Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

T rue to his word, Witt was gone by the time I was up at six and headed down to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. His blanket and sheets were neatly folded and placed on top of his pillow.

Aunt Bessie came into the kitchen, wearing her beat-up robe, just as I was filling up the pot with water.

"Takin' over my job," she said with a chuckle as she walked through the door.

"Not on purpose," I assured her. "Joe called last night and said it's safe to come home."

Her face fell. "So you're leavin'."

"We are. Ashley's anxious about missing school, and Neely Kate and I need to clean up our trashed office." I poured the water into the coffeemaker, then pulled out the coffee.

"I hated the circumstances for why you were here," Aunt Bessie said, "but we've sure enjoyed having you. Albert hasn't looked this happy in years."

I started scooping coffee into the filter. "I hear he offered Witt a job workin' on the farm."

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.

"I used to spend most of my summers here. Aunt Bessie was more of a mom to me than my mother was."

"Your mother wasn't a mother at all," Neely Kate said, her voice harsh.

"True."

"I suppose that makes you want to find your sister all the more. Aunt Bessie and Uncle Albert are all you have left."

I hadn't thought of it that way. "I don't feel like anything's missing in my life, you know?" She nodded. "But I'm sure she has questions. She's probably wondering who her family is."

"Or she may not be," Neely Kate said. "Some adopted people aren't curious at all. Daisy knows she's adopted, and we're leaving it up to her to ask questions or not. Her birth mother didn't want an open adoption, but if Daisy wants to meet her, we'll ask." She offered me a smile. "If you decide to search for her—and it sounds like you already have—just prepare yourself in case she says her life is good and she doesn't need you in it."

I nodded. "Yeah. Good point."

"It's going to be hard to find her since you really don't know anything, so I still think your best bet is DNA testing. Then you can contact her and warn her about your vision."

My heart sank. "If she hasn't already been killed."

"I think Aunt Bessie's right. I think you would know."

"Really?" I asked, realizing it sounded like a plea.

"Really." She gave me a hug, then reached for her phone. "I'll order one of those tests right now. I'll see if I can get a rush delivery."

"Thanks, Neely Kate. You're the best."

A grin spread across her face. "I know."

"I better get upstairs and get those kids ready to go." Then I realized we only had my car now, since Witt had already left. "Do you know if Jed left Daisy's car seat? We can fit it into the back row."

"He did, but Jed's gonna come get us," she said. "He wants to drive me to my appointment."

"I can take Daisy with me and drop her off at daycare with Hope and Liam," I said. "Then you two will have some alone time."

She considered it, and I thought she was going to say no, but then she pushed out a sigh. "Okay. Daisy would likely rather ride in your circus bus anyway."

"Circus bus?" I asked with a laugh.

"It's not an insult," she said. "I'm jealous of your circus bus." She put her hand on her belly. "Is it wrong that I want a circus bus of my own?"

"No, Neely Kate," I said softly. "I understand."

"I want this baby, Rose," she said, tears flooding her eyes.

"I know you do, honey. I'll do everything I can to help you get through this, but if the doctor says this could kill you…" A lump filled my throat. "I can't lose you, Neely Kate. And neither can Jed or Daisy or Joe. I'm going to be selfish and tell you that I may have a sister out there, but as far as I'm concerned, you're my sister. I need you."

She laughed through her tears. "I'm not goin' anywhere. I promise."

"But if the doctor says this could kill you, please consider the rest of us. What good is having a baby if you can't be your baby's mother?"

She nodded, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"But the doctor's gonna have good news," I said, forcing a smile. "We have to believe that."

"Yeah," she said, her head bobbing. "We have to believe it."

Loading everyone in the car felt like the circus Neely Kate had called us. Mikey and the younger kids didn't want to leave, while Ashley was getting upset that everyone else was taking too long. We finally got everyone and the luggage loaded, and I was about to get in when Neely Kate yelled, "Wait!"

"Do we get to stay ?" Mikey asked hopefully.

"No!" Neely Kate and I said simultaneously.

Aunt Bessie, who was standing on the front porch, started to laugh.

"You're still leaving," Neely Kate said, "but I forgot something. Hold on." She ran up the steps and into the house. About half a minute later, she ran out holding the wooden box.

"How on earth did you get that?" I asked. "It was on Joe's desk."

"I grabbed it," she said. "In case those guys were actually after it. I want to give it to the person who buried it." Her face fell. "Which, I guess, is impossible now, but there's still Jason."

"Yeah." I walked around the back and opened the hatch. "I'll bring it to the office. Maybe in the next day or two, we can go to the library and look up those yearbooks."

She set the box in the back, and I closed the hatch.

"I'll see you after your appointment," I said, then gave her a hug. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I hope so," she said as she glanced at the back of my packed-to-the-gills SUV. "Good luck with the circus bus."

Laughing, I gave her another hug, then got into the car and headed back to Henryetta.