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“He didn’t say,” I said. The store had tables and chairs for customers who wanted to sit down with their loot after paying. There was no one that fit the description of PI I had in my mind, no private-eye-looking men with trench coats. There wasn’t even a man in a business suit. There was a group of teenagers, a couple, and a woman sitting at the back, neatly dressed, dark hair pulled into a bun, and flipping through a file. She looked up and waved at me. I frowned.
“She looks like she’s trying to get your attention,” Brent said.
I nodded and moved toward the woman, unsure.
“You’re Rena,” she said. “I’m Morgan Taylor.”
“Oh,” I said, taking the hand she was offering me.
“I’m glad you guessed it was me.”
“Oh, I wasn’t guessing,” Morgan said. “You’re a spitting image of your sister.”
That was unnerving. Brent introduced himself in my stunned silence, and we sat down around the little table.
“Coffee?” Morgan asked.
“I’ll get it,” Brent offered and left us alone to line up at the counter.
“You must have a lot of questions,” Morgan said.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I admitted. “How did this happen?”
Morgan nodded. “Of course, let’s start there. You and your sisters were separated shortly after birth for adoption. It’s not every day someone is willing to take on triplets.”
I stared at Morgan. “Triplets? I have another sister?”
Morgan nodded slowly. “You had more than one. Unfortunately, one of the three girls passed away due to medical complications. It was soon after the initial adoption, and the case had been investigated. There was no foul play.”
I couldn’t believe it. I had barely wrapped my mind around the idea that I wasn’t an only child; adding in another sister and a death was making me numb.
“I know this is a horrible way to find out. The adoptions were closed, so the information shouldn’t have come out at all.”
“Then why did it?” I asked.
“That’s a great question. You sister invested a considerable amount of money into this investigation. She wanted to find her birth parents, and then all the other facts came to light. She has the right contacts. Money talks, even in this world, and she managed to break the rules.”
She broke the rules even though it hurt to find these things out. It wasn’t very considerate of her to put this on me. What if I’d never wanted to know?
But the more I thought about it, the more I doubted I wouldn’t want to know. If I had tried to find my birth parents and realized I had a sister, would I have been able to walk about without knowing who they were? I wasn’t so sure.
“This is so much to take in,” I said.
Morgan nodded, sympathetic. “In my line of work, I see everything. I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
It was the second time today someone had said that to me, but I doubted it. I doubted anyone would understand what it was like if they had been adopted and put through this.
Brent returned to the table with coffee in a Styrofoam cup, and I took it from him, wrapping my fingers around its warmth. With Brent next to me again, I felt a little more stable.
“Your sister’s name is Zoe Franklin. She wants to meet you.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t ready for this.
“I don’t think I can do that,” I said. “Not yet.”
Morgan nodded.
“You can tell Zoe”—the name was foreign on my tongue—“that you found me. But I can’t meet her.”
Morgan glanced at Brent before she nodded at me again. “I understand,” she said. “Take your time digesting this. You know you can contact me if you want to take this further. I know Zoe is very eager to meet you.”
Morgan collected her things and stood up. “I have to go. I have another appointment. It was great meeting you, Rena. Brent.” She left the shop, and I was left behind in the wake of chaos her news had created. I sipped my coffee.
“Are you all right?” Brent asked. He looked concerned.
“I have no idea.”
I didn’t know how I felt about everything that had happened. I didn’t know how to process the information. How had Zoe dealt with the knowledge that she had siblings?
