“Did you find him? Are you bringing him home? Does he need a doctor? Do—”
I interrupt her twenty questions.
“Ma! No, we didn’t find Tyson, but we did find a huge surprise. Is Pa near you?”
“Yeah, he’s just in the other room. Grant’s over and they’re visitin’.”
“Well, he can hear this too. Put me on speaker with you and them please.”
A couple of seconds later, I hear Ma fussing with the phone.
“Okay, my girl, Pa’s on the phone with me now.”
I can hear them rustling and Pa speaks up.
“What’s goin’ on, my girl?”
“Well, Shane took me up to where he usually looks for Tyson, and before you ask, no we didn’t find him. But we did find someone. Two someones, actually. Two barely legal girls, twins, who’re nineteen and say their birth certificates list their father as Abel Weston. We also look alike.”
Shane adds to the conversation, “They don’t just look alike. They’re spittin’ images of each other, to the point it’s kinda scary.”
I can hear Pa in the background.
“That motherfucker has more kids and probably never seen them either. What the fuck went wrong in his head?
“Okay, maybe we do look a lot alike, but more to the point of my call. We met them when we stopped at the first encampment Shane usually goes to. They’re homeless ’cause when they aged out, they didn’t have any help. They had a car they were living in while trying to save money, but it got impounded, and well, you know how things go. I kinda spoke without checking with ya, but I offered for them to come back with us and we can get them jobs and a place to stay until they get on their feet. That way we can also get to know them. I was thinking if they say yes that we’ll bring them over to your house. What do you guys think? If not, Shane and I can move them in till we figure something out.”
Pa answers, which means he and Ma just did that silent communicating with their eyes thing they’ve always done.
“Bring the girls here if they decide to come. We’ve still got a couple of rooms made up and they can get to know everyone. I know you need help in the shop ’cause you’ll need someone when the baby comes. I know the diner always needs help. Shit, we’ll have a few options lined up. What are their names?”
Shane answers as the girls start to come back this way.
“Shandy and Brandy. They’re coming back now. Hold on a sec.”
He has me leave them on speaker phone so they can hear.
Shandy speaks up as soon as they get to Shane’s side of the SUV.
“We’d like to go with you. We don’t want to freeload, so we’ll definitely be interested in anylegitimatejob offers you have. We both would like the chance to meet some family and get to know you. The last family we had besides each other was our grandma and she passed when we were ten. That’s when we got put in the system.”
Ma chimes in, “Well, ladies, watch out, ’cause you have family now. I’m your aunt Linnea but everyone calls me Ma. We’ve got a room for each of you and I’ll have some food ready for you when you get here.” They both give a slight smile at that.
I tell Ma we’ll see them in a couple of hours. Luckily, since we left right after work, it won’t be too late when we get back. Shane tells the girls to go get whatever stuff they have and we can load it up in the back. They each come back with a couple of duffle bags.
Shane gets them loaded up and opens the back doors for them. He grabs the last couple of bags of burgers he bought and takes them over to Booker. I can see him handing them over while they talk. They shake hands and he heads back toward the SUV.
Brandy speaks up before Shane gets back to the SUV. “We’re gonna be safe with you, right? My sister says her gut is telling her yes, but I’ve got to ask.”
“Yes, you’re safe. If you come with us and decide you want to come back at any time, we can do that. You aren’t hostages. You’re grown-ass adults who can do what they want. You’re gonna meet a whole lot of extended family here in the next few days. I’m the only other one we know of that Abel fathered. I was adopted when I was a few months old. Pa is Abel’s biological brother. He and Ma adopted me and then were foster parents to many while I was growing up. Over the years, they ended up adopting six of the kids who had come to us as fosters. I’m the middle of seven siblings. They’re gonna all end up claiming you as siblings too.”
Shane gets in and starts to make the way back home. He mentions the MC and describes what they are and what they do. I can see both the girls’ eyes get a little big at that.
Shandy’s next question tells me we’re going to get along just fine.
“Are you guys like theMayans? We’ve seen some episodes of that, but I read a lot. Brandy too.” I can tell Shane is physically restraining himself from rolling his eyes.
“Oh, we’re gonna get along just fine. My sister and my soon-to-be sister-in-law all read. We read a lot, and most of it is MC. Mads is really into shifter and paranormal lately though.” Brandy lights up at that.
