“So someone’s wrong.”Florence sipped her coffee.
“Or there are two of them.Identical twin brothers.They would smell the same and look the same.And if they’re close to each other, they might have come out here together to track Lacy down.”Frank got on his phone.“Hey, Lacy, does Timothy have an identical twin brother?”He put the call on speakerphone.
“He never said anything about him, if he had one.But Dan said that Timothy was spotted in two different locations at about the same time, so unless someone was mistaken and the one sighting wasn’t of him, it might be that he has an identical twin brother.They’re running together, or have separated forces,” Lacy said.
Florence was on her phone in a flash, looking up Timothy to see what she could learn about him.“Oh, he works with him in the same PI agency.His name is Manning.It’s on their website.He looks just like the picture you shared of Timothy.”That was a real problem.Now they had two to deal with, if both sightings were correct.
So who had hurt Frank?Timothy or Manning?
“Well, the PI agency is going to lose both of their PIs over this,” Travis said.
“He shouldn’t have involved his brother,” Lacy said.“I can’t believe he never mentioned him.Maybe he was afraid I would fall for him instead.”
“Maybe you dated both of them,” Frank said.
Florence had thought the same, but she wouldn’t have mentioned it, afraid she would upset Lacy.She frowned at Frank.He shrugged.
“Oh, I don’t want to even think of that,” Lacy said.
That would make Timothy an even worse boyfriend.
“We’re still going to the bazaar,” Lacy said.“This isn’t going to stop us.”
“I agree,” Florence said.“We’ll just have to be doubly diligent.”
Then they finished the call, and Florence said to Frank, “I can’t believe you told Lacy she might have been dating both of the brothers.”
“She might have.”
“But you know how distressing that would be?”
Frank shook his head.“Yeah.I was thinking of the possibility.I wasn’t thinking about how upsetting that could be to her.I’ll apologize to her when we see her at the bazaar.”
“All right.”Florence appreciated that he could see that he might have been a little indelicate in his comment.Men.He was thinking like an FBI agent without considering who he was talking to.
Rory hugged Lacy.“I’m sure you didn’t date both brothers.Not when Timothy is so obsessed with getting you back.”
“I don’t know.I’m beginning to think I didn’t know him at all.”
“Well, true, since you didn’t know he had a twin brother who worked with him in the same detective agency.They would have to be pretty close if his twin is out here helping him to get you back.He would have had to leave his job too.”
“And from the look of it,” Lacy said, reading over the site, “they own it.So no one is in charge for now.”
“I agree.I’m off to work until we drive into town for the bazaar.What are you going to do?”
“Look for house plans.When you return, we can consider them.We can show Granddad and Mrs.Fitz and see what they think also.”
“All right.That sounds good.”Rory kissed her, then pulled on his jacket, gloves, and cowboy hat.“I’ll see you in a little bit.”
A house was a big deal.She hoped they would agree on a floor plan.
Then she sat in front of the fireplace, the fire crackling, the Christmas tree lights on, and began searching for house plans, hoping she would find something easy to love.
But she kept going back to the idea that she might have been dating Timothy’s brother instead of Timothy.That was a really gross thought.Then again, would he have given her up to see his brother?As much as he was consumed with having her in his life, she didn’t really think so.
If both brothers were out here trying to grab her, that would make it worse as far as trying to keep herself and her family safe.
Then she found a home design she really liked.It had three bedrooms and three baths upstairs, a guest room on the bottom floor with its own bathroom, a three-car garage, a recreation room, a den, a great room, a large kitchen, and a mud room—all great for kids, and if Granddad and Mrs.Fitz came to see them, they could stay overnight in the guest room.They could even live with them if they couldn’t manage to live on their own as they got older.
