CHAPTER TWELVE
Deke drove the van down to the last house on the block and pulled over to the curb. The house itself was a simple ranch style dwelling. It had an attached three car garage and a flower bed along the front. The home itself was painted blue and had grey trim. There was a pickup in the driveway.
Deke helped Cassie out of the van, then Deacon and Marnie joined them. Deacon and Marnie had joined them on this journey because Deacon was family.
Deke looked over at Cassie and asked, “Are you ready for this?”
Cassie looked excited. “Yeah, I am more than ready. I hope she’s here.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?” Deke took her hand and walked with her up to the front door. With a brisk knock, he rapped on the door.
A moment later, the door was open and an older man stood there. He looked at Deke first then swung his eyes to Cassie. He gasped and grabbed onto the door as he stared at her face. “Oh, my God…”
Deke’s grip tightened on her hand. “Do you know this woman?”
Max turned away from Cassie slowly. “If her hair was darker she could be my Paige.”
“I’m her sister Josette,” Cassie told him. “But I’ve been called Cassie since I was three.”
Max frowned. “I never knew she had a sister. Maybe you should come inside.”
“Do you remember me Max?” Deacon asked.
Max turned to view the other man and his frown deepened. “Jethro Ryan? I haven’t seen you in over twenty years.”
“That’s me.” Deacon nodded.
Max opened the door, inviting them all in. When they were all inside, he led the way into the living room. He caught Cassie’s eyes again, and shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”
“What can’t you believe?” Deke asked.
Max glanced over at Deacon then looked at Deke again. “Jemmia and Flynn and I were friends all through high school. Our senior year those two dropped out. It was shortly after Jemmia’s parents died in that accident. I finished school, got married and started working. I guess you could say I lived an uneventful life but then eighteen years ago, Flynn looked me up. He had this sweet little girl with him. He told me Jemmia was gone and he couldn’t take care of his kid. He asked if Peggy and me wanted her. I didn’t know what to say but Peggy wanted her. He was only here a matter of hours, then just like that he was gone again.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Peggy and I, we couldn’t have kids of our own, so Flynn leaving his little girl here was an answer to Peggy’s prayers. We even talked about moving so Flynn couldn’t come back and take her away again.” Shaking his head, “But we couldn’t do that.”
“But Flynn never came back did he?” Deacon asked.
Max shook his head. “No he never did. We raised that little girl as our own. We had to pretend we adopted her, so we could get a birth certificate for her but we never lied to her. We just didn’t tell her Flynn dropped her off here and disappeared. We decided to keep quiet about that. We tried to give her a good life.” Max turned to stare at Cassie again. “Flynn never said he had another daughter.”
Cassie snorted. “Yeah, he was a peach that way.”
Max seemed a little nervous. “Why are you here exactly?”
“I just found out that I have a sister. All I wanted was the chance to meet her. I didn’t come here to start any trouble and I would never hurt her in any way,” Cassie assured him. She opened her purse and took out a bundle of papers. She took off the first paper and handed it to Max.
Max glanced at the paper in his hand. His eyes widened as he noticed it was Paige’s birth certificate. He looked over Cassie.
“That was how I learned about my sister. My mother left those and some other papers for me. I had to find her. I hope you can understand that.”
Just then, the front door opened and two women entered. One was older and the other was younger with dark hair. When they came into the living room, the older woman halted as she gasped.
Cassie lifted her eyes and she saw fear in the older woman’s’ eyes. Cassie slowly stood and turned to the younger woman. “Hi Paige,” she smiled.
Paige smiled back. “I think I know you. You’ve been in my dreams all my life.” She stared at Cassie’s hair. “I remember your hair and now, I have a face to go with it. It’s my face too. I could never remember that part.”
“I’m your sister Josette.”
Paige shook her head. “You always wanted to be called Cassie. Mom would call you Josey and you would get so mad at her. You used to tell her your name wasn’t Josey, it was Cassie.”
Cassie gasped. “How did you know that?”
“I don’t remember much of my life before I came here but there are some things you just can’t forget. I couldn’t remember your face all these years but in my dreams I would see broken bits and pieces of my childhood. I never could connect the reason why, but I think now I know.”
Cassie felt tears running down her face. “You remembered me?”
Paige nodded.
“Why couldn’t I remember you?” she whispered.
Paige stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Cassie. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters now, is that we’re finally together again.”
Cassie crushed her sister in her embrace. “I found you again!” They cried and laughed together. Finally, they both sat down and Cassie introduced Paige to Deke, “Paige, I want you to meet my man, Deke Tory.”
Paige smiled at him.
“Hey, you may not remember me but I’m your uncle Jethro. Your mother was my sister. Although, I prefer to go by Deacon.” Deacon smiled. He pointed his thumb at Marnie. “And this lovely young lady is going to be your aunt. Her name is Marnie.”
“Is Mom still alive?” Paige asked.
Cassie shook her head. “No Flynn murdered her eighteen years ago.”
“Who is this Flynn?” Paige asked.
“That would be our father,” Cassie informed her.
Paige’s eyes widened. “Oh, my…”
“Flynn always was a crazy bastard,” Max commented softly.
“The only decent thing he ever did was to bring you here.” Cassie took her sister’s hand. “Even if his motives were screwed up, I couldn’t be happier for you.”
Paige glanced over at Max and Peggy. “So when is your baby due?”
Cassie smiled. “I’m actually having twins, a boy and a girl.”
Paige smiled. “How cool is that?”
“I’m naming the little girl after Mom,” Cassie informed everyone.
Max reached out and patted her hand. “Jemmia would have liked that.”
“I hope so.” Cassie got to her feet. “I hope someday, we can get to know each other as sisters again. We’re only here for the day and Deacon is going to show me where Mom is buried.” She motioned at Deke, Deacon and Marnie. “We live and work near Troy, New York. I would love for you to come and visit.”
“Do you have to go?” Paige asked.
“I don’t want to, but this has been enough excitement for one day. We both have a lot to think about.” She turned to Max and Peggy. “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did for Paige. I’m so glad to know you loved her more than enough. You raised her like your own and that’s the best anyone could do.”
The older couple looked stunned by her words as they stared at the young woman who looked so much like their daughter.
Paige got to her feet and the girls hugged like there was no tomorrow. When they separated, Cassie dug in her purse and handed Paige a card for Redemption House. “You can contact me here anytime you want.”
Peggy came over to Cassie and hugged her. “I wish we had known about you as well.”
Cassie smiled sadly. “At least she was spared and for that…I’m glad.”
When Peggy opened her mouth to ask what she meant, Cassie held up her hand. “That’s a story for another day. I do hope we’ll have the time to get to know one another.”
Deke stood and wrapped his arm around her. “Are you ready to go baby?”
Cassie nodded. She walked over to Max and gave him a hug. Then turned and walked to the front door. Tears rolled down her face as she stepped outside. The sun was shining and the air was warm. She felt complete for the first time in a long time.