AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But maybe that was okay. Love wasn’t always reciprocated.He could take what crumbs she threw his way. At least he told himself he could settle for them. Maybe more would come eventually.
He picked up a picture out of the pile. “You should give her this one. You’re braiding her hair.”
She took it from his fingers. “I’d forgotten I used to fix her hair. She would have the worst tangles, and she’d cry when Mom tried to brush it. Sarah wouldn’t jerk or cry when I’d brush it. You think she remembers that?”
“Probably not, but the pictures might jog her memory.” He reached past her and took another one. “This looks like Christmas.”
She leaned over his shoulder. “Our last Christmas before everything changed. It was the first year I used my own money to buy presents for everyone. Dad paid me to weed the garden the summer before, and I saved every penny. I got Mom some cologne and Dad a toolbelt. Sarah had a favorite doll, and I got her a cowgirl outfit for it. It came with little plastic boots and everything. There should be a picture of her with it.”
She pawed through the pictures and found it. Her eyes misted with the memories. Sarah was holding out the doll dressed in the new outfit. She looked as proud as a new mommy. Would she remember when she saw this?
The back door to the kitchen slammed, and Kylie’s voice called out, “Mommy, I’m home.”
Annie sprang up to go thank Bree, but her friend and Kylie appeared in the doorway before Annie got more than two steps. Milo, tongue lolling, rushed to greet her, and she knelt to rub his ears.
Bree’s green eyes were red-rimmed, and Annie knew hearingabout Anu’s health situation was hard to come to grips with. It was one of the things that had bonded Annie to Bree—they’d both been widowed and had gone through major heartache.
Bree shot a glance at Kylie. “How was your morning? Thumbs-up?”
Annie gave her a thumbs-down and shook her head. “Thanks for taking Bug this morning.” She hugged Kylie. “Did you have fun?”
Kylie’s blonde head bounced up and down. She looked over to where Jon sat on the floor with the pictures spread out. “What are you doing?”
Annie inhaled and squared her shoulders. “Honey, I have something I need to talk to you about.” She gestured for Bree to have a seat, then took Kylie’s hand. “You’ve heard me talk about Sarah.”
“Your little sister. That’s why I’m always supposed to be careful around strangers.”
“That’s right. Um, I found out some amazing news about her today.”
“You found her body?”
Why had Annie thought Kylie wouldn’t pick up on her search all these years? She had to have overheard things now and then. “We didn’t find her body. We foundher. Sarah is still alive.”
Kylie’s eyes widened. “Can we go see her? Where is she?”
“That’s one of the really amazing parts. Taylor is really Sarah. She came here to try to get to know us before she told me who she really was.”
Kylie’s forehead wrinkled as she tried to process it. “My Taylor is your baby sister?”
Annie nodded. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she’dthought. Kylie seemed eager to accept the news. “But she is kind of mad at me.”
“Well, you did tell her she couldn’t see me. It made me mad too. But she’ll forgive you if you ask. I always do.”
“I hope so. I want us to give her some things to remind her that she’s part of our family. Like these pictures of her when she was a little girl. And I’d like you to give her Cocoa.”
Kylie frowned at that. “But Cocoa is mine now.”
“She belonged to Sarah first. You’ve had Cocoa for a long time, and you don’t even play with it. I think it will mean to lot to her if you’re willing to welcome her and give Cocoa back to her. You have lots of plushies. Sarah has nothing. The woman who took her was not nice to her, and she doesn’t own much of anything.”
“She doesn’t have very many clothes either.” Kylie glanced down at Jon. “You changed out of Daddy’s clothes.”
He got up. “I knew it made you unhappy, and I didn’t want to make you sad. Just like you don’t want to make Taylor sad.”
The light went on in her blue eyes, and she nodded. “I’ll get Cocoa. Could we go now and take the pictures and my kitty to her?”
“I think that would be great,” Annie said.
Kylie ran from the room, and Annie exhaled. “That went better than I thought it might.”
