Page 30 of A Secret Chance
Charlotte sat up a little straighter. Lauren knew that she wouldn’t understand. The two of them, even though they shared DNA, were not cut from the same cloth. “He could’ve helped you.” Charlotte reached out and grabbed Lauren’s hand. “What if...”
“What if what?” Lauren pulled her hand from her sister’s grip. “What if he wanted her? I was working two jobs and barely scraping by. What if he had taken her away from me?”
“I didn’t think about that,” Charlotte said. “I just saw how much you sacrificed, how hard you worked.”
“It was my choice,” Lauren said. “I couldn’t risk losing Tabby. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I love Tabitha too,” Charlotte said. “But Lauren, your life was so hard. Imagine what you could’ve done. Where you could be now.”
Lauren knew that her sister was coming from a good place, but it didn’t soften the harshness of her words. “Where I could be now?” She couldn’t meet her sister’s judgemental gaze.
Charlotte sighed loudly. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“I may not have millions of dollars in the bank or an ostentatious mansion,” Lauren said gesturing around the huge great room, “but I’m exactly where I want to be, I wouldn’t change anything, Char.”
“Okay,” Charlotte conceded. “What does this have to do with what happened today?”
“I think that saw him.”
“Tabitha’s father?” Charlotte whispered.
“It can’t be, but...”
“At the coffee shop?” Charlotte interrupted.
“Yes.” Lauren hesitated. “At the coffee shop.”
Charlotte shifted closer to her sister. “How do you know it wasn’t him?”
Lauren’s shoulders slumped and she shook her head, thinking back to the breakfast meeting. “He has a different name.”
“I’m missing something,” Charlotte said. “Did you just see him? How do you know his name?”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Lauren murmured. She took a deep breath. “Baxter Caldwell.”
“What about him?” Charlotte said. She took a sip of her tea and then spit it back into her cup. “You mean Baxter Caldwell is Tabby’s father?”
“My gut is telling me it’s him, but it can’t be. He looks different. Ten years ago, the guy had a beard and long hair and worked as a tree planter.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed. “Baxter’s a trust fund kid, not a hippie.”
“You think I’m crazy,” Lauren huffed.
“I think that you’re working too hard.” Charlotte brushed invisible lint off her pants.
“Maybe you’re right,” Lauren said. “But Char, I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” Charlotte smiled.
“Can you find out if Baxter Caldwell has a brother named Brock?”
Charlotte yelped as her mug slipped out of her hand, “Shit.” She hopped up and ran to the kitchen to grab a dishtowel. The coffee had pooled in the indent in the leather where she had been sitting.
“Are you alright? Did you get burned?” Lauren followed her sister into the kitchen. She took the towel from her hand and jogged back to press it onto the leather cushion to sop up the liquid.
“I’m okay, but these pants are ruined though.” Charlotte dabbed at the wet fabric.
Lauren came back to the kitchen and wrung the dishtowel out in the sink.
