Because You're Mine(74)

But there was nothing that looked like a phone or address book. She rose from her knees and went into the tiny kitchen. A few glasses had been washed and placed on the dish drainer in the sink, but otherwise, the kitchen counter was empty. She began yanking open drawers until she found one containing miscellaneous items. She pawed through fuses, bottle openers, and lightbulbs down to some letters and notebooks.

And a published phone book. She lifted it out of the drawer and laid it on the counter. Most people jotted down phone numbers in the back, and she hoped he was one of those. Flipping open the back cover, she smiled when she saw the list of names and numbers.

The toilet flushed. Darby would be out any minute. She ran down the list. There it was. Neila’s number. She ran back to the sofa and grabbed her purse. Feverishly, she dug out a pad and pen.

The bathroom door opened. “Yer still here?” Darby flipped off the bathroom light. His gaze took in the book in her hand. “Give me that!” He shuffled toward her.

Alanna finished jotting down the number and stuffed the pad back in her purse before her great-grandfather could reach her. “I’m sorry, Darby.”

His face was red enough to illuminate the dark room. “Maybe Neila wants left alone.”

She’d always wondered what it would be like to find her family—her mother, her sister, her grandparents. When she was a teenager, she daydreamed she’d open the door one day and her mother and sister would rush in with their arms open. They’d tell her they’d been looking incessantly for her, that her being left was a mistake. They loved her and would never have left her behind on purpose.

This family didn’t miss her. None of them had been searching for her. They’d gone on with their lives and never thought about the little girl they’d left behind. They hadn’t cried in the night for her the way she’d cried for them. Unless Neila still missed her, and Alanna had to know the truth about that too.

Alanna faced her great-grandfather with her purse clutched in her hands. “I have to find her.”

He flapped a hand at her. “Get out of here and don’t come back. Yer not one of us. Yer too big for yer britches.”

She was one of them. She lifted her hand, wanting to mend the breech somehow, wanting him to know she wanted to be part of the family, that she’d never stopped being a Traveller. But the fierce glare he gave her from under his white, bunched brows made her drop her hand and go past him to the door. There was nothing more to be said.

She blinked at the first drops of rain that hit her face as she went to the car. Neila’s phone number was all she could think about. She might be only minutes away from hearing her sister’s laugh. That laugh she still heard in her dreams. Her memories of that laugh had helped her get through the years alone. She’d always known she’d someday find her sister.

Someday was here.

Alanna drove out of the village and back to Blackwater Hall. The rain intensified, and she flipped on the windshield washers.

Her sister’s number was burned into her brain. She didn’t even need to look at the piece of paper. Before she knew it, her cell phone was in her hand. She was almost out of power bars, but there should be enough for a short call. Moments later, she was punching in the number. Calling her sister couldn’t wait any longer.

The phone rang three times on the other end before it was picked up. “Hello,” said a male voice.

“Is . . . is this Paddy Gorman?”

“Yes, ma’am. Are you calling about having your driveway blacktopped?”

Paddy sounded more educated than she’d expected. She wet her lips. “No, th-this is Alanna, Neila’s sister.” There was a long pause on the other end, and for a moment, she wondered if he’d hung up. “Hello? Paddy, are you there?”

“I’m here. Is Neila with you?”

“No, I’m calling to try to find her. Isn’t she there?”

“I haven’t seen the woman in three years. She ran off with the fancy lawyer.”

Her hope crashed and burned before it had time to be born. “Three years?” she asked dismally. “You have no idea where she went?”

“Oh I know. But I’m not chasing after any skirt. She burned her bridges.”

“Where is she then?”

“Back in Charleston, I’d guess. Where her fancy man lives.”

Right here? So close by? Alanna began to smile. “What’s his name?”

“I don’t know his name. I only saw him once when he came to pick her up.”

She exhaled. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. “Can you describe him?”

“I can do better than that. I have a picture of the two of them together that I can e-mail to you, though you might be better off if you don’t find the selfish witch.”

“Please send it, Paddy.” She gave him her e-mail address.

“Just don’t tell me if you found her, okay? I’d rather not know.”

“Okay. Thanks, Paddy. I’m sorry she hurt you. Di-did she ever mention me?”

“Sure. She looked for you some too. Couldn’t find out anything.”

Joy colored the darkness with bright glimmers of light. Neila hadn’t forgotten her. That reunion Alanna longed for might still happen. “Thank you, Paddy.”

“Listen, I gotta go. Got a job I need to be at. Nice talking to you.” The phone clicked off.