“We will come back tomorrow,” Mr. McCloud said, as his wife snorted.
Dr. Jameson said in a cold voice, “Why don’t you just leave her alone for now?”
Mrs. McCloud looked at him in disdain, “I will not let some…some whore who looks like our daughter ruin our daughter’s image and name. Charity was an innocent compared to this woman. I have heard the rumors although I ignored them until now to be associated with someone who tried to kill her.” She just shook her head.
Dr. Jameson got up from his seat, “Maybe Shay was shot because she resembled Charity and not because of her own past.”
“How dare you,” Mrs. McCloud said to him.
Dr. Jameson eyes glittered with rage, “Believe me, I dare.”
Her face was red with anger, and Mr. McCloud put an arm around her shoulders.
“Honey, calm down,” he said as he looked over at the door, “We will come back tomorrow to talk with Miss Montgomery.” There was a slight hesitation as he said her name.
Mrs. McCloud allowed her husband to calm her down as she said, “Fine, we will come back tomorrow to talk to her.”
With those words, they walked out of the room.
Dr. Jameson looked at Cordial as he stared after them angrily. Dr. Jameson ran his hand through his hair.
“At first, when she came into the clinic after her first accident, I was stunned until she made some dry comment, and then I knew.”
Cordial looked at him in confusion, “Knew what?”
Dr. Jameson sighed in defeat before he admitted in a soft voice, “That Shay is Charity’s twin sister.”
Pauline looked down at the young woman in bed her face so pale, and she sighed in frustration. She pushed back the hair that was lying against her forehead.
Teresa, if only you lived, Pauline thought to herself as she took one last look at Shay before walking out of the room.
She walked into the living room just as her husband made his statement.
“What do you mean?” Cordial asked quietly a muscle twitching in his jaw.
“We knew their mother,” Pauline began and Cordial focused his attention on her as she walked farther into the room sitting in the chair. “Teresa Montgomery was her name and she was a very nice woman who had some bad luck before coming into this town. Once here, though, she started to improve her luck until she made the mistake of falling in love with the wrong man.”
“McCloud,” Cordial stated thinking about the way Mr. McCloud had spoken Shay’s last name before he left.
Dr. Jameson nodded his head as he continued for his wife, “Teresa had came to me when she first found out she was pregnant. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling Shane. He was mad at first then he told me to tell him when the baby would be born. He did not wait for me to tell him that she was carrying twins. Then Teresa left Pine Valley, and we heard nothing from her again until seven months later when Shane and Jessica brought Charity home.”
Pauline looked up, “We found out later when Charity was ten because she look so much like Teresa that he had adopted his own daughter, but we did not know what happened to the other child, and we assumed that she had died.”
Cordial ran a hand through his hair as he asked, “Did Charity know?”
Pauline snorted but Dr. Jameson said, “I doubt it.”
Cordial looked out the window as he explained what Shay and him found out at the hospital.
“That bastard,” Pauline said harshly.
Cordial did not know what to think because since he met Shay, his world has turned upside down.
He looked at Dr. Jameson and he remembered what he said about her being shot, and then he remembered Shay asking him why Charity was murdered.
“Do you really think that Shay was shot because of her resemblance to Charity?” he asked.
Dr. Jameson blew out a breath and said, “I do not know. I called the sheriff as did Mrs. Lovegood but although he had gone by the restaurant and talked to the young man who found Shay he could not find anything. He is coming by tomorrow to talk to Shay although he does not expect her to remember much.”
“Is it okay if I come by tomorrow morning?” Cordial asked.
Pauline looked at him, “Are you wanting to because she is Charity’s twin sister and reminds you of her?”
Cordial frowned as he looked at her, as he answered, “I do not really know the answer to that question at this time. The fact that she is identical, in looks, to Charity is a factor, but it is not the only thing pulling me to her. I just don’t know about the rest.”
Pauline and Mark looked at each other before turning back to him, “Cordial, if you want to come back tomorrow, then we will be happy to have you.”
Cordial nodded his head in thanks and he left soon after they said he could come back in the morning.
Pauline escorted him to the door before she went back to her husband to see him lost in thought.
“Mark,” she said softly to watch as his head came up and he looked at her with a sad smile.
“Pauline, if it is true about her getting shot because she resembles Charity, then we have to worry that it is not over,” he said. Pauline frowned at this thought and she sighed.
She walked over to him and put a hand on his arm, “Let’s go to bed, sweetheart. We can think about it tomorrow.”
He nodded his head as she led him upstairs to their bedroom where they undressed and laid down next to each other. They both stayed awake for a little longer as they thought about the young woman in the guest bedroom. Finally, they fell into a restless sleep as the night went by unnoticed.
In the guest bedroom down the hall, Shay tossed in her sleep as her mind started going into one of its dreams with Charity.
Charity was flirting with him for she loved his brown eyes. He had his hand on her thigh as he kissed her neck and whispered, “I thought you were dating Cordial.”
She laughed as she tilted her head to allow him better access to her neck, “I am but he is away at school and I need some one to help relieve my tension.” There was no more talking and heavy breathing entered the room. She loved being with men although she was going to accept when Cordial asked her to marry him, and she may even be faithful to him when they get married. She sighed in contentment as she reached her climax and he slumped on top her. She smiled to herself as she knew that Cordial would be coming home this weekend and she would be having so much fun when he came back home. She heard a snore next to her and she laughed lightly as she slid from the bed. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and he rolled over in his sleep. She shook her head, got dressed, and then she walked out of the house. She felt the wind in her hair as she walked to her car and she smiled in anticipation for the weekend.
Shay woke up with a start as the dream faded away.
“Why am I seeing your memories, Charity? Are you showing me that he loved you considering the fact that you never really loved him?” she whispered into the darkness and her eyes filled with tears although she did not make a sound as they rolled down her face.
Chapter 13
Cordial was up early and heading for the doctor’s house when his cell rung. He pulled it out of his back pocket and answered it.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi, Cord,” his stepmother said, and for some reason, Cordial frowned at her voice.
“Lucille,” he said, “Is there something wrong?”
“Oh, no, I just wondered if you would stop by this afternoon as I need to roll something off you,” she said and Cordial thought he heard a sad note in her voice.
“Is Dad okay?” he asked with a frown in his voice.
Lucille laughed as she assured him, he was okay, but she needed to talk to him about something.
“Lucille, I am going to see a friend at the moment and then I have to get to the construction site. I will try to stop by later, but I cannot guarantee anything,” he said.
“Thank you, Cord,” she said softly before hanging up.
Cordial flipped hi
s phone closed as he shook his head, and he realized she was getting really persistence about seeing him.
He shook thoughts of his stepmother out of his head as he pulled into the doctor’s driveway and he noticed the sheriff’s car already there. He frowned as he hopped out of his truck and he hurried to the door just as Nettie pulled into the drive behind him.
“Cordial,” she called to him and he stopped turning to her as she rushed forward after getting out of her car. In her hand, she held letters and he looked at her questioningly but she only said, “Shay asked me to bring them.”
Cordial nodded his head before he rung the doorbell, and Pauline answered it a few seconds later.
She allowed them in, “Everyone is in the kitchen. Shay made breakfast this morning.”
Cordial looked at her quickly to see the frown on her face and her eyes had worry in them.
“She did not sleep so well last night,” she stated softly. Nettie sighed as they headed towards the kitchen.
They heard the voice before they entered the kitchen.
“Do you know the make of the car?” Sheriff Barry Wilson was asking her.
Cordial heard Shay’s answer, “I was not really paying attention. My mind was on something else at the time.”
They stepped in the room to see him frown as he looked at her.
Shay sighed as she answered, “Matt just told me that someone destroyed my car…again. I was just talking myself in to calling my friend for help with funds when the car came around the corner.”
He smiled softly at her and Cordial’s eyes narrowed for although the Sheriff was married, he was jealous at the look of admiration that came into his eyes while looking at Shay.
“Good morning,” Nettie said noticing the look in Cordial’s eyes. All eyes turn to them, and Nettie watched Shay as her green eyes showed relief when she saw them especially Cordial but then they turned wary.
Cordial walked over to her and gently touched her cheek, “Are you okay?”
Shay smiled slightly, nodding her head but Cordial could see the haunted look in her eyes. He did not stop to think but pulled her into his chest and Shay tensed for a moment before she relaxed against him. She needed his warmth just then. I am sorry Charity, but I need his strength right now. Shay did not know why she was apologizing to her sister who was already dead, but she felt as if it was something she had to do.
Then she pulled back although he kept his arms around her waist, “Did you bring the letters Miss Nettie?”
“Right here,” Nettie said and with a nod from Shay, handed them to Barry.
He frowned as he put his coffee cup down to take the letters from Nettie. Then he opened them asking as he started reading, “When did you receive these?”
“The first Matt delivered since he found it on my car and thinking you or one of your deputies had given me a fine, he brought it over to Nettie’s as he came to talk to me,” she answered honestly.
His frown deepened with each letter until he read the last one. He placed it on the table and Cordial was able to read it from where he stood, and his arms tightened around Shay.
“Did you know Charity McCloud,” Barry asked her, his eyes narrowed.
Shay shook her head, “I never even heard the name Charity McCloud until I came here.”
The Sheriff looked at her for a few long minutes before he swore and run a hand through his hair.
“Then we have a problem,” he stated harshly. “On one hand, we have someone sending you threatening letters telling you to leave town. Then we have your car being trashed.”
“Not the same person,” Shay said bluntly.
The Sheriff looked up at her and asked just as bluntly although he already knew the answer, “How do you know?”
“First, the person writing the letters keeps telling me to get my car fixed and leave town. Why constantly trash my car if they want me to leave town so bad? Then you have the letters them selves; they are not lover like or even showing any hint of romantic interest so you can rule out the idea of someone destroying my car to keep me here for the purpose of romancing me,” Shay shook her head. “The only people I deal with face to face are the ones who you see in this room including Matt and Annie. I seriously doubt Matt is doing it for he is completely into Annie, and I do not seeing Annie doing it because frankly, she does not like me in that fashion.”
Sheriff nodded his head at each of her deductions because that is how he saw it too.
He looked at her and said, “I want you to be very careful young lady. We never did find out who killed Charity and the fact that you look so much like her, well, it has me worried especially if you include the letters with the references of Charity.”
Shay nodded her head and she swallowed. “Maybe it would be better if I did as the letter request and just leave. My best friend has offered to help me get a plane ticket, and what I have in my account will pay Matt’s bill. I am not going to ask him to fix it again for I do not have the funds for another fix-up, and he does not need the hassle as he has a business to run.”
Nettie looked over at her as she said softly, “Do you really want this person to run you out of town?”
Shay sighed as she leaned against Cordial, and she tilted her head back to look at him. Cordial saw the confusion in her face as she tried to answer Nettie’s question.
She turned her face back to the others, “I just do not know anymore, Nettie.”
She turned back to the Sheriff and bit her lip before she said, “I guess I should tell you that we discovered that Charity and I were twin sisters.”
The silence in the room was deafening as everyone looked at her, and Shay tensed in Cordial’s arms.
Chapter 14
The tension in the room lasted for a few minutes as Barry asked a few more questions until he knew everything they knew, which unfortunately was not much. Pauline walked him to the door as Cordial walked Shay around the counter, “Sit down and relax. You need to eat something.”
Shay sat down, “I am not hungry, thank you.”
Cordial frowned but he could not force her to eat although he would love to.
Mark came into the room with Pauline. “How are you feeling, Shay?” he asked as he filled his coffee cup.
She smiled slightly, “Sore, but that is to be suspected.”
Cordial’s cell rung just then and Shay said, “Take it, O’Ryan.”
He scowled at her but he flipped the phone open and everyone heard the tones of Susie, and he excused himself to walk into the hall. Nettie watched him leave the room as her mind was reeling from what Shay had revealed, and then she looked at Shay watching her gaze at the door Cordial just walked out of.
Forgetting for a moment what she just learned, Nettie placed a hand on his arm, “Honey, he likes you…”
Shay looked at her with green eyes dimmed with pain before they went blank. Then she said softly, “Is it me, Shay, he likes, or the image of Charity he sees? Listen to what he says, and then tell me what is missing.”
They all looked at her in confusion, but Shay just sipped her cooling coffee as Cordial came back into the kitchen.
He was scowling but he said, “I need to get going.”
He walks over to Shay, “Will you be okay?”
Shay nodded her head, “Thank you for coming to see how I am doing although I know that you are busy.”
Cordial reached out and touched her cheek, “I will come back by later to see you.”
He took his hand away and said goodbye walking out of the kitchen. They all listened as the front door closed and his truck started up. Shay got up to rinse out her cup as she listened to the truck leave the driveway and headed down the street.
“I am going to lie down if that is okay,” she said with a question in her voice.
“Go ahead, dear,” Pauline said, and Shay smiled at them before leaving the kitchen.
It was quiet after she left and Nettie said it quietly, “He did not call her by her name not even once.”
> They all looked at each other for they knew that Shay had noticed it sooner then all them. Nettie shook her head, “Stupid man.”
Pauline blew out a breath, “He cares about her, I can see that, but is he really seeing Charity, not who she really is, Shay?”
Mark shook his head as he said softly, “I do not know but he does need to make up his mind soon before Shay decides to just leave.”
They looked at him and he said with a touch of irritation, “You heard her. The only reason she is still here is the feelings that she has for Cordial, which she is trying to fight. Also, I think she wants to find out what happened to Charity.”
They all sighed before Nettie said, “Then we should help her for it is not Shay’s fault that she is stuck in this nightmare because she is Charity’s twin. For one, I do not think anyone ever thought that Charity would have a twin sister out there.”
Pauline and Mark looked at each other then Mark said, “Nettie, we knew, and there is more to the story then what Shay revealed.”
Nettie looked at them in confusion as Mark began to explain, and her eyes widened the more he talked.
Shay lay on the bed looking up at the ceiling. She sighed as her mind focused on Cordial for a brief moment then she closed her eyes trying to forget about him. She was tired and the pain in her arm was not helping her, as she fell asleep.
Then the dream began:
She looked around the room in confusion for the room was unfamiliar to her.
”He is going to need you,” a voice said and her head snapped around to see the young woman sitting in front of the vanity. When she turned around, she gasped for it looked like she was looking into a mirror although there were a few differences.
“It is not me he sees, but you Charity,” she said as Charity stood up from the stool. There was a frown on her face as she walked towards her.
“I cut my hair for him did you know that?” she asked running her hand through her short hair. “I was surprised when he asked me why I did it.”
Shay was confused, “Why cut your hair for him? He should have liked you for who you were.”
A Ghost of the Past Page 7
