A man was standing near the center island, where people could fill out deposit slips and such. He was wearing a shirt and tie, and his dark hair was cut very short. A perfect banker type, she thought as he stepped toward her and extended his hand. “I’m Carson. Let’s go to my office.”
There were two offices separated from the lobby, but they had massive glass windows, so they weren’t exactly private. But Carson led her down a short hallway and up a flight of stairs to a longer hallway. At the end, on the right, a heavy wooden door stood open.
“My office,” he told her, gesturing for her to go ahead. “Sorry for the subterfuge, but Taylor’s lunch breaks are short and she didn’t want to wait until after work.”
“People are going to think I bounced a really large check,” she said, and he laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, though.”
“The door we just passed is a storage room, and I’m going to go rifle through some ancient boxes to give you some privacy.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’d go downstairs, but I can’t come up with a good explanation for leaving you alone in my office.”
“Don’t people know Taylor’s up here?” Maybe none of them were as sneaky as they thought.
“I let her in the back door. I do it all the time if she comes over for lunch, and honestly I don’t think anybody saw her. They’d have to check the cameras.”
Taylor poked her head out into the hall. “I don’t have much time.”
Carson blew her a kiss, which was adorable, and then turned back toward the storage room. As soon as Lucy was in his office, Taylor closed the door behind her. “The results are in my email.”
Lucy’s pulse quickened and tears threatened, even though it wasn’t time for them yet. “What do they say?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t going to read it without you.”
“How did you not even peek forhours? I don’t think I could have resisted.”
“It was hard, but…I’m a little scared.” Taylor looked at her, with her face and hair that were like Lucy’s, and yet not. “No matter what this says, we can still be sisters, you know.”
The tears couldn’t be contained as Lucy nodded. “Sisters, no matter what.”
After they both took deep breaths, Taylor unlocked her phone. They stood with their shoulders pressed together so they could both see the screen as the email opened.
A moment later, the tears ran unchecked as they held each other in the middle of Carson’s office. They were officially sisters—forever bound by a man Taylor had loved and lost, and whom Lucy had never known at all.
“I knew it as soon as I met you,” Taylor said once they’d taken a minute to breathe and put a serious dent in the box of tissues on Carson’s desk.
“When I left Las Vegas, I didn’t feel like I had anybody,” Lucy said. She’d even felt abandoned by her mother. “And now I have Gran back in my life and I have a sister.”
And Nick. She had Nick, too.
“Forever,” Taylor whispered. “No matter what. And hopefully we’ll be able to tell people someday.”
Their laughter put an end to the lingering tears, and by the time Carson knocked on the door and stuck his head in, their eyes were dry. Maybe a little puffy, but they were all smiles.
“From stranger to future sister-in-law,” Carson said after they’d broken the news. He gave her a quick awkward hug before giving them a chagrined look. “I hate to break up the party, but I have to resolve an issue downstairs so this meeting has to be cut short.”
Lucy laughed and gave her eyes a final swipe with a fresh tissue. “Can you tell I’ve been crying? They’re going to think I bounced areallybig check.”
“Unfortunately, you won’t be the first person to leave my office having cried. At least these are happy tears.”
After giving her official sister a final hug, Lucy followed Carson down the hallway. She couldn’t wait to tell Nick, and she paused before the first step to send him a quick text message.
I have a sister!
He was working and probably wouldn’t respond immediately, so she slid her phone into her back pocket and followed Carson into the lobby. He turned to shake her hand, and over his shoulder she saw Nick talking to the teller behind the counter. He gave her a quick smile and, after a few words to the teller, turned to leave.
Lucy finished saying goodbye to Taylor’s fiancé, trying to keep up the appearance they were wrapping up some kind of banking-related meeting, and then she went after Nick.
He was waiting for her on the sidewalk, leaning against the brick wall. “Congratulations.”
“I’m so happy right now.” She held up her hands. “What are you doing here, though?”
