AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luna pulled me into a tight embrace before taking off, and for the first time in almost twenty years, I was left alone with my twin sister.
* * *
“She’s incredible, Chey,”Charlotte said softly.
With the guys and Renee down at the beach, I made some coffee for my sister and me—I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of thinking that—and we moved out to the back deck. We were both curled up on the love seat, facing the ocean.
I felt my face get soft as I watched Charlotte’s fiancé and my baby girl burying Trent in the sand. The sight of that shouldn’t have warmed me up, but it was as though I had no control over my own body. He was just so good with her. He was fully clothed, covered in sand that was probably freezing, and seemed completely content. “Yeah, she’s kind of amazing, isn’t she?”
“She absolutely is.” Her hand covered mine, her fingers squeezing. “Thank you so much for naming her after me.”
“I always had you with me, even after all the years apart, I did what I could to have you with me.” We lapsed into silence when a thought came to mind, pounding against my skull incessantly. “Charlotte,” I started quietly. “Trent told me what Graham had his man do to you. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
“Stop,” she ordered, turning to face me. “That wasn’t your fault.”
“But if I’d never married him—”
She interrupted me with fierce determination. “I wouldn’t change what happened, not for anything. If that had never happened, I wouldn’t be here with you right now. I can’t be upset about something that led us back together.”
When she put it like that, I really couldn’t say I’d change anything either, even those years of misery I’d spent with Graham. In the end, having Renee and now being here with Charlotte made every bad day and night worth it.
“This is so beautiful,” she murmured a few minutes later. “Being right here on the water like this, I can see why you stayed.”
“It really is, but it’s not just the beauty of the place that drew me in. It was the people. I never belonged anywhere until I came here. Mom’s cousin didn’t want me any more than she wanted you. Graham never really loved me, he just liked that I didn’t have anyone I could lean on; that made it easier for him to control and isolate me. But I came here, and I was family. It was nice not to feel alone after so long.”
She leaned into me. “I know the feeling. I have a friend back home in Hope Valley. His name is Micah, and he showed me what it was like to have people in my corner.”
“Then you met Dalton,” I said softly.
“Then I met Dalton,” she agreed. “And he saved me. He gave me a family and showed me what it was like to feel treasured.”
I looped my arm through hers. “I’m glad you have that.”
“And I’m glad you have this.”
I let out a sigh. “If only we weren’t an entire country apart, huh?”
She gave me a little jostle, grinning like crazy. “But at least we know where the other is now. There will be phone calls and FaceTime. And I foresee a lot of plane rides in our future.”
“This is true,” I said on a giggle, feeling like I was floating on a cloud. “We finally found each other.”
“And nothing and no one is ever going to separate us again.”
I really loved the sound of that.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cheyanne
The daybefore had been so full of emotion that Charlotte and I hadn’t really had the chance to go too in-depth about each other’s lives. We were more focused on just being together for the first time in two decades.
Today was all about showing my twin the life I’d built in this gorgeous town by the ocean.
“Oh man,” Charlotte said in a whisper as she stepped into my workshop. “Look at all this stuff!” Her big eyes came back around to me. “You made all of this?”
“Yep,” I answered proudly. Surprisingly, all the nerves I usually felt whenever people saw my work firsthand were completely absent just then. The twenty-year gap between us hadn’t made us stranger. Oddly enough, it felt like we were picking up right where we left off. Sure, there was so much we didn’t know about each other, but there was plenty of time for that now that we’d finally found each other.
“This right here is my passion.”
