Page 84 of The Forsaken
Quinn reached for the bunny and stroked his long ears. How long would it be before Emma outgrew her favorite toy and began to take an interest in more “big girl” things? Brenda, who had two teenage sons, said that turning five had been the turning point for her boys, a time when they’d begun to leave babyish things behind and long for more grown-up toys and activities. Would it be the same for Emma? The thought made Quinn melancholy. She wished she’d known Emma when she was a baby, and then a toddler. She’d missed out on all the sweet things that came with babyhood. Of course, she’d never have wished for Emma to lose her mother sooner, but had Jenna been honest with Gabe, he’d have gotten to be a dad a lot sooner, and Quinn would have known Emma, if not had the chance to raise her.
As she replaced the rabbit on the bed and finished putting away Emma’s clean clothes, Quinn wondered if Emma would be jealous of the new baby. Would she act out, or would she love her sibling and feel lucky to have a brother or a sister? Quinn had longed for a sibling all her life. Funny that now that she had three, or four if you counted Quentin, she didn’t feel any of the joy and camaraderie she’d thought she would—but then again, she hadn’t grown up with any of them, so perhaps it was too late to establish that sort of bond.
Quinn closed the drawer and let herself out of the room. She headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. She had to remindherself to drink enough during the day since Gabe wasn’t there to shove a glass in her hand every few hours. She smiled. Gabe fussed over her like a mother hen, and when she didn’t want to throttle him, she liked it.
Quinn poured herself a glass of mineral water and added a slice of lemon. A bit of vitamin C couldn’t hurt. Her mobile began to vibrate on the counter. It was Logan. She set the glass down, afraid to spill her drink. Her hand shook with trepidation as she reached for the phone. Logan had promised to call once he and Colin left Leicester, and as it was already late afternoon, this had to be the call she had been waiting for.
“Logan. At last. Any joy?” Quinn asked. She took her mineral water, walked over to the kitchen table, and sat down.
“Yes and no,” Logan replied. He sounded pleased, so she let him talk. “Colin is driving, so I’ll give you the rundown. The files are still stored on site, albeit in the cellar. Colin had no difficulty gaining access once he showed his identification and explained the situation. Finding the file proved to be the difficult part. I wasn’t allowed in, obviously, so Colin had to go it alone, poor dear,” he said, and Quinn could hear him smiling. “The records are filed alphabetically, and since Quentin didn’t have a surname at the time of admittance, it took some doing. Colin had to go through all the files for 1983 before he found it. It was filed under ‘X’, as in ‘Quentin X’.”
“So, what did it say?” Quinn asked, breathless with anticipation.
“Baby Q had surgery on October first, 1983. Colin says the surgery went well and there were no complications. She was discharged from hospital on October sixteenth into the care of Mrs. McGee. As luck would have it, Mrs. McGee still resides at the same address, so Colin and I paid her a visit. Lovely old girl,” Logan added. “She and the late Mr. McGee fostered dozens of children in the eighties and nineties, and she still keeps in touch with most of them.”
Quinn sighed with relief. It was nice to know Quentin had been looked after by someone caring. Foster children wouldn’t bother to stay in touch with someone who’d been unkind to them, or treated them as a nuisance. “How long did Quentin stay with Mrs. McGee?”
“Not long. About two months.”
“Where did she go after that?” Quinn asked. Two months seemed like a very short time to stay with a foster family. Adoption was a lengthy process.
“You are going to love this,” Logan said as he drew out the suspense. “Quentin was adopted by Dr. Ian Crawford, the very man who operated on her. The adoption went through very quickly, because, let’s face it, what better home could this child have asked for?”
“That’s very fortunate,” Quinn exclaimed. “So, we are looking for Quentin Crawford?”
“Well, that’s where things get a bit muddled, love,” Logan replied, obviously getting to the not-so-successful part of the story. “We looked up Dr. Crawford and found that he’s deceased. Died two years ago at the age of eighty-three. The obituary mentioned his children, Michael and Karen, who both happen to be doctors. We found them online, and even if Quentin became Michael—which could happen, you know—or if her parents changed her name to Karen, neither one is the right age. They are both in their late forties.”
“And there are no listings for Quentin Crawford?” Quinn asked, her heart sinking.
“Sorry, no. They might have renamed her, of course,” Logan suggested. “There are other Crawfords in Leicester, but we didn’t have time to look them all up. I think your best bet would be to contact Michael and Karen Crawford and find out what happened to their sister.”
“Thank you, Logan, and give my love to Colin. You guys are the best.”
“It was our pleasure, sis. After all, she’s my sister too. I’ll gladly come with you to speak to the Crawfords when you’re ready.”
“I’d like that,” Quinn replied. She ended the call and propped her cheek with her hand while she mulled over what Logan had said. She supposed the expedition to Leicester had gone as well as could be expected. Logan and Colin had found out more than she would have ever discovered on her own.Rome wasn’t built in a day, Quinn thought to herself, smiling at the saying.
So far, they’d laid the foundation. Quentin had had a successful surgery, had spent time in foster care—evidence of her well-being—and had then been adopted by a prominent surgeon. It was highly possible that the Crawfords had decided to choose a different name, unlike Quinn’s own parents who’d retained Quinn’s birth name. Perhaps they’d worried that Quentin’s mother would return for her and wanted to leave no trail to follow. They had no way of knowing that Sylvia never attempted to look for her daughters.
Quinn took a sip of her mineral water and leaned back in her chair, feeling more relaxed than she’d felt since finding out about her twin. Quentin was out there somewhere, and they would find her.
She vacated her chair when she heard the scrape of a key in the lock. Gabe and Emma were home. Emma’s birthday party was next weekend, but this weekend they were free.
Quinn gave Emma a hug and kissed Gabe, wrapping her arms about his neck and smiling into his eyes. “Fancy a ride to Leicester tomorrow?” she purred.
“Not really, but I know you won’t give me a moment’s peace until we go, so yeah, sure.” He kissed her soundly and held her close. “Fill me in over dinner. I’m starving. Didn’t have time for lunch today,” he explained as he loosened his tie.
“Why are we going to Leicester?” Emma asked, looking up at the two of them, her eyes round with curiosity. “Does it have anything to do with my birthday?”
“No, darling,” Quinn replied, “but it does have something to do with mine.”
Emma exhaled loudly in disappointment. “I still want a puppy, you know,” she reminded them before going to wash her hands.
“We know,” Gabe and Quinn replied in unison.
FIFTY-TWO
AUGUST 2014
