Marta Perry - Her Surprise Sister

Still wanted, he’d said. That implied there’d been an engagement between them, didn’t it? So what had gone wrong for them?

On the face of it, Landon Derringer was quite a guy—obviously handsome and sophisticated, apparently wealthy and successful. Still, Maddie knew him better than she did. There could be very good reasons why she’d changed her mind about marrying him.

Maddie waited on the busy sidewalk and gestured down the street. This part of Fort Worth seemed to be a mix of businesses, professional offices and apartment buildings.

“My condo is only a couple of blocks from here, so I walked. But maybe you want to take your car and park it there in the garage, rather than leave it on the street.”

“Yes, thanks.” Violet went quickly to the SUV and opened the door to be greeted by a blast of heat. Texas-in-July heat. She switched on the ignition, turned the air on full blast, and rolled the windows down as Maddie got in. “Sorry it’s so stifling. It should cool off pretty fast.”

“No problem. I was born here, remember? I’m used to it.” Maddie shook her head, her silky hair swaying. She wore it in a shoulder-length cut that had obviously been done by a professional, since the style fell back into place with every movement.

Violet couldn’t help touching her ponytail. Would her hair look that way with the right cut? Maybe so, but she couldn’t afford to find out. Anyway, the ponytail was a lot more practical for the life she led.

She checked the rearview mirror and pulled out into traffic. In the mirror she could also glimpse Landon Derringer, still standing by the coffee-shop door.

“We both were born here,” Violet said, still trying to understand what was happening to her. “Do you think your friend will really be able to find the records?”

“Probably. He has the connections, if anyone does.” Maddie’s nose crinkled. “I wish he’d butt out, but knowing Landon, he won’t.”

Violet hesitated for a moment before asking the question in her mind. “When he first saw me, Landon thought I was you. He said he still wanted to marry me. You, I mean.” She was probably blushing.

Maddie shrugged, a quick, graceful movement. “I ought to tell you about it, I guess. Landon and I were engaged, but it was a mistake. Now we’re not. End of story.”

It couldn’t be all there was. Violet knew there had to be a lot more to the engagement and the breakup than that, but if Maddie didn’t want to tell her, she wouldn’t pry.

“Just past this next corner,” Maddie said. “Turn right into the basement garage.”

Violet followed her directions, turning into an underground parking garage. She parked the car where Maddie indicated and walked beside her, their footsteps echoing on the concrete floor. They stepped into an elevator that lifted them soundlessly to the third floor.

“Right over here.” Maddie pulled out keys as she spoke, going quickly down the carpeted hallway to the second door. She unlocked it and led the way into a condo.

So this fancy place was where her twin lived. It looked like a magazine spread.

“This is lovely.” Violet stepped into the living room, which had a dining area on one end and an open counter, beyond which was a small kitchen. Spacious and trendy, with sleek leather furniture and vibrant paintings on the walls, the living room had a bank of glass doors leading onto a balcony that overlooked the city.

Maddie looked around, as if surprised by her comment. “I guess it is. Dad helped me buy this place when I decided to get out on my own.”

Dad. The casual word echoed in Violet’s mind. Was Maddie’s father her father, too? He must be, for them to be identical twins. She realized she was still trying to wrap her mind around that one fact.

“What’s your father like?”

Maddie crossed the Berber carpet to a glass-topped table that held a series of photos in silver frames. She picked one up, holding it out.

Violet took the photo and stared at three pictured faces. The older man had to be Maddie’s father. Her father. He had a chiseled face and dark brown eyes with a somber expression. Remote—that was how he looked.

The other two were younger. She stared at one of the pictured faces and felt the room spin around.

“Who is that?” She pointed to the face.

Maddie looked at her oddly. “Are you okay? That’s just my older brother, Grayson.”

Violet shook her head, pulling her cell phone out of her bag and flipping through the photos until she found the one she wanted. “This is my older brother. Jack.” She handed it to Maddie, knowing she’d see what Violet meant at once. The faces were identical.

Maddie stared at the photo for a long moment. She sank down onto the nearest sofa, looking shell-shocked. “I feel as if I’ve wandered into a science-fiction movie.”

Violet sat down next to her. “Me, too. Two sets of identical twins? It’s…it’s just crazy.”

“That’s the right word for it,” Maddie agreed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Who is the other person?” Violet pointed to the third man in the framed photo.

“My younger brother, Carter.” Maddie looked at her. “Please don’t tell me you have an identical younger brother. That would be too much. I’d be ready for the funny farm.”

Violet managed a smile. “I don’t have any younger siblings at all.”

“That’s a relief.” Maddie flushed. “I mean…I didn’t mean that I’m glad you don’t have younger siblings. Or that I’m not glad to have found you. It’s just…”

“Yes. I know.” Violet rubbed her forehead. Maybe if she weren’t so tired, she could think this through better. “So what do we make of this? We must have the same parents in order to be identical, to say nothing of Jack and Grayson being identical. So my mother and your dad were together at one time, and they had two sets of twins. That’s what we’re saying, isn’t it?”

“I guess so.” Maddie was staring at the photo she’d identified as being her younger brother. “But that must mean Carter is my half brother. I remember when he was born. It never occurred to me that Mom wasn’t my mother, too.”

Violet could hear the hurt in Maddie’s voice, and it seemed to echo in her heart. There were too many complications for her to grapple with. “What about your dad? He has to know the answers to this. Can’t we go and see him?” Her heart gave an extra thump at the thought of actually seeing her birth father.

But Maddie was shaking her head. “He’s not within reach, I’m afraid. Dad’s a doctor. Right now he’s on a mission trip, and he said he wouldn’t be in cell-phone range most of the time. Not that we talk all that much, anyway.” Maddie shrugged. “If you’re picturing an old-fashioned, doting, emotionally engaged father, forget it. Dad’s more involved with his patients than with his kids.”

“I’m sorry.” She reached out to touch Maddie’s hand, responding to the pain in her voice. “But there must be some way of reaching him in an emergency. We’ll go nuts if we don’t find some answers.”

“I can send an email. He is able to pick those up occasionally. But before I do that, tell me about your mother. Our mother. You said we look like her.”

Violet flipped through the cell phone photos again, stopping at one she especially liked. Belle was leaning against a corral fence, wearing her usual jeans, plaid shirt and boots, her head tilted back, smiling with that pleasure she always seemed to take in whatever she was doing at the moment. Violet touched the image. She’d give a lot to see her mom looking like that again. She handed the phone to Maddie.

“Oh.” Maddie touched the image, just as Violet had. She wiped away a tear. “We are like her, aren’t we? It’s funny to look at her and know what I’ll look like in twenty years or so. She’s beautiful.”