Aiden shuffled up the stairs—without the aid of his crutch or the wooden handrail.
He was free. The physical therapist and his doctor had both given Aiden permission to resume his day-to-day activities as long as he didn’t overdo it, an announcement that should have had him celebrating the return to his normal life.
Except for the fact that he was miserable, because Maddie was no longer part of it.
“It’s not Maddie’s fault.” Aiden had reached that conclusion the moment her car had disappeared from sight. “It’s mine.”
Behind him, he heard a growl of agreement.
Aiden glanced at Dodger. “One, I didn’t ask for your opinion. And two, if you keep up the attitude, there’s an empty kennel at the shelter with your name on it.”
Dodger stared at him, bushy eyebrows rising a fraction of an inch. You’re bluffing, they said.
If Aiden didn’t know better, he’d think the dog had actually understood the conversation Aiden had had with Sunni the week before.
She’d swept into the sunroom, a handful of dog biscuits in one hand and a snazzy matching collar and leash in the other.
“Does Dodger have another vet appointment?” Aiden had asked.
“Not today” came the cheerful reply. “Dr. Voss called this morning, and based on Dodger’s latest examination, he’s been cleared for active duty. There’s room at the shelter, so I think it’s time I find this guy a forever home. There’s a new family at church interested in adopting an older dog.”
“A family?” Aiden had frowned. “With little kids?”
“Dodger has never shown any sign of aggression toward the twins,” Sunni pointed out. “Or other animals, for that matter.”
“What about all the snapping and snarling?”
“He hasn’t done any of that for the past few weeks.” His mom had emphasized the first word. “Animals, like people, react out of their pain, you know.”
Aiden did know, but he wasn’t going there. His family hadn’t asked about Maddie since the fall festival, but he’d caught their speculative looks. Probably wondering what he’d done to mess things up this time.
“I don’t think Dodger is going to adjust well to being moved around. They could come over here so I—” Aiden caught himself. “They can meet him.”
After Sunni left, Aiden had found the collar and leash on the table with his cell phone number engraved on the silver tag.
“Come on.” He glanced down at the dog. Dodger wasn’t moving as fast as Aiden, but he was just as determined to conquer the stairs. “If I can do it, so can you.”
Aiden paused on the landing and gave the doorknob an experimental turn with his injured wrist. All he felt was a mild tweak of discomfort instead of pain.
Dodger bounded—bounded!—across the room and launched himself onto the sofa.
“Make yourself at home,” Aiden said drily.
Sunlight flooded the room, and it was obvious the women in the family had been there ahead of him. The smell of freshly baked bread permeated the room. The floor gleamed from its recent scrubbing, and a bouquet of yellow mums, the last holdouts from Sunni’s garden, sat on the coffee table.
Liam’s duffel bag and a tower of cardboard boxes marked another change. Dodger was moving in, and by the end of the day, his brother would be moved out.
The major work on the cabin had been completed, and Liam had decided it would be easier to put on the finishing touches if he lived on-site.
“You’ll finally have the place to yourself,” Liam had teased Aiden after breaking the news. “You won’t have to speed up the process by putting pinecones in my boots or short-sheeting my bed.”
Maybe not, but Aiden was going to miss his brother’s reaction—and his company.
Footsteps in the stairwell told Aiden that the time was at hand.
“Are you in that much of a hurry—” The breath poured out of Aiden’s lungs in a soft whoosh.
Maddie stood on the landing. Her hair was in a loose braid over one shoulder. A rose-colored dress skimmed her slender curves and flared out several inches above the ruffled socks peeking over the tops of suede…hiking boots.
After two weeks of having to get used to Maddie’s absence the way he’d had to get used to the weakness in his limbs, she was here.
Sweet and beautiful and here.
“I… Can we talk?”
Was she kidding? Aiden had been praying he’d hear those words.
“Sure.” He motioned to the sofa, and Dodger curled up in a ball to make room, the thump of his tail against the cushion matching the beat of Aiden’s heart. “Come in.”
But Maddie, instead of stepping into the room, took a step backward. The guarded expression on her face instantly doused the hope that had kindled inside Aiden, like a cold rain might.
“It’s about your sister.”
“Then my family is going to want to hear it, too?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Let’s go find them.”
Aiden had a few moments to brace himself for whatever news had brought Maddie here. And the knowledge that once she’d said it, she’d be walking out of his life again.
* * *
Lord, I need your help.
Maddie sent up the silent prayer as Aiden followed her down the stairs. He kept pace with her now, his stride smooth and confident, no longer hampered by his injuries.
She’d known it would be difficult to see Aiden again, but the speech Maddie had prepared dissolved the moment their eyes met.
How had it happened that a man she’d met a month ago had taken up so much space in her heart?
“Everyone is watching football.” Aiden opened the door and let Maddie go in first.
Keeping the family’s Sunday afternoon pizza tradition in mind, Maddie had chosen today on purpose, hoping the entire family would be in attendance.
Laughter drifted down the hallway, and Maddie almost lost her nerve as she stepped through the doorway into the living room.
Sunni sat in the rocking chair, a puff of a gray kitten curled up in her lap. Liam and Anna cuddled together at one end of the sectional sofa. Brendan and Lily sat on the opposite side, and Cassie and Chloe sprawled on the floor near their feet playing tug-of-war with Missy.
Cassie spotted her first. “Miss Maddie!”
Everyone’s attention shifted from the game, and they immediately made room, as if Maddie belonged there.
Her mouth turned as dry as sawdust, and Aiden came to her rescue.
“Can we take a break from the game and talk for a few minutes?”
“You’re calling another family meeting?” Brendan teased.
“Actually, it was Maddie’s idea.”
The television screen went blank, and Lily hopped to her feet. “Girls, how about you take Missy outside to play for a few minutes?”
“Okay, Aunt Lily!”
They skipped past Maddie, and no one said anything until the front door snapped shut.
“Would you like to sit down, Maddie?” Sunni was already pouring a glass of lemonade from a pitcher on the end table.
Maddie nodded and sank gratefully into a wide-lapped tweed chair, not trusting her knees would hold her up much longer.
“Aiden told you that I was helping him find your sister.” Maddie’s gaze lit briefly on Liam and Brendan before moving to Lily. “The weekend before the fall festival, you talked about your friend Shelby. You said you’d grown up together and that you told each other everything.”
Lily nodded, prompting Maddie to continue with an encouraging smile.
“Aiden had mentioned there was a woman…Trish Jenkins, who’d contacted you when your…when Carla died. I thought that maybe, if she’d confided in Trish about her sons…maybe she’d confided in her about her daughter, too. So instead of looking for the agency who’d handled the adoption, I started looking for Trish instead.” Maddie swallowed hard. “And…I found her.”
No one moved. The silence that followed seemed to steal the oxygen from the room.
Brendan was the first person to speak. “Did you talk to her? Does she know what happened to our sister?”
Maddie didn’t realize she’d knotted her fingers together in her lap until Sunni’s hand folded over hers. Gave it a gentle squeeze.
“We spoke on the phone last night. Trish didn’t want to tell me anything at first, because Carla had sworn her to secrecy.” Maddie’s eyes met Aiden’s across the room. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be dramatic…it’s just hard for me to tell you this.”
“It’s okay, Maddie,” Liam said quietly. “No matter what you found out, it’s better than not knowing.”
“Our biological parents had a pretty dysfunctional relationship,” Brendan added. “We won’t be shocked if you tell us that our mom was unfaithful. Even if we have a half sister, she’s still family.”
“She’s not your half sister.” Tears scalded the backs of Maddie’s eyes. “Your mom found out she was expecting a few months after they separated for the first time.”
“So our timeline was off?” Aiden spoke for the first time since Anna’s girls had left the room.
Maddie drew in a breath. Not only the timeline. The whole circumstances surrounding their sister’s birth.
“According to Trish, Carla gave birth to twins.”
The people in the room looked shell-shocked. It was the same reaction Maddie had experienced when she’d heard the word.
“She gave two babies up for adoption?” Aiden choked out, pushing off from the wall.
The butterflies that had taken up residence in Maddie’s stomach tried to beat their way out. “Not two.” She looked at Aiden. “Carla brought you home.”
* * *
“Me?” Aiden choked out. “You’re saying that I have a twin sister?”
Maddie bit her lip. Nodded. “There were complications after she was born, and she spent another month in the NICU. While she was there, one of the volunteers who came in and rocked babies fell in love with her. Trish wasn’t sure how it happened, but your mom granted the woman and her husband temporary custody of the baby when she was released from the hospital.”
“But the conversation I overheard between Carla and the caseworker…” Brendan looked incredulous. “Aiden was five years old.”
“So was your sister.” Maddie closed her eyes briefly, and Aiden knew she wasn’t gathering her thoughts. She was praying. “According to Trish, Carla had always intended to bring her home. But the more time that went by, the more she struggled over separating the baby from the only parents she’d ever known. Carla told Trish she’d decided to terminate her rights because she didn’t want her daughter to grow up without choices, the way she had. She wanted her to have a different kind of life.”
Aiden felt the ripples of another aftershock sweep through his body.
All this time Aiden had believed it was his fault that Carla had put their baby sister up for adoption. But if what Trish had told Maddie was true, the woman who’d claimed she’d never wanted to be a mother had, for the first time, acted like one. She’d put her daughter’s needs above her own.
“What else can you tell us about her?” Lily clung to Brendan’s arm. “Do you know her name? Where she’s living now?”
“Trish doesn’t know your sister’s name or the name of the family who adopted her,” Maddie said. “But she did remember the name of the private adoption agency. Holt-McIntyre. I…I actually spoke with one of the caseworkers a few weeks ago.”
A few weeks ago? And she hadn’t said anything?
As if Maddie read his mind, she cast him a beseeching glance. “Victoria Gerard called in response to an email I’d sent, but it sounds like they adhere to a strict set of rules.”
“A closed adoption through a private agency.” Aiden’s back teeth ground together. “So that takes us right back to square one.”
“Victoria did say if there were unique circumstances, the board might agree to look over a petition and ‘determine whether there’s cause to contact the adoptee.’”
“Unique.” Liam raked his hand through his hair. “I’d say that describes the circumstances, all right.”
Brendan nodded. “So we file a petition.”
Aiden was glad his brothers were thinking clearly because he wasn’t.
Not only did he have a sister, he had a twin.
Aiden walked over to the window on legs that weren’t quite steady.
“We’re going to find her.” Liam and Brendan moved, too. Positioned themselves around Aiden like two offensive linemen protecting their quarterback.
Yes, they were. Thanks to Maddie, who’d continued the search even though he’d asked her not to.
Except he hadn’t thanked her yet, had he?
Aiden’s gaze landed on an empty chair. Maddie had slipped away while his back was turned.
They were one step closer to finding their sister, and yet Aiden couldn’t shake an overwhelming sense of loss.
“What are you doing?”
Brendan’s voice—accompanied by a cuff to the shoulder—yanked Aiden’s attention away from the chair.
“I… Nothing.”
“That’s obvious,” Liam said drily. “But the bigger question is why.”
The three women closed in around him, obviously as interested in his answer as his annoying older brothers.
“Because I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact I have a twin sister.” Trying to wrap his head around the fact that Maddie had delivered the news and walked away without a backward glance. At least she’d said goodbye the last time.
“Let me rephrase that.” Liam, the brother known for his patience, looked like he wanted to cuff Aiden on the shoulder, too. “Why aren’t you going after Maddie?”
They were going to make him say it.
“This wasn’t a social call. I’d asked Maddie to help me find our sister, and that’s what she did. She isn’t interested in me…not like that.”
Aiden hadn’t expected his brothers to wrap him in a group hug, but he hadn’t expected them to burst out laughing, either.
“Not interested in you?” Sunni echoed. “That young woman happens to be crazy about you.”
“You’re my mom,” Aiden said patiently. “It’s your job to think every single woman in Castle Falls is crazy about me.”
“Of course it is.” Sunni folded her arms. “But in this case, I happen to be right.”
Aiden appreciated the family’s loyalty, but Maddie hadn’t made any effort to contact him until now. If it was true that actions spoke louder than words, then Maddie had made her feelings crystal clear.
“I asked Maddie out, she turned me down, end of story.” Aiden tempered the words with a smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a canoe.”
Even though he had a feeling that thoughts of Maddie would follow him down the river, too.
“Aiden? Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Anna was the last person Aiden had expected to follow him out the door. If it would have been one of his brothers, he might have kept going, but it was impossible to ignore a request from his gentle future sister-in-law.
“Sure.”
To his surprise, Anna gestured toward Brendan’s office at the far end of the hall, a room that would ensure some privacy.
“I appreciate your support, Anna,” Aiden said the moment they were alone. “But as far as Maddie and I are concerned, there’s really nothing to talk about.”
Because there was no “him and Maddie” at all.
“All right.” Anna released a slow breath. “Do you mind if we talk about me, then?”
“Um…” The question threw him off for a moment. Had he misunderstood Anna’s reason for wanting to talk to him? “No. Of course not.”
“I don’t know if Liam told you anything about my marriage to Ross, but it wasn’t good.” Anna’s golden-brown eyes clouded. “Everyone in Castle Falls thought we’d had this storybook romance, but he was…abusive. Until God brought Liam into my life, I didn’t realize how many walls I’d put around my heart.”
Liam had never shared that piece of Anna’s past with him. The thought of Ross Leighton treating Anna that way had Aiden’s hands curling into fists at his side. “You can trust my brother. Our dad was a piece of work, but Liam…he’d never hurt you.”
“Trusting was hard for me,” Anna said candidly. “But Liam didn’t give up.”
“That’s because he’s Liam. He’s one of the good guys.”
“So are you.”
When Aiden didn’t respond, Anna set her hands on her hips, and the stern look she leveled at Aiden made him feel like he was the twins’ age.
“You took those teenagers under your wing and helped their families in the process. I may be new to the family, but I’ve seen how Liam—and Brendan—depend on you.”
“For comic relief, maybe.”
“For inspiration. You’re like Joshua. You’re not reckless, you’re brave. You remind people that our faith journey is an adventure. A lack of fear isn’t always foolishness, you know. Sometimes it’s trusting in a God who can do the impossible.”
Aiden stared at her, speechless. Joshua happened to be one of his Old Testament heroes.
“Maddie might have said you don’t have anything in common, but that’s not true,” Anna continued. “You both have a strong faith. You love your families and show compassion to people no one else seems to notice. Those are the things that are really important. There’s also a fair amount of chemistry, from what I could see.” Anna’s lips twitched. “I can tell when a woman is in love, Aiden. Maddie couldn’t take her eyes off you when you walked onto the stage before River Quest.”
“And then a few hours later she said she wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship with me.” Aiden’s physical injuries were nothing compared with the pain from Maddie’s rejection.
“I can also recognize the signs of a woman who’s running away.” Anna squeezed his arm. “Maybe your next challenge is to find out why.”