“I was, but there’s been a change.” Savvy glanced back through the open door, where she could see Lexi slumped on the couch.
Chris’s brow creased with concern. “What happened? Are you sick? You look pale.”
“I–I’m fine. It’s . . . well . . . you’re not going to believe this, but that girl in there seems to be my half sister.”
Chris glanced inside the apartment, his eyes wide. “What can I do?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. But I can’t leave. I have to talk to her.”
“You’ll have to pay extra to change your flight.”
“I know.” She was stressed about it, but what was money in the face of this child’s obvious need? For despite Lexi’s air of bravado and the heavy makeup, Savvy could see that she was only a child–one who needed her.
Chris searched Savvy’s face. “Are you sure? Look, you could talk on the way to the airport, and then I could drop her somewhere. I know how much this trip means to you.”
Savvy stifled irritation, though she knew he was only trying to help. “I’ll probably need more time to find out why she’s here and what she wants.”
What does she want? The thought made Savvy abruptly suspicious. Had her birth father sent her? Could Lexi hurt Savvy’s mother in some way? Savvy didn’t think it possible, but she knew there were tender places inside her mother’s heart that still ached from her early failure. Or rather, from her first husband’s betrayals.
“Savvy? What’s going on?” Miranda came out to the door, her eyes darting between the couch and Savvy’s face.
Shaking off her somber thoughts, Savvy went inside the apartment. “This is Lexi,” she said. “She–she says she’s my sister.”
“I am her sister.” Lexi’s chin rose a notch, as if daring them to disagree.
Savvy nodded. “I was adopted by my stepfather as a child,” she explained. “It’s seems my birth father is Lexi’s father as well.”
Miranda’s mouth rounded to an O. Though Savvy had told Chris briefly about her adoption, the subject had never come up between her and Miranda in the four months they had shared the apartment. “Should I call a taxi?” Miranda asked, glancing at the apple clock hanging on the wall that led into their tiny kitchen. “I can’t miss my flight.”
“Look, you go on ahead. Chris will still take you. Won’t you?” Savvy looked at Chris, and he nodded. “After Lexi and I talk, I’ll decide what to do.”
“I’ll come back, then,” Chris said. His gaze rested sternly on Lexi, as though worried for Savvy’s safety. Savvy herself felt a tremor of unease, though more because of the child’s sudden arrival than anything else. How would Savvy explain this delay to her parents? Especially to her mother? The last thing she wanted to do was to drag Derek back into her mother’s life.
Miranda hugged Savvy. “Good luck,” she whispered. “And don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your handsome guy here.”
Chris wasn’t exactly her guy, but not for lack of his trying. Savvy grinned. “Thanks.” Over Miranda’s shoulder, she saw Lexi watching her intently with an unreadable look in those wide blue eyes.
Within minutes, Chris and Miranda had left for the airport. Savvy sat down by Lexi, biting her lip as she wondered what to say. The girl’s eyes were familiar, Savvy saw. They did strongly resemble hers. The resemblance wasn’t just in the color–Savvy’s mother had that same sky-colored hue–but rather in the wide-set, oval shape. Savvy’s other four siblings had darker, rounder eyes like Jesse.
“So,” Savvy prompted. “What brings you here?”
Lexi scooted to the far edge of the couch, as far away from Savvy as possible, pushing her backpack along with her. “I found your address, and I came.” Her eyes were guarded now, and Savvy wondered why.
“How did you get the address?”
Lexi hesitated a fraction of a second. “My brother.”
“Your brother?” Savvy asked. Her heartbeat quickened. Was he perhaps another long-lost sibling?
“He’s my half brother actually.” Lexi studied her for a minute. “I know what you’re thinking. You want to know if he’s your brother too. Well, he is. He’s older than me. Twenty. That’s three years younger than you, right?”
“Yeah. So how old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
Savvy doubted she was that old. She looked closer to twelve.
“How did your brother get my address?” Savvy couldn’t help the question as the analytical part of her sensed something that didn’t quite add up.
Lexi shrugged. “I think he wrote to your mom a couple months ago.”
Savvy couldn’t believe her mother wouldn’t have mentioned it, though she could hardly call Lexi a liar so early in their relationship. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“I wanted to meet you.”
Savvy cocked her head. “Don’t get me wrong. Now that the surprise has worn off a bit, I’m really glad to meet you. But why didn’t you call? Or write a letter? And why now after all this time?”
Lexi’s shoulder twitched. “The time is right, that’s all.”
“I could have come to see you. Spared you coming here on that bus. And you certainly shouldn’t be hitchhiking. That can be dangerous.”
“I was careful.”
“Do you live here in Berkeley?”
“No.” Lexi’s eyes dropped to her lap, where she rubbed her right thumb against the nail of her left.
“California?”
“No.”
“Where are you from?”
Lexi shook her head, still not looking at Savvy. “I’m not going back,” she said tightly. “I’m not. And you can’t make me.”
Understanding dawned. Lexi hadn’t come just to meet Savvy. She was running away. The unease Savvy had felt earlier swept up her spine in a rush. She inched closer to the girl, “Look at me, Lexi.” She fell silent until Lexi’s gaze rose reluctantly. “Why did you run away?”
Her shoulder jerked twice. “I can’t stand to be with him anymore.”
“With who? Your brother?”
“No. He doesn’t live there.”
“Then who?”
“My father. Our father.” Before it slid back to her lap, Lexi’s gaze held a silent agony that burned into Savvy’s heart.
She swallowed hard. “Did he hurt you?”
Lexi didn’t reply.
“What about your mother?”
No answer.
“Lexi, where’s your mother?”
Lexi’s jaw worked. “I’m not going back.”
“Fine,” Savvy said, sensing that she wasn’t going to receive any answers for the moment. “We’ll work something out. Do you have ID? We can get the next flight back to Utah and go from there, okay? I promise I’ll help you.”
“I don’t have ID.” At last Lexi looked up, and Savvy was relieved that her eyes no longer held that unspeakable pain.
“Oh.” Savvy wondered what she should do now. Her car, an old red Subaru, was on its last tread, and she didn’t trust it for the long ride to Utah. Would she have to give up her visit altogether? Maybe she could rent a car, though her bank account was running uncomfortably low. Driving wouldn’t be as fast as flying, but it might give them a chance to get to know one another.
Then again, Lexi was a minor, and Savvy knew she had to think long and hard about taking her across state lines. What if she was lying about not being from California? What if Savvy was accused of kidnapping? Still, whatever had driven Lexi to seek her out didn’t seem to be idle curiosity about a half sibling she had never seen. There was something more. Savvy felt her entire being alive with that surety. But what exactly was Lexi’s true reason?
“What if you give me your parents’ phone number?” she said. “Then I can call and let them know you’re okay. I’ll ask for permission for you to visit. Maybe we can get your ID from them and fly to Utah together.”
Lexi was shaking her head violently. “No. No. He won’t.” Her lower lip trembled,
and her face looked ready to crumple. “He won’t let me miss school.”
“Your school started already?”
“This week.”
Hmm, that was a week earlier than her brother’s school in Utah. Savvy wondered if she could use that information somehow to pinpoint the school Lexi attended, but she discarded the idea quickly. Of all the thousands of schools in America, many of them likely began that same week. “I can talk to him,” she tried again.
“No!” Lexi folded her arms across her stomach and glared. Her shoulder ticked.
Savvy sighed. “Well, I’d better call my parents and let them know I’m not coming.” She knew they’d want to give her money to rent a car, and despite her desire to be self-sufficient, she found herself leaning toward accepting any offer they might make. She felt completely off balance. Here she was with barely enough funds to pay for her own necessities, and now she had a child to deal with. Not just any child, but a sister she’d never met. They shared some of the same DNA; they were linked.
Did that mean anything? Savvy thought of shy Camille and the out-going Rosalie. Savvy loved her sisters more than almost anything in the world. Was there room for Lexi? Did she want to make room?
Worse, what secrets did this child hide? Savvy shivered, though the room felt too warm. None of this really mattered. Like it or not, for the moment, Lexi was here to stay.
Chapter Three
Tyler stopped on the sidewalk in front of UVSC, clutching his cell phone tightly with whitened fingers. The rain came down more quickly now with the fury of a summer storm. He couldn’t believe it. Strike one, his job. Strike two, LaNae. Strike three, Savvy. This August Friday would go down as being the worst in history.
“What’s happened?” he demanded, his imagination building up all sorts of frightening images of car accidents or random shootings.
“Don’t worry. It’s not anything bad,” Camille said, her voice fading in and out as though her cell phone would cut them off at any moment. “I mean, it’s sort of bad and sort of good, but it’s still a shock. Dad’s on the phone with her now. They’re trying to decide what to do.”
Relief spread through him as he realized Savvy was all right. At least well enough to talk on the phone, he thought. Yet his relief was followed immediately by new fears. Why wasn’t Savvy returning home? What could be both good and bad that would prevent her from making her plane? Had she found a boyfriend and was running off to get married?
“So what is it?” he said more forcefully.
“It’s her half sister.”
“What?”
“Well, you know how my mom was married before and how my dad adopted Savvy after they got married.”
“Yeah.” He knew that, of course, but it wasn’t a huge part of Savvy’s life. At least not that he could ever tell. Once when it had come up, she’d asked him if he thought he would ever have been able to give up a child. He’d been surprised by the question and unable to answer to her satisfaction. If he’d learned anything as a reporter, it was that just when you thought you had all the answers, something new came to the surface that changed everything. Was this one of those times in Savvy’s life?
“Well,” Camille went on after letting that sink in, “a girl appeared on her doorstep this morning and said she was there to see her sister. She had a picture of Savvy and her birth father and everything.”
“So now what?”
“They’re still talking. Seems to be some problem about the plane. Savvy wants to rent a car, but Dad’s set against it for some reason. Look, I’ll go see what’s happening and call you back.”
“Can I stop by? It’s pretty much on my way home.”
“Sure. It’s been crazy here since practically the whole family came over to surprise her, but they’ve all started leaving now. I’d be glad to have you come over. In fact, I have some news to tell you.”
“What?”
She giggled. “No way. I want to tell you in person.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
Tyler spent the entire twenty-five-minute drive to American Fork thinking of Savvy and how she must be feeling. I should be there for her, he thought. At least by phone if nothing else. But would she even confide in him? After the past six months, he doubted it.
He parked at Savvy’s parents’ house and jumped from the Jeep, banging his ankle on the side of the curb. “Ow!” he muttered. At least the rain had finally abated, and the bright yellow sun was peeking from behind the clouds.
Camille ushered him inside the big house, her brown eyes smiling. “Good, you’re here,” she said, giving him a token hug. Of all the siblings, Camille most closely resembled Savvy, though the resemblance was mainly in her height, build, and the shape of her face. She was slightly plump, and the top of her head came only to his chin. Her long dark hair fell in layers over her shoulders. Today she wore a green suit dress that emphasized her dark coloring.
“You look great,” he said, meaning it.
Camille shrugged, though she looked pleased. “Thanks. Hey, what’s that on your shirt?”
“I was carrying a dusty box. So, what have they decided?”
“In just a minute. Look, before we go into the family room with the others, I want to tell you something.”
Belatedly, Tyler remembered her news. “That’s right. What is it?” There was something in her expression that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I met a guy!”
Tyler grinned. “That’s wonderful.”
“It is,” she said, her face radiant. “He’s so great!”
Tyler couldn’t help the protective urge welling in his chest. Camille had tagged along too many times to count on his outings with Savvy, and since he was the youngest of his siblings, she was the closest thing he had to a little sister.
What about Savvy? came a thought. She was younger, too. Tyler frowned. Maybe so, but she had never really been like a sister. Savvy was a friend.
“Congratulations!” he said to Camille, reaching out to squeeze her arm. “I’ll want to meet him, of course. You know, put him through a few tests to make sure he’s right for you.”
Camille ducked her head and giggled, looking more like a high schooler than someone with two years of college under her belt. Love did strange things to people. Tyler felt a twinge of envy. Seeing Camille in love made him feel old. According to his mother, he should have been married years ago. If he had, he could have been a father by now.
A father–him? Well, he couldn’t do any worse than certain politicians he could name–had named. He heaved an inner sigh.
“So about Savvy,” he began.
Camille’s smile faded as she gazed past him to the large family portrait that graced their entryway. “It’s hard imagining her having another sister. I mean, the adoption and our religious beliefs aside, that girl is as much Savvy’s sister as I am. Blood-wise, I mean.”
Tyler blinked at the idea. He’d never given much thought to the fact that Camille and Rosalie were Savvy’s half sisters. “You can’t take our beliefs from the deal,” he said. “Savvy belongs to your mom, and your mom is sealed to your dad. Period.”
“I know that, but she doesn’t–the girl, I mean. I don’t think she’s a member. So what does it matter to her?”
Camille was right. To this girl, Savvy was family, at least close enough to search for. “So what’s going to happen?”
Camille shook her head. “I don’t know. Apparently, the girl doesn’t have any ID, so she can’t buy a plane ticket. She’s a minor anyway, and that complicates things. She says she’s sixteen, but she won’t tell Savvy where she lives or anything.”
“Savvy’ll have to report her to the police.”
Camille’s brow rose. “That’s what my dad says, but Savvy won’t. She says that something’s wrong at Lexi’s house–that’s the girl’s name. Savvy doesn’t want to send her back until she knows more.”
“She could get into big trouble. Maybe even for kidnapping.”
“My dad’s lawyer doesn’t think so. Not yet, anyway. Maybe she’ll come around in a few days so we can find her family.”
“If they want to be found.”
Camille frowned. “What does that mean?”
Tyler sighed. “I guess I’m too suspicious. I mean, why did she appear after all these years? Hasn’t she heard of a post office or a phone?”
“You sound just like my dad.” Camille rolled her eyes. “If I didn’t know him better, I’d say he was jealous that Savvy’s birth father might come into her life.”
“How’d this girl find Savvy anyway? You’d think she’d come here, if anywhere.”
“Well, the girl says her brother wrote to Mom, and Mom gave him Savvy’s address in case he wanted to write. But Mom says that’s not true. She did get a letter from someone last month saying he was an old college friend of Savvy’s. Mom gave him her phone number–not her address, though. Mom thinks maybe the letter was actually from the brother and that somehow they found out Savvy’s address using her phone number.”
“So there’s a brother, too.” Tyler wondered how he would feel to suddenly have two more siblings. Confused, probably.
“We think there’s a brother.” Camille shrugged, making a face. “Who knows if there is. It all sounds sort of fishy, if you ask me.”
Tyler had the same feeling. “What do you think this girl wants?”
“Savvy thinks she wants to live with her. You know, leave her home altogether.” Camille shook her head. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Come on, maybe they’ve decided something. All they’ve done so far is talk.”
Tyler followed Camille through the kitchen and into the adjoining family room. He saw not only Savvy’s immediate family but also Savvy’s aunt and uncle and their adult son Tanner.
Huntington Family Series Page 61
