills. It was weeks since she’d been to David’s property. But this morning the need to be close to him in any way at all dominated her thoughts and feelings.

  Maybe he’d found someone else to design him a building and construction had already begun. If that was the case, she would know he’d moved on without her. Though terrified, she had to find out.

  When the property came into view, she let out the breath she’d been holding. Nothing had changed. Everything looked the same as before. She pulled over to the side of the road and parked the car.

  Memories of their first picnic together flooded back, and she felt a pang of intense longing for David, for those innocent weeks of rapture.

  She’d planned to walk around the site, but she hadn’t expected this acute sense of loss. Over-whelmed, she couldn’t stop the tears and didn’t dare get out of the car in case anyone noticed.

  Twenty minutes must have passed before she got hold of herself enough to start the car. Checking her rearview mirror for traffic, she gasped to discover a car directly behind her. A black sedan. A Mercedes. An unsmiling gaze encountered hers. David.

  She didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there watching her. Since she had no business being at Cedar Hills, he could be in no doubt over the reason for her presence.

  Running on pure emotion, she sped down the street, praying he wouldn’t follow. She thought of a dozen places she could go to get away from him. But there was only one where she’d be safe.

  Unmindful of the speed limit, she headed for her condo, taking a different exit in an effort to lose him. For that reckless maneuver, which she’d seen Jack do a hundred times, she picked up a patrol car. Damn, damn, damn.

  Forced to heed the siren, she pulled over to the side of the road. If David caught up with her now…

  For once there was something more terrifying than the sight of a policeman walking to her car to give her a ticket. Heart in her throat, she kept watching for the Mercedes, hardly listening to the officer’s lecture about weaving in and out of traffic.

  After a mumbled apology she pressed on to her condo at a slower speed, afraid David would be waiting at every corner. To her intense relief, he was nowhere to be found. Obviously she’d lost him.

  Shattered by the experience of seeing him again, she got out of her car. She had to lean against the fender for a minute while she waited for strength to come back to her limbs. But the sight of him had left her too shaken. By the
time she reached her condo, she was near collapse and couldn’t get inside fast enough.

  Only the door didn’t click shut behind her.

  She whirled, then almost fainted. David’s tall, powerful body blocked the doorway.

  Her hands went out in front of her to stave him off. “No! You can’t come in!”

  But David was already in. He shut the door and started toward her.

  “How did you know I was coming back here? How did you get in the building?”

  “Does any of that matter? I’m here now.”

  “David—you have to leave!”

  “I’m not about to ravish you. Not yet, anyway,” he muttered. “I just need to hold you for a minute.”

  “Shannon lives with me!”

  “You think I don’t know that? But she’s at work now.”

  Not waiting for her permission, he pulled her into his arms. “It’s been too long, Catherine,” he whispered into her hair, reveling in the feel of her body. “Don’t lie to yourself or to me anymore. This morning we both went out to that site because we don’t have a life without each other. Are you going to go on torturing us like this?”

  Too impatient for her answer, he found her mouth and began kissing her voraciously. Always before, he’d practiced restraint, but no longer. After such a lengthy period of deprivation, the taste of her mouth, the feel of her body, released all inhibitions. He didn’t care if he was out of control. This morning at the property he’d been given proof of her love. Nothing else mattered.

  “David!” She cried his name over and over, but each time sounded more feeble than the last, until he’d broken through her defenses. Then she was the one kissing him, leaving him breathless.

  Without conscious thought, he picked her up. “Which bedroom is yours?” he murmured against her lips.

  “The first one.” Her reply was muffled.

  Their mouths clung as he started across the living room toward the hallway. Needing this shared love, this passion, they were both slow to register the sound of a key in the lock. Catherine reacted before he did, tearing her lips from his.

  Her eyes reflected horror. “Quick—put me down!”

  As her feet touched the floor, the door began to open. By the time Shannon had come inside, holding a shopping bag, Catherine had managed to reach the kitchen.

  “What are you doing home?” they asked simultaneously.

  This wasn’t the way David had envisioned the truth emerging. But there was no holding back the moment.

  “Hello, Shannon.”

  She wheeled around. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “David! I didn’t know you were coming over. How wonderful to see you!”

  “It looks like all three of us didn’t want to be at work today.”

  Shannon shook her head. “This is amazing. I went to see Catherine earlier this morning to find out if she’d go to your office with me. I wanted to give you a little present for the part you played in helping us get together. But she had an appointment. Anyway, here it is.”

  David made no move to take it from her. “That was very thoughtful of you, Shannon, but I can’t accept it. When you hear me out, you’ll understand why.”

  Catherine was signalling frantically behind Shannon’s back that he should leave. But he had no intention of doing so.

  “Let’s all go in the living room and sit down, shall we?”

  “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

  He rubbed the side of his jaw. “Not wrong, Shannon. But a talk between the three of us has been long overdue.”

  “Don’t do this, David.”

  “I have to, Catherine.” He refused to meet her terrified gaze and sat down opposite the couch where Shannon had positioned herself. Catherine hovered in the doorway.

  “I’ll never forgive you.”

  “That’s a chance I’m prepared to take.”

  He thought she would bolt, but eventually she subsided into another chair.

  “Shannon? Catherine is the woman I fell in love with, the woman I want to marry.”

  To Shannon’s credit, she remained in place, too, but the light had left her eyes.

  “Your sister prayed this moment would never come. She never wanted to hurt you. But this lie we’ve all been living is an insult to you. It’s not fair to any of us to let the situation continue.”

  Shannon set the shopping bag on the floor at her feet. “So that’s what your brother meant when he saw me at the track and told me you were going through hell. Jack took that moment to break in and inform him I was Catherine’s twin.”

  David blinked. “You met Mitch?”

  “We weren’t formally introduced, but there’s a strong resemblance between you. I knew your brother was a race car driver, so I put two and two together. But there was so much joking going on with all the crew and drivers around, I didn’t put any particular stock in his remark.”

  Mitch had kept that little piece of information from David. No doubt he hadn’t wanted to tell him something that could have alarmed him further.

  “So you’ve suspected this all along—about Catherine and me?”

  “No. It wasn’t until today that I began to wonder. Catherine’s refusal to go to your office made me question why she was so quick to say no. It led me to think about other small instances that by themselves didn’t mean anything. But putting them together—”

  “You guessed the truth.” He finished the sentence for her. “I’m sorry it’s taken this long for everything to come out, Shannon. In fact, if Catherine had her way, it would never have come out.

  “A little over two weeks ago we were engaged to be married. But once she’d met you, her fear of hurting you was so great, she gave me back the ring and said goodbye.

  “Today we met by accident at some property of mine. Before she broke our engagement, she had agreed to be my architect for a new office complex to house the institute. But those plans were scuttled, too. When I saw her at Cedar Hills, I realized she was missing me as much as I’ve missed her. I followed her home to talk to her. That’s when you came in.

  “This wasn’t a planned meeting. But since you’re here, Shannon, you deserve an accounting. Catherine knows everything about the date you and I went on, the kiss I gave you outside the door of your hotel room. She knows that a few weeks later, I told you I was in love with another woman and planned to be married.

  “At this point, there are no more secrets and I would like to hope we can all move forward. However, there is one thing I want you to know before I leave you both alone.”

  At this point Catherine’s and Shannon’s heads were bowed in exactly the same position, their hands clasped in exactly the same manner. The two sisters were so different—mentally, emotionally and psychologically—it took this frozen fragment of time to remind him that their bodies were still mirror images of each other.

  “Both of you know my mother is a twin. When I told her about my broken engagement and the reason for it, we discussed the problems that arise between identical twins. She warned me that the two of you are very complicated human beings. Much more complex and intuitive than other siblings.

  “She talked about fears. All people are plagued by them. It’s part of the human condition. But Mother says identical twins carry around additional fears, which have to do strictly with each other.

  “Being separated from birth made your experiences completely different, thus complicating your situation even more.”

  By now, both heads had lifted. Though Catherine wouldn’t look at him, David could swear she was listening.

  “I know there’s a big question in your minds as to why I was attracted to both of you, but fell in love with Catherine. I wish there was a simple explanation for the connection between two people. Why it’s there with one person, but not the other.

  “I hope you’re beginning to understand that in this affair we were all innocent. No one deliberately set out to be cruel to the other person. Another dynamic, much bigger and more complicated than the
three of us could imagine, has been at work here. There’s no place for blame.

  “Having said that, I can’t forget what Mother told me about the pain she went through with her twin sister. You share an intricate bond, and you’re both hurting now. That’s something no one can fix, only time.

  “Mother’s twin went to live in another part of the U.S. years ago. She couldn’t have children, while Mother could. She held it against my mother. As a result, they’ve been apart for close to forty years.

  “The separation is still hard on Mother. She loves her sister. I hope the same thing isn’t going to happen to the two of you. I hope you can get past this moment, resolve these feelings. Nothing is important enough to destroy the love between two sisters who’ve been miraculously united. I happen to believe you need each other very much.

  “So, no matter what my wants and needs are, I’m going to bow out. When I leave in a few minutes, neither of you will see me again, unless it’s by accident.

  “Don’t get up. I’ll let myself out.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  IN A FEW STEPS David had left the building by the back stairs. The second he slid behind the wheel of his car, he reached for his cell phone and started punching in digits.

  Be there, Jack.

  “Yeah?” Someone answered on the fourth ring. David didn’t recognize the voice.

  “If Jack Casey’s there, I’d like to speak to him, please.”

  “Hey, Jack? Phone!”

  He could hear the clank of metal in the background.

  “Yeah? This is Jack.”

  “It’s David.”

  “Hey—any luck yet?”

  David had to stop and take a deep breath. “No. In fact, there’s been a new development. I’m not in the best shape.”

  Not only had Catherine let him go without a struggle, once he’d started talking, she’d never looked at him.

  “It’s too long a story to tell you over the phone. Can you take a little time off from work right now?”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks, Jack.”

  “Want to take a drive?”

  “You’re reading my mind. I was thinking the ocean.”

  “Sounds good to me. I haven’t been there in a while. Swing by the garage and we’ll go in my Porsche. It’s a beautiful day. I’ll put the top down.”