Page 149 of Trouble Comes in Threes

Her eyes widened. “He did? It’s about time. It’s all gettin’ too much for ‘im. Do you know if Witt accepted?”

“I don’t think it’s official, but yeah, I think he’s gonna take it. He seems excited.”

“Then he can live with us, of course,” Aunt Bessie said, clapping her hands together. “We have all these empty rooms, and if he’s here, the house won’t feel so empty.”

“I’ll let y’all work that part out,” I said, “but seeing as how he hasn’t told Neely Kate yet, maybe keep it to yourself for now.”

She mimicked inserting a key between her lips and turning it.

“Thank you so much for telling me about my sister,” I said. “But I wish you’d told me sooner.”

“I suppose I should have, but I had so little information, and it wasn’t a definite thing. It still isn’t.”

“But you do believe she’s Daddy’s child?”

She nodded. “I do, and I confess I’ve spent more time dwelling on it than I probably should have.”

“If you remember anything else about her or her mother, will you let me know?”

“Of course, Rose. I only wish I knew more.”

“You could always try one of those family DNA tests,” Neely Kate said, walking into the kitchen, stifling a yawn. “But it will only work if she does one too.”

“True…” In truth, I was terrified of DNA tests because of Hope, but if there was a chance I could use one to find my sister, then it seemed like the prudent thing to do. Besides, it was Joe’s DNA I needed to be worried about. His and Neely Kate’s. James would never voluntarily give up his DNA, but his brother, who lived in the county, was an unknown.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” I said. “Hopefully she’s done one too.” I swallowed the sudden fear that hit me. “But there might not be time. What if my vision comes true?”

“No,” Neely Kate said firmly as she reached for a coffee mug in the cabinet. “We’re gonna trust the vision you had about finding her.”

“Neely Kate’s right,” Aunt Bessie said. “I think you’d know if she’d died.”

Neely Kate grabbed the coffee pot, even though it was still filling with coffee.

“Should you be drinking that?” I asked.

She stopped mid-pour, shrugged, then filled the cup a half-inch from the top and handed it to me.

Aunt Bessie watched us but didn’t say a word.

Hope and Daisy came running into the kitchen, barely stopping before they collided with a cabinet. “We want to ride the tractor!”

“Hey,” I said. “Slow down before someone gets hurt. And you can’t ride the tractor because we’re going home this morning.

Hope made a pouty face. “We don’t wanna go home. We like it hew.”

“Yeah,” Daisy said, making her own overexaggerated pout. “We like it here.”

I squatted next to them. “And I love that you like it here, and so do Aunt Bessie and Uncle Albert, but we have to go home. Daddy misses us.” I poked Daisy in the belly. “And your daddy misses you too.”

Daisy giggled, and Hope complained that she didn’t get poked, so I poked her too, and they both giggled.

“We’ll need to leave pretty soon so we can get Ashley and Mikey to school on time,” I said as I stood up.

“Come on, girls,” Aunt Bessie said, taking each of their hands. “Let’s go get you dressed and wake up the others.”

I watched them walk out of the kitchen, feeling like a neglectful niece. I hadn’t been to Aunt Bessie’s house in nearly a year. “I need to make more of an effort to bring the kids to see my aunt and uncle. Not to mention, the kids had so much fun yesterday.”

“Did you spend a lot of time here when you were a kid?” Neely Kate asked.

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