“No, no.” She straightened. “You’re a great choice for us.” Her smile returned. It was still a little uncertain, but brighter than it had been. “Such a strange coincidence though, isn’t it? The kind of thing that only happens in movies. My late husband, Luke, was a popular man in town, so you can expect a bit of a reaction from people at first, but I’m sure it’ll calm down quickly. It’s just the initial shock of it, you see.”
“I guess so.” I shrugged.
After agreeing to meet for a welcome-to-town dinner, I made my way to the bed and breakfast where I would be staying. The owner escorted me to a suite that was a little old-fashioned but was still bigger and nicer than many of the places I stayed when I was on the circuit. The town was covering my stay while I was here and had also given me a stipend for meals. I’d agreed to the housing accommodation, but since this was a charity event, I was planning on covering my food myself.
Once alone, I sank down on the couch, going over the strange afternoon in my head. Call it curiosity, or plain need-to-know, I typed in Luke Thorne’s name into the internet search bar on my phone. The image of a very familiar looking twenty-something man popped up on the screen. I did a double take, the uncanny resemblance a shock. Apparently, the adage about having a twin was true, at least in my case.
I read just enough info to confirm what Amy said. Luke was the golden boy in town until a tragic accident claimed his life and his father’s life. Their deaths had rocked the community.
I stared at the photo, a sudden thought coming to me from nowhere.What if it wasn’t coincidence?
Since I was a kid, my parents had always been honest with me about my adoption. I’d never been curious about my biological parents because I loved my adopted ones unconditionally. Charlene and Edmund Pierce had married late in life, too late to have a child oftheir own, but plenty young enough to love me, and later, my adopted sister Jennifer.
It was most likely coincidence, but I had to find out. Calling my mother, perhaps asking about my birth parents was long overdue. “Hey, Mom,” I said when she answered.
“Cal! It’s so good to hear from you. Where are you this time?” she asked.
“I’m helping a friend out in Colorado.” I settled back and let the conversation run its usual course where I checked up on everyone in the family and told my mom what I’d been up to since our last call a week earlier. I considered just letting the question about my birth parents go, not necessarily wanting to deal with the possible fallout if the truth led me anywhere near Poplar Springs. But something inside of me needed to know the truth about Luke, the man who was practically identical to me in every way.
“Mom, what do you know about where I came from?” I asked, when there was a lull in the conversation, plunging in feet first.
“Not the stork,” my mother said, light laughter tinging her voice.
“Very funny.”
“What do you want to know and why the sudden interest?” she asked, not at all daunted by the suddenness of my question. Perhaps she’d been expecting this conversation one day.
“Do you have the names of my biological parents or any information on where they lived? When I arrived in town, people were acting strangely toward me. I think I just found my ‘twin’ in the world. Unless, that is, the guy was more than that.”
“I see.” She stayed silent a few seconds as though thinking over my comment. “I noticed you used the wordwas.”
“The man died four years ago, according to an article I read online.”
“Then I hope, for your sake, the man’s not related as that would be such a shame. I always knew you would ask for the information when you were ready, so of course, I remember. Your mother’s name was Laura Cooper, but there was no father’s name listed on your original birth certificate.”
“What about a birthplace?” I prompted, hoping that would fill in at least one of the gaps.
“You were born in Aurora.”
“Which isn’t that far from Poplar Springs,” I said, connecting the dots.
“That’s a lot of coincidence. What do you plan to do?” my mother asked.
“Find out what I can about Laura Cooper. I’ll figure out the next step as I go.”
“Keep us posted. You know your father and I are always here for you.” If love could be heard, I picked it out in the tone of her words.
“I know, Mom. Love to Dad and Jennifer. Call you soon,” I said and hung up. Without pausing, I reached for my laptop and typed the nameLaura Cooper Thorneinto the search box, going for the most direct route to get answers to the question that plagued me. Did I have a brother?One that I would never get the chance to meet…?
It wasn’t long before I had the truth. Laura Cooper married Marshall Thorne, a successful horse breeder in the area, and the two of them had three sons. Luke had been born four years after me, and there were twin boys, Jake and Brian, born two years after Luke.
I had brothers.
Correction…half brothers.
THREE
AMY
