by Marta Perry
Maddie drew out a much-creased piece of notepaper and pushed it across the table. Violet spread the note flat and bent over to read it.
Landon didn’t need to look at the page again to know what the note said. The words had been revolving in his mind since Maddie received it a couple of weeks ago.
I am sorry for what I did to you and your family. I hope you and your siblings, especially your twin, can forgive me as I ask the Lord to forgive me.
No signature, and the ink was a bit faded, as if it hadn’t been written recently.
“I don’t understand,” Violet said, pushing the paper back to Maddie. “Where did this come from? Why would you think I had anything to do with it?”
“Because you’re obviously the twin referred to in the note,” he said, watching her closely. But he couldn’t see any indication that she was faking. Her puzzlement and distress seemed natural.
“Let me tell it,” Maddie said, interrupting. “It’s my business.”
Not yours, in other words. But he couldn’t be pushed away so easily. In the absence of her father and brothers, Maddie needed someone to watch over her, even though she didn’t think she did.
“This letter appeared in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago.” Maddie touched the note. “It was tucked into a new Bible, with no indication of who it was from.” She shrugged. “It upset me at first. It seemed so weird. But then I assumed it had just been sent to the wrong person. I don’t have a twin.” She paused. “Anyway, I didn’t think so.”
“I didn’t think so, either.” Violet paused. “They do say that everyone has a double somewhere. Maybe it’s just some sort of odd…” Her voice died off, probably because she realized how ridiculous that was.
“The obvious solution is usually the right one,” Landon said. If he didn’t keep pushing, they’d never come to a conclusion. “Would you mind telling us about your family, Violet? If you were adopted—”
She was already shaking her head. “I know what you’re thinking, that we could have been split up as babies and adopted by different couples. But it can’t be. Everyone says I look just like my mother.” A shadow crossed her face when she spoke of her mother…distress, fear…he wasn’t sure what.
“What is it?” He reached impulsively for her hand. “Is something wrong with your mother?”
Violet took a deep breath, seeming to draw some sort of invisible armor around her. “My mother was in an accident a few days ago. She had a bad fall from a horse. She’s been in a coma in a trauma center in Amarillo ever since.”
“I’m sorry.” The depth of her pain touched him, even though she was trying to hide it. “But…what are you doing here in Fort Worth, then?”
Violet’s lips trembled for an instant before she summoned up control. “I…it was a crazy idea, I guess. But I thought maybe I could find my father.”
“Find your father?” Now it was Maddie’s voice that shook a little. “Is he missing?”
Violet rubbed her temples, and he thought she was fighting tears. “I don’t know. I’ve never known who my father was. I was sitting there in the hospital, praying that Mom would open her eyes, and suddenly I was longing to see my father.” She gave a shaky laugh. “I suppose I wanted someone to walk in and tell me it was going to be all right. Stupid, isn’t it?”
“Maybe not so stupid,” he said. “It brought you here, didn’t it? But why Fort Worth?”
“Because this is where I was born. My mother did tell my brother that when he kept badgering her about it, although then she closed up and wouldn’t say any more. I thought I might find some records.”
“Do you know which hospital?” At least that was something that could be checked. Landon would welcome some positive task that would lead to unraveling this puzzle.
Violet shook her head. “Mom always clammed up whenever we asked her about it. So eventually I stopped asking. My brother, Jack, was more interested in finding out than I was, but she just always said we were better off not knowing.”
“I can run a check on hospital records. What’s your birthday?” He pulled out his cell phone. The firm of private investigators his company sometimes used would know how to access that information.
“January 26th.” They made the reply almost in unison, and then looked at each other, some sort of bond seeming to form in that moment.
“You don’t need to do any checking,” Maddie said. “It’s obvious, as you said. We’re sisters.” She reached across the table, touching Violet’s hand. They looked at each other, faces breaking into identical smiles.
It couldn’t help but warm his heart, but his rational mind sounded a note of caution. All they knew about this woman was what she’d told them.
A couple of college boys came into the coffee shop, discussing baseball loudly as they approached the counter. Maddie gave them an annoyed look.
“We can’t talk here,” she said. “Violet, you just have to come back to my condo. There are a million things I want to ask you. All right? Will you come?”
Violet seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then she nodded. “Okay.”
Landon rose when they did, and Maddie gave him what was obviously a dismissive smile.
“Thank you, Landon. I appreciate what you did to bring us together. I’ll talk with you sometime soon.” She turned away, heading for the door.
Violet was obviously startled by Maddie’s action. She started to follow and then turned back, giving him a shy smile.
“Thank you, Landon. If I hadn’t run into you, I might never have known I have a twin.” She held out her hand, and he took it.
They stood for a moment, hands clasped, and it seemed to him they were making a promise. Confused by the sudden emotion, he smiled and stepped back. He’d been summarily dismissed, and he couldn’t very well barge into Maddie’s condo to see what they did next.
But as he watched them walk out the door together, he knew this couldn’t be the end of his involvement. Even if Violet were as genuine as she seemed, the situation still had the potential to explode, hurting the whole Wallace family. And if Violet were playing some game of her own…
Well, even though their engagement had never been more than a formality, it was his duty to protect Maddie, and that was what he intended to do.
Chapter Two
Violet hurried outside to catch up with Maddie, her palm still tingling from Landon’s touch. That wouldn’t do, she lectured herself. According to the dapper CEO, he wanted to marry Maddie.
Still wanted, he’d said. That implied there’d been an engagement between them, didn’t it? So what had gone wrong for them?
On the face of it, Landon Derringer was quite a guy—obviously handsome and sophisticated, apparently wealthy and successful. Still, Maddie knew him better than she did. There could be very good reasons why she’d changed her mind about marrying him.
Maddie waited on the busy sidewalk and gestured down the street. This part of Fort Worth seemed to be a mix of businesses, professional offices and apartment buildings.
“My condo is only a couple of blocks from here, so I walked. But maybe you want to take your car and park it there in the garage, rather than leave it on the street.”
“Yes, thanks.” Violet went quickly to the SUV and opened the door to be greeted by a blast of heat. Texas-in-July heat. She switched on the ignition, turned the air on full blast, and rolled the windows down as Maddie got in. “Sorry it’s so stifling. It should cool off pretty fast.”
“No problem. I was born here, remember? I’m used to it.” Maddie shook her head, her silky hair swaying. She wore it in a shoulder-length cut that had obviously been done by a professional, since the style fell back into place with every movement.
Violet couldn’t help touching her ponytail. Would her hair look that way with the right cut? Maybe so, but she couldn’t afford to find out. Anyway, the ponytail was a lot more practical for the life she led.
She checked the rearview mirror and pulled out into traffic. In the mirror she could
also glimpse Landon Derringer, still standing by the coffee-shop door.
“We both were born here,” Violet said, still trying to understand what was happening to her. “Do you think your friend will really be able to find the records?”
“Probably. He has the connections, if anyone does.” Maddie’s nose crinkled. “I wish he’d butt out, but knowing Landon, he won’t.”
Violet hesitated for a moment before asking the question in her mind. “When he first saw me, Landon thought I was you. He said he still wanted to marry me. You, I mean.” She was probably blushing.
Maddie shrugged, a quick, graceful movement. “I ought to tell you about it, I guess. Landon and I were engaged, but it was a mistake. Now we’re not. End of story.”
It couldn’t be all there was. Violet knew there had to be a lot more to the engagement and the breakup than that, but if Maddie didn’t want to tell her, she wouldn’t pry.
“Just past this next corner,” Maddie said. “Turn right into the basement garage.”
Violet followed her directions, turning into an underground parking garage. She parked the car where Maddie indicated and walked beside her, their footsteps echoing on the concrete floor. They stepped into an elevator that lifted them soundlessly to the third floor.
“Right over here.” Maddie pulled out keys as she spoke, going quickly down the carpeted hallway to the second door. She unlocked it and led the way into a condo.
So this fancy place was where her twin lived. It looked like a magazine spread.
“This is lovely.” Violet stepped into the living room, which had a dining area on one end and an open counter, beyond which was a small kitchen. Spacious and trendy, with sleek leather furniture and vibrant paintings on the walls, the living room had a bank of glass doors leading onto a balcony that overlooked the city.
Maddie looked around, as if surprised by her comment. “I guess it is. Dad helped me buy this place when I decided to get out on my own.”
Dad. The casual word echoed in Violet’s mind. Was Maddie’s father her father, too? He must be, for them to be identical twins. She realized she was still trying to wrap her mind around that one fact.
“What’s your father like?”
Maddie crossed the Berber carpet to a glass-topped table that held a series of photos in silver frames. She picked one up, holding it out.
Violet took the photo and stared at three pictured faces. The older man had to be Maddie’s father. Her father. He had a chiseled face and dark brown eyes with a somber expression. Remote—that was how he looked.
The other two were younger. She stared at one of the pictured faces and felt the room spin around.
“Who is that?” She pointed to the face.
Maddie looked at her oddly. “Are you okay? That’s just my older brother, Grayson.”
Violet shook her head, pulling her cell phone out of her bag and flipping through the photos until she found the one she wanted. “This is my older brother. Jack.” She handed it to Maddie, knowing she’d see what Violet meant at once. The faces were identical.
Maddie stared at the photo for a long moment. She sank down onto the nearest sofa, looking shell-shocked. “I feel as if I’ve wandered into a science-fiction movie.”
Violet sat down next to her. “Me, too. Two sets of identical twins? It’s…it’s just crazy.”
“That’s the right word for it,” Maddie agreed, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Who is the other person?” Violet pointed to the third man in the framed photo.
“My younger brother, Carter.” Maddie looked at her. “Please don’t tell me you have an identical younger brother. That would be too much. I’d be ready for the funny farm.”
Violet managed a smile. “I don’t have any younger siblings at all.”
“That’s a relief.” Maddie flushed. “I mean…I didn’t mean that I’m glad you don’t have younger siblings. Or that I’m not glad to have found you. It’s just…”
“Yes. I know.” Violet rubbed her forehead. Maybe if she weren’t so tired, she could think this through better. “So what do we make of this? We must have the same parents in order to be identical, to say nothing of Jack and Grayson being identical. So my mother and your dad were together at one time, and they had two sets of twins. That’s what we’re saying, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” Maddie was staring at the photo she’d identified as being her younger brother. “But that must mean Carter is my half brother. I remember when he was born. It never occurred to me that Mom wasn’t my mother, too.”
Violet could hear the hurt in Maddie’s voice, and it seemed to echo in her heart. There were too many complications for her to grapple with. “What about your dad? He has to know the answers to this. Can’t we go and see him?” Her heart gave an extra thump at the thought of actually seeing her birth father.
But Maddie was shaking her head. “He’s not within reach, I’m afraid. Dad’s a doctor. Right now he’s on a mission trip, and he said he wouldn’t be in cell-phone range most of the time. Not that we talk all that much, anyway.” Maddie shrugged. “If you’re picturing an old-fashioned, doting, emotionally engaged father, forget it. Dad’s more involved with his patients than with his kids.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached out to touch Maddie’s hand, responding to the pain in her voice. “But there must be some way of reaching him in an emergency. We’ll go nuts if we don’t find some answers.”
“I can send an email. He is able to pick those up occasionally. But before I do that, tell me about your mother. Our mother. You said we look like her.”
Violet flipped through the cell phone photos again, stopping at one she especially liked. Belle was leaning against a corral fence, wearing her usual jeans, plaid shirt and boots, her head tilted back, smiling with that pleasure she always seemed to take in whatever she was doing at the moment. Violet touched the image. She’d give a lot to see her mom looking like that again. She handed the phone to Maddie.
“Oh.” Maddie touched the image, just as Violet had. She wiped away a tear. “We are like her, aren’t we? It’s funny to look at her and know what I’ll look like in twenty years or so. She’s beautiful.”
“Yes. But right now—”
“You said she’d been in an accident.” Maddie rushed her words. “How bad is it?”
“Bad.” Violet swallowed the tears that wanted to spill out. “Her horse stepped in a hole, and she fell. Mom has a head injury. They were able to get help right away, but it was serious.” Her voice thickened. “At first they didn’t think she’d live, but she was tough enough to survive the surgery. Now…well, now they don’t know if she’ll ever wake up.”
Maddie’s hand closed on hers, the grip tight and imperative. “I have to see her. Please, Violet. She’s my mother, and I’ve never seen her, and if she doesn’t make it…” Her voice broke. “Can I go back with you?”
The enormity of the request hit Violet. If she took Maddie home with her, took her to see her mom, how on earth was she going to explain her?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Maddie said softly. “That would bring this craziness out in the open for sure. But if I don’t see her—”
“It’s okay.” She’d figure out the explanations somehow. “Why don’t you pack a bag? You can follow me back to the ranch. You probably want your own car there.”
Maddie jumped to her feet. “It won’t take me a minute. Make yourself at home. Help yourself to the fridge. You must be tired and hungry.”
She was, probably too tired to drive all that way, but she didn’t really have a choice. She couldn’t stay away any longer, relying on other people to run the ranch and look after her mother.
She scouted through the contents of the refrigerator, feeling a little odd to be helping herself. But that was what Maddie had said, and she did need something to keep her going. Maddie’s tastes seemed to run to fresh fruit and cheeses, judging by her fridge.
Maddie was back in minutes, carrying a suitca
se.
“That was fast.” Violet was still eating the yogurt she’d found on the top shelf. It was lemon, her favorite, making her wonder if she and Maddie had similar tastes.
“I used to travel for my job, so I got pretty good at packing in a hurry.” Maddie glanced toward the laptop on a corner desk. “I’ll email Dad, just telling him it’s important that he contact me right away. And I guess I’d better email Landon as well. I’ll take my laptop with me so I can stay in touch.”
Violet waited, trying not to look interested in what Maddie was typing. It was obvious that Maddie still cared about Landon, or she wouldn’t be letting him know what was going on. Probably their broken engagement would be mended eventually. Someday she might be taking a part in her sister’s wedding.
Violet was unpleasantly surprised to discover that she felt an odd twinge at the thought of Landon and Maddie getting married.
* * *
Violet and Maddie drove straight through to the ranch, stopping only to eat once. Maddie wanted to go right to the hospital, but once Violet had found there was no change in her mother’s condition, she knew she had to get a decent night’s sleep.
Relief flooded through her when she finally drove through the imposing stone gateway to the Colby Ranch. The three entwined Cs at the top of the gate’s arch seemed to welcome her home.
She pulled up in front of the sprawling brick-and-stone structure that was the main house, aware of Maddie’s car behind her. When she still hadn’t been able to reach Jack, Violet had phoned Lupita, the housekeeper, cook and second mother who kept the house running like a well-oiled machine, telling her to prepare the guest room.
Violet hadn’t said whom she was bringing. The effort to explain over the phone had seemed way too much to her. Thank goodness Lupita, with her usual gentle wisdom probably sensing that questions weren’t welcome, hadn’t asked.
