Linda Warren - The Wrong Woman

“Later I found out that Marie had given him the money to buy it. It was the only thing she ever kept from me.” He slowly shook his head. “She knew I wouldn’t like it.”

Travis looked to Ethan for guidance, but Ethan didn’t respond. If Pop had something to say, he needed to say it.

“I still don’t like it,” Pop went on. “But Ethan says you have a right to live your life the way you want. He’s right, because when I hear you sing, I hear your mama and…” He stopped as his voice cracked. He got to his feet. “Think I’ll turn in.”

Molly threw her arms around him, and they exchanged a long hug. Then Pop looked at Travis. “Glad you’re home, son,” he mumbled, and walked into the house.

Ethan heaved a sigh of relief. Finally they were talking like a family. Now maybe the hurt could begin to heal.

THEY WERE STILL talking outside when the phone rang. Cole jumped up. “I’ll get it.”

Ethan wondered if Cole was hoping it would be his father. A minute later, he was back. “It’s for you, Uncle Ethan. A woman.”

“A woman?” Travis raised an eyebrow. “This is interesting.” He grinned at Cole. “Did she sound young and attractive?”

Cole shrugged. “She sounded nice.”

“Nice and needs assistance from a P.I. is my guess,” Travis stated.

Ethan stood. “It could be something entirely different.”

“Yeah, right.” Travis said with a laugh.

Ethan shook his head as the laughter followed him into the house.

He picked up the receiver. “Hello.”

“Mr. Ethan Ramsey?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Serena Farrell. We met a week ago in a café in Fort Worth. You thought I was a…stripper. Do you remember?”

Ethan sat down on the sofa. The redhead was the last person he’d expected to call. That could only mean one thing. She needed his services, just as Travis had predicted.

“Yes, I remember. What can I do for you, Ms. Farrell?”

Silence.

“Ms. Farrell?”

“I’m not sure how to say this.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. Sometimes we all do stupid things.”

“I am not a stripper,” she said hotly.

“Okay, then, why are you calling me?”

“I want to know who the other woman is.”

“I see,” he said, but he didn’t, so he decided to let her do the talking.

“Do you think you can find her?” she asked after a brief pause.

“That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“How…how much do you charge?”

Ethan told her and she asked, “Do you think you can locate her in two days?”

Ethan knew where the woman worked, so the job would be easy, but he wasn’t sure why Serena Farrell needed to find her. Was she telling the truth about her own identity? Could there actually be two of them? His curiosity was piqued, and he wanted to find out.

“I think so,” he said slowly. “Can you explain what this is all about?”

“If she looks like me, we have to be related in some way. I want to know how.”

Ethan accepted that, but he felt there were a lot of blanks that needed filling in. “Okay, I’ll come to Fort Worth and we’ll take it from there.”

“I can’t do it next week. I’m a schoolteacher and it’s the last week of school, but the week after should be fine.”

“I work alone, Ms. Farrell.”

“Please, Mr. Ramsey, this is very important to me.”

Something in her voice got to him. “Give me your number.”

When she’d rattled off her phone number, she said, “Thanks, Mr. Ramsey. I know you think I’m lying, but I’m not.”

“I’m a private investigator and I try not to judge people. If you want this woman found, then I’ll find her. I’ll call in a week.”

Ethan hung up and stared at the phone. The plot thickens. Now he’d discover whether or not there were two women, and he didn’t mind getting to know Ms. Serena Farrell in the process. She was either the best actress he’d ever met or a woman who genuinely needed his help. Either way, he was looking forward to the experience.

SERENA SAT until her heart stopped pounding. She’d done it. She’d called. Now she’d know. She picked up her mother’s picture from the bed. They looked so much alike. Very few people had exactly that hair color together with the fair complexion. For the past few days, she’d had an awful thought, as a result of Gran’s reaction to her questions. Maybe Jasmine wasn’t dead. What if Aurora and Henry had disowned her and pretended she was dead? If her mother was alive and had another daughter—could that possibly be true? Yes, she told herself, because Gran wasn’t telling her the whole story. She’d have to find out on her own—with Ethan Ramsey’s help.

THE REST OF THE WEEKEND went smoothly, Ethan thought. Travis and Molly laughed and talked and sang, and they had their heads together most of the time. They were only three years apart in age and had always been close. Pop managed to keep his opinions to himself, but by Sunday afternoon Ethan knew something was afoot. Molly was too excited. Then she dropped her bombshell: she was returning to Dallas with Travis and singing in the club with him. Travis had cleared it with the owner. When Pop heard the news, he stomped off to the kitchen.

Molly appealed to Ethan. “Talk to him. I have to get away.”

Ethan knew she did, but singing in a nightclub staggered him, too. His sister was more the domestic type.

Travis spoke up. “C’mon, Ethan. I’ll look out for her.”

“What about Cole?” Ethan said the only thing that made sense to him.

“We’ve already talked,” Molly said. “Travis offered to get him a job with his construction company, but he wants to spend his last summer before college here on the ranch with you and Pop.”

Ethan was still at a loss for words. Molly didn’t need his permission, but she seemed to need his approval.

“You wanted me to get a job,” she reminded him. “That’s what I’m doing. I just can’t stay here with Bruce getting married.” Her voice wavered slightly.

Ethan put his arm around her. Molly had never been on her own. She’d gone from her parents’ house to Bruce’s, and needed to experience life as a single woman. He understood that. “Just take care of yourself and I’ll take care of Cole.”

She kissed his cheek. “Thanks. This will give Cole a chance to forge a new relationship with his father. You’re right, my pain has had a bad effect on Cole. I don’t want him to be bitter, and as much as Bruce has hurt me, he was always a good father to Cole. That’s not easy for me to admit, but I have to go forward, as you said, and I’m trying to do that. I still have a lot of emotions to get through. This time away from everything will help me.” She glanced toward the kitchen. “But what about Pop?”

“Go tell him what you just told me.” Ethan knew she wanted him to explain, but if Molly was going to make her own choices, she had to defend them.

When she left, Travis said, “I think this is what’s best for Molly right now.”

“Oddly, I do, too,” Ethan replied. “She has to find a life without Bruce. Singing in a club, though. That takes some getting used to.”

“It’s just something fun to do until she gets her bearings.”

“I suppose,” Ethan admitted. “I’ll be in Fort Worth the week after next, and I’ll drop by and catch the show.”

Travis’s eyes narrowed. “What will you be doing in Fort Worth?”

“A case.”

“And you’re not talking about it.”

“Nope.” He didn’t talk about his cases and he definitely didn’t want Travis to know he was working for the redhead. There’d be too many questions and he didn’t have any answers.

Later that evening they waved goodbye to Molly and Travis. After Molly had talked to Pop, he seemed resigned to the situation. They all were, because they realized Molly was taking the first step in changing her life.