Page 15 of Keeping Her Safe

Zoey was six years older than Zephyr, though it was closer to seven, and Zoey was currently thirty. She had two kids and was married. Currently, she and their sister Evie ran a farm and sold vegetables and meat at farmer’s markets.

Zephyr touched the name. “Mom loved her name. She always said Zoey was definitely a Zoey. That’s how she said it. In a way, she named me Zephyr because she thought it sounded good with Zoey. Zoey and Zephyr. Sometimes she called her baby Zoey because she was so much younger than the other two. But I was way younger than them all, and she never called me baby.”

Still, she didn’t open the file. Instead, she just turned and looked out the window. “It’s weird that I know so much about these women, but everything I know about them ended over twenty-three years ago. They are still kids in my mind. Over the years, I grew up, but they never did. Suspended in time. When I open this, they become real, not just faded pictures.”

“Do you want me to show you stuff? I can tell you and show you the pictures I have,” he said, and she nodded, handing him back the file.

“Okay, this is my favorite picture I found of her. It was taken when she was still in the Army. She served for eight years. Enlisted while still in high school. I like this one because I can see you in it.” He pulled out the picture of Zephyr’s sister taken around the age Zephyr is now. If he had passed the woman on the street, he would have stopped her. She was the spitting image of his almost-sister.

As soon as he placed it on Zephyr’s lap, he heard her gasp. Looking at her face, she looked like she had just seen a ghost. Or was she seeing herself in another life, based on different decisions? Except for the eyes, this was a picture of Zephyr in the Army.

“That was her then. This is a more recent picture. It’s her driver’s license picture, the most recent one.” He handed the photo over.

Not as shocking as the last one. This picture showed a woman who was older than the last picture, but definitely the same person.

“She’s thirty and married for three years and has two kids. Her husband was a Marine before retiring and now is a cop. He is quite a bit older than her,” he explained.

“I thought you said she was in the Army?”

“I did, and she was. He was Marines. His name is Gabriel Watson. They live on the farm the sisters were raised on,” he said.

“Mom always said I looked like her. I guess she wasn’t lying about that,” Zephyr replied.

He took the photos back and put them back in the file, then put it on the bottom of the pile. He only had one photo in the next file. “This one is Evangelina. She is thirty-four, married, and has three children. An older one from a previous marriage and two with current husband, Jasper Reed. He grew up next door. She works with Zoey, and they farm. Before that, she farmed alone and with her father until his death.”

“I have her eyes. Not the color, but the shape. Mom would always say that. She didn’t know where the blue came from. I guess she never thought of the man as anything; no genes could come from him.” She chuckled at her joke.

He watched her looking down at the photo and chuckled as well. “I think she might have been right. The sperm donor didn’t give you four much.” He pulled out the last picture and let it fall onto her lap.

“Della. She looks like Mom, just like Mom. This is how I remember Mom looking. Mom was never this elegant, but she’s right there.”

Zachary looked at the photo she held. “That, Zephyr, is your oldest sister. She is thirty-six years old now. She is married and has two children. Both are adopted. She lives in the house that your mom was raised in. A few years ago, she started a law firm and ran it out of the house. There are still lawyers at Hart Law Firm, but she doesn’t work there anymore.”

“Where did she go?” Zephyr asked, worry thick in her voice.

“Nowhere. She is now Judge Delphinea Connor Hart. She was elected judge a few years ago,” he said and smiled at the shock on her face. He had been just as surprised about her sisters’ accomplishments.

“Can I have Zoey’s picture back?”

Handing her the picture, he watched her compare each to the other and then back to another. A few minutes into the comparing, she pulled out her driver’s license from her pocket. She started to compare herself to them.

“Zachary, I won’t be able to not tell them who I am. They will notice me right away. I look just like them. I don’t know if I want them to know about me. I just want to see them … see if they are like her.”

“Her being your mom?”

She nodded. “Yes, or him.”

“Him being her husband?” His heart hurt for the girl who had been rejected by so many people.

“Yes, them. I don’t what to know them if they are.”

“Based on all I have read and learned, they are nothing like them, but I do understand. I was thinking a change in hairdo. Straight with a different color. We can’t change that you’re as short as them,” he said. At the last remark, she stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed. “You, my dear wife, are the second tallest of the sisters…unless they lied on their licenses.”

“They're short too? What about these?” She squeezed her breast together from the sides.

Laughing at her, he said, “Driver’s licenses do not disclose cup size.”

“They should.” She went back to looking at the pictures.

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