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Looking down, she realized that she had actually stolen her entire outfit today from her mother’s closet. It would seem fitting, but her mother—stepmom, really—was only ten years older than her. On top of that, Sera knew what to wear; that’s why her closet was used by all the sisters. It didn’t hurt that they were all nearly the same size, except she and Agatha were a bit shorter than the rest.
The guy behind her unexpectedly slammed into her, and she slammed into the woman in front of her. On a positive note, nobody fell down. However, it earned her a glare from the woman, who turned on her.
“Excuse me, young lady,” the woman stated as if it were all Buzz’s fault.
“Sorry, I was pushed,” she explained, motioning to the man behind her, who was ignoring her completely. Jerk.
“Well, don’t let it happen again,” the woman replied and looked her up and down, then dismissed her with a turn of the head.
The action almost made her laugh out loud—that was completely her sister Harper’s attitude. Cold and aloof was Harper Lovely, now Hawthorn. Why the woman reminded her of her sister, she didn’t know. Funny how she even looked like Harper would probably look in twenty years or so.
The line inched closer to the desk, and Buzz wanted to just leave, but Chelsea had spotted her, and now she was stuck. Chelsea would be pissed if Buzz didn’t stay in line and talk to her, especially since she wasn’t coming back. What she did for her mother!
When the older woman finally made it to Chelsea, Buzz was only half caring what went on around her. Pulling out her phone, she clicked it on to check what was happening when the woman’s words caught her attention.
“Dr. Judith Rowley, R-O-W-L-E-Y,” she stated loudly as if Chelsea couldn’t hear her.
Buzz stared at the back of the woman’s head for a moment. That was her mother’s name! Not the mother whom she loved and had raised her, but the mother who had walked out of her life when she was four. The woman had abandoned her husband and five young kids without a backward glance.
Buzz had no actual memories of the woman, just the memories of the lack of a mom. Neighbors watched her and her sisters when her dad worked, and Harper made meals so the kids could eat. Nobody walked her to school on the first day or asked about her day afterward.
“What can I help you with today, Dr. Rowley?” Chelsea asked cheerfully. More cheerfully than Buzz would have, but Buzz usually took the bait when baited. Chelsea did not.
“I need to put in an ad for a chef. Mine walked out, and I need another,” the older woman stated, the one who shared her mother’s name. Buzz couldn’t believe this lady could possibly be her mother. Then she went on to describe at length what she was looking for, ignoring Chelsea, who was explaining that she needed it to be short for printing.
The two spent the next ten minutes going over what Dr. Judith Rowley actually wanted in a chef, which was a lot. Buzz didn’t have to be a sister to a caterer to know that the woman had higher demands than she would ever get.
Elle seemed to finally be satisfied because she was finally taking the older woman’s money, even if the woman was still complaining about her former chef. Once the money was exchanged, Judith turned away from them to leave, and Chelsea called out to Buzz. She knew her real name and liked to show it off. “Miss Lovely.”
Judith immediately turned back to the desk and asked in surprise, “Excuse me?”
Her reaction shocked Buzz. She had decided it was just a coincidence and not her mother, except the woman turned at their once-shared last name. Judith seemed to growl and hurried off towards the door to leave.
Buzz rushed to Chelsea and grabbed the ad they had worked too hard on and scanned it, memorizing the information as fast as she could, though there wasn’t much since Chelsea had worked her magic and shortened the thing down considerably.
“How are you, Bea?” Chelsea asked, leaning in closer because they were friends.
“Fine, good. I have to go,” she stated and rushed after the woman who may or may not have given birth to her.
She had to talk to her and make sure Judith wasn’t who Buzz thought she was.
