The hallway opened into a small bedroom where an elderly man lay in a narrow bed, blankets pulled to his chest despite the mild day.His eyes fluttered open at the sound of their footsteps, rheumy and unfocused at first, then sharpening with sudden awareness as they settled on Jenna.A smile transformed his gaunt face, joy illuminating features carved by time and hardship.
“You’ve come for Emma at last!”he exclaimed, his voice cracking with effort.The words seemed to drain him, each syllable costing precious energy.“I can go now.”
Jenna stepped forward, heart racing.“Where is she?Where can I find … Emma?”
The old man—Wendell Gillis, she presumed—lifted a trembling hand, pointing toward what must be the back of the property.The effort seemed to exhaust him; his arm fell back to the blanket, his breathing growing more labored.
“Please,” Jenna urged, kneeling beside the bed.
“Is Emma...is her name really Piper Graves?Is she my sister?”
Wendell’s eyes held hers, filled with an understanding that transcended his failing strength, but no words came.His gaze shifted to the window, through which sunlight streamed in golden bars.
“Stay with him,” Jenna told Jake, already moving toward the door.“I’ll find her.”
She burst from the cabin’s back entrance, scanning the property.A narrow footpath wound away from the house, disappearing into a stand of pines.Following her instinct, Jenna took the path at a run, branches whipping past her face, her boots slipping on pine needles.
The trees thinned suddenly, revealing a rocky outcrop jutting over a cliff edge.And there—silhouetted against the wide blue sky—stood a woman, her back to Jenna, gazing out over the spectacular vista of rolling mountains and valleys spread below.
Jenna froze, her breath suspended in her lungs.The woman’s posture, the tilt of her head, the way the wind caught at her hair—it was like looking at a memory come to life.
“Piper?”she called softly.
The woman turned slowly, sunlight catching her profile.Jenna felt the world tilt.It was like looking in a mirror—the same green eyes, the same facial structure, though this woman was thinner, her features more weathered, her eyes holding shadows that spoke of hardships Jenna could only guess at.
The woman took a half step back, her hand rising as if to ward off an apparition.
“Who are you?”she asked, her voice hoarse.
“It’s me, Jenna.Your sister.”Tears blurred her vision, hot against her cheeks.“I’ve been looking for you for twenty years, Piper.Ever since you disappeared.”
“I’m not...My name is Emma.Emma Kirby.”
“No,” Jenna insisted gently, moving forward.“You’re Piper Graves.You’re my twin sister.You disappeared when we were sixteen.Don’t you remember me at all?”
“I’m sorry.I don’t know who Piper is.Or Jenna.”Her expression softened with compassion.“You must have me confused with someone else.”
Jenna reached out, unable to stop herself, and took the woman’s hand.The touch was electric—familiar yet strange.“Please, try to remember.We grew up in Trentville.Our parents are Margaret and Greg Graves.”
No spark of recognition lit those green eyes so like her own.“I’m sorry,” the woman repeated.“I truly don’t remember any of that.”
A shout from the direction of the cabin cut through the moment.Jake’s voice, urgent.“Jenna!”
Still holding the woman’s hand, Jenna turned back toward the path.“Come with me.Please.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the woman—Emma?Piper?—allowed herself to be led back toward the cabin.They emerged from the trees to find Jake standing on the back porch, his expression grim.
“He’s gone,” Jake said quietly as they approached.“Passed away just after you left.”
The woman beside Jenna made a choked sound and rushed past them both, through the door and to Wendell’s bedroom.Jenna and Jake followed, finding her kneeling beside the bed, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
“Wendell,” she whispered.“You can’t go.Not yet.”
Jenna stood in the doorway, feeling a strange numbness.She had found Piper, yet Piper was gone, replaced by a woman called Emma who mourned an old farmer and had no memory of the life they’d shared.
Jake’s hand found her shoulder, steady and warm.“Jenna?”
She met his concerned gaze, unable to articulate the tangled emotions.She had found her sister only to discover that the reunion she’d imagined for twenty years would never come to pass.And the one person who might have explained it all—who had recognized Jenna and expected her—lay beyond all questions.
