She gave him the name of a restaurant and suggested they meet at twelve thirty.
I’ll be there.
Since Memphis was still asleep, he went to the lobby to get coffee and something to eat. He felt like a zombie, wandering through life looking like a functioning human when his every nerve was on full alert as he waited for proof of what he already knew to be true.
Carolyn was Jordan.
He’d known it the second he’d first laid eyes on her, and she’d confirmed it when she’d called him by name after not having seen him for twenty-six years. She’d remembered their grandparents’ dog’s name, something she never could’ve known if she hadn’t been there to love that dog with her whole heart and soul.
She’d loved him like that, too, and he had to believe her heart remembered that.
He took coffee and a muffin upstairs to Memphis, who was just waking up when he returned. She was so adorable first thing in the morning, with her mass of curly hair and rosy cheeks.
“Thank you,” she said when he handed her the coffee and muffin.
“How’re you feeling?”
“Pretty good. I slept straight through for the first time.”
“That’s great news. No pain?”
“Not bad enough to wake me up.” She glanced up at him. “Did you sleep at all?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Jesse…” She patted the bed next to her. “Come sit with me.”
He didn’t want to sit or sleep or talk or do anything other than get the official word that Carolyn was indeed his sister. But because he loved Memphis, he kicked off his shoes and sat next to her to drink his second cup of coffee.
“Carolyn asked me to meet her for lunch.”
“Oh, Jesse… That’s wonderful.”
“Don’t get too excited. She might want to tell me to fuck off with this nightmare I’ve unleashed on her life.”
“She won’t do that.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“When we were sitting at the table with her and Kane, she never took her eyes off you. The whole time, she was laser-focused on you. She knew you. She knows what you told her is true. Now it just has to be proved to Kane and the rest of their family.”
“Remember when I said I didn’t want to look into her at all until I laid eyes on her and got a sense of whether it was her?”
“I do.”
“I’m worried about the people who raised her finding out that I’m here and doing something desperate to preserve their lies.”
“Since you couldn’t bring yourself to do it, I looked into her family.”
“Wait. You did?”
“It was a long ride to Kentucky. I was bored.”
“Wow, that’s nice,” he said sarcastically.
“What? You said six words the whole time, which I totally understood, but I had to keep myself busy. I wanted to be ready for whatever we might encounter here.”
Smiling, he shook his head. After working with her for years, he shouldn’t be surprised that she’d put her mad investigative skills to work for him. “You’re too much. What’d you find out?”
