The Inn At Ocean's Edge Part 22

He slurped up some water, then leaned back. "You look all spleeny about something. What's up?"

Luke glanced at his sister and shook his head. Looming over their father would get his back up so he went to sit on the sofa. "There have been some new developments."

Megan put down the gla.s.s and went back to the sofa. "We saw the newspaper. The second body we found on our property was the missing child, Claire Dellamare."

"That's only part of it." He stared hard at Dad. "Claire's father told her he found her in the woods. Obviously the child he took home wasn't his daughter, but then, who was that child he found in the woods? If he found another girl who'd somehow gotten lost in the woods, shouldn't someone have reported her missing?"

"Seems likely."

"That's what I thought. I had Danny check, and there's no child of that age who went missing in this area. So whoever had Claire before didn't report her missing. She wonders if her father paid for her. Maybe her parents were hard up, and he saw her resemblance to his daughter so he offered enough money that they couldn't pa.s.s up."

Megan's expression showed she was still suspicious. He clasped his fingers together over his knee. "Pop, you and Mom met the Dellamares."

"Did we now?" His father dabbed at his mouth with the hanky again.

"Aunt Nan told me they stopped by here and bought some cranberry jelly and other items. Do you remember?"

"Son, that was twenty-five years ago. I'm hardly likely to remember something from so long ago. If Nan says it's so, she might be right, but thousands of tourists have stopped here." He struggled to sit up straighter in the recliner. "You're saying Dellamare killed her?"

"I don't know anything much for sure. Pop, Mom's remains are at the funeral home now. We're having a memorial service on Tuesday."

Pop's eyes widened and he scowled. "Wicked stupid is what it is! Why put us all through that?"

"You don't have to come," Meg said.

"People will wag their tongues if I don't."

She rolled her eyes. "Since when do you care what people say?"

He chewed on his lip. "What time?"

"Two," Luke told him. "At the church." When was the last time Pop had come to church? Maybe Christmas ten years ago.

Pop grunted and fumbled for the TV remote. "I'll think about it."

Luke followed his sister into the kitchen. "You think he knows more than he's telling?"

Meg went to the coffeepot and measured grounds into the filter. "He didn't act suspicious in any way. Nothing about meeting the Dellamares stood out to him. Um, Luke, I accepted the job. Have you heard from the Coast Guard about a transfer yet?"

"Not yet." He couldn't tell her he hadn't even asked. It appeared there would be no miracle for him. He would have to learn to deal with the cantankerous old man in the other room. He couldn't see Claire ever living in this old farmhouse either. "I need to meet Claire at the ferry so we can take my truck to Summer Harbor. We'll talk about it later."

Claire stood outside the hospital room with Luke by her side. A nurse wheeling a dinner cart clattered by reeking of chicken, and the place smelled like it had been newly waxed. The door stood slightly ajar, and the muted sound of the TV news filtered through the opening.

"I hope Kate's alone," she whispered to Luke. "Thanks for meeting me here. I was mortified when I heard how Dad talked to the doctor. None of this is her fault."

Luke put his hand on the door. "Want me to go first?"

She shook her head. "I'm not that cowardly."

She touched the smooth metal door and gave it a push. Hooked up to monitors, Kate lay in the hospital gown with her hands crossed behind her head as she watched television in the pale-green room. With the beige curtains shut, shadows lined the s.p.a.ce. Her lightly copper-colored hair was loose on the pillow.

Claire's shoes squeaked on the tile, and Kate glanced up. Her half smile vanished, and she punched the b.u.t.ton to lift her head even more. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you are." Claire crossed the floor to stand beside the bed.

Luke stepped to the window and opened the curtains. Sunlight flooded the room, and Kate squinted but didn't object. The sunlight streaming on her face showed more color than the last time Claire had seen her.

Claire poured her some fresh water and held out the cool gla.s.s. "You're looking better."

Her eyes wary, Kate took the gla.s.s and adjusted the straw to sip from it. "Thanks." She handed the cup back to Claire. "Harry isn't with you?"

Claire bit her lips at Kate's desolate expression. "I'm sorry, Kate. I wish I really were a Dellamare. I would give you some bone marrow if I could. From what I gathered from my dad's side of the conversation, your doctor thinks you need that transplant as soon as possible."

"That's right. But there's always the hope that they'll find a match in the donor database."

Claire put the cup back on the stand. "You don't have to be a relative to give bone marrow? I could get tested."

Kate's lips smiled but her eyes didn't. "It would be a long shot if you're not a relative." She plucked at the crisp white sheets. "I'm not convinced about the identification of the child's bones. Can't you see the resemblance between us?" She tugged at her hair. "I wish I'd never dyed this."

"We have a similar look, but they say everyone has a double." Was Kate well enough to hear Claire's suspicions about how her father had searched for a lookalike? Maybe not just yet.

Claire turned at the slapping of flip-flops behind her. A woman about her mother's age came through the door. Her hair was caught up in a messy bun, and she wore denim capris and a white s.h.i.+rt that showed off toned arms. Her nails were short and bare, and she wore no makeup.

She froze when she saw Claire and couldn't seem to look away. Some dim memory made Claire inhale and freeze in place. She'd seen this woman before, but where? The details of the room fell away, and her ears filled with roaring. She closed her eyes and saw trees looming at her. She heard a little girl call out a name. Not Claire's name, but what was it? The memory was gone too quickly to s.n.a.t.c.h and hold it.

"Claire?" Luke touched her shoulder.

Her knees felt weak when she opened her eyes. "Sorry, I felt a little light-headed for a minute."

"Sit down." He guided her to one of the bedside chairs.

The woman jerked her gaze away and went to stand on the other side of the bed. "Kate, you scared me to death."

"Sorry, Mom."

Ah, Kate's mother. She'd worked for Claire's mother so surely they'd met when she was a baby. Vertigo hit again, and she realized they couldn't have met. Not when she wasn't really Claire Dellamare. Mary Mason had left the Dellamare employment before the real Claire's fourth birthday, well before she'd ever taken the real Claire's place. So why did Mary seem so familiar?

"Why didn't you call me? I would have brought you in."

"You left in such a hurry . . ." Kate held out her hand to Claire. "Mom, this is Claire. And her friend Luke."

He murmured a greeting as Claire rose and grasped Kate's mother's cold fingers. "Nice to meet you, Mary."

Mary winced when Claire spoke her name. "You too, Claire."

Claire couldn't look away from the warm green lights in Mary's eyes. The vertigo came again, and she finally managed to look away as she sank back onto the seat. She couldn't quite decipher the expression in the older woman's face. Curiosity or distaste? Longing or revulsion? Mary masked her emotions well.

Mary went to plump Kate's pillows. "When are you getting out of here?"

"I thought I was getting out soon, but the nurse just told me the doctor wants to keep me overnight. Would you mind getting me some toiletries and clean clothes?"

"I'll do that right now." Mary nodded at Claire and Luke, then rushed toward the door as if she couldn't wait to get away.

With Kate's mother out of the room, Claire could breathe again. She rose and grasped the bed's metal railing. "What do I need to do to see if I'm a good donor?"

"It's just a blood test."

"I'll do it too," Luke said. "Has the newspaper asked for the community to be tested? Surely there's a match somewhere close."

"That's very kind of you."

When Kate pushed down the sheets to reach for her cell phone, Claire saw a doll lying beside her. Her pulse quickened and began to hammer in her neck.

She picked it up. "Where did you get this? I have one just like it."

She'd always been told hers was one of a kind and hand-made in Paris with human hair. The big blue eyes were much like hers and Kate's, and the mouth showed tiny white teeth. Claire's still sat on her dresser at home, but she hadn't really looked at it in years.

"It was a present from my dad after he went to Paris. For my fourth birthday."

"There's a mark on the foot-1990 with a watermark that looks like a B with a circle around it." Claire upended the doll and removed one shoe to reveal the date and the watermark. She leaned over and showed it to Kate.

Her finger traced the watermark. "How'd you know that?"

"I have one just like it with the same date." Claire reached for Luke's hand. Why would they both have the same dolls bought from the same manufacturer in the same year?

THIRTY-FIVE.

The beep, beep of her IV was driving Kate crazy. She punched her call b.u.t.ton to have the nurse come fix it, then sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "What does this mean? I looked up the artist a few years ago. It's from some expensive shop in Paris."

She'd been totally shocked when Claire and Luke walked in. And even more shocked when they offered to get tested. But nothing rocked her like this. And from the way Claire's eyes fluttered and her color came and went, the other woman was just as flummoxed.

Kate reached for the doll again. "Your doll is identical in every way, right down to the date?"

Claire nodded and crossed her legs in the chair, then recrossed them the other direction. "I felt as though I'd met your mother too."

The nurse hurried in to check on the IV. "Looks like you're done, honey. The doctor said I could disconnect your IV if you wanted me to, just to make you more comfortable."

"Please. And, Luke, can you cool it down in here? I'm about to burn up."

Though Kate wanted nothing more than to get to the bottom of this, she was eager to be untethered. Luke went to the window unit and fiddled with the temperature. Cooler air began to filter over Kate's hot cheeks.

"There you go." The nurse picked up the discarded items from the pic line and tossed them in the disposal container by the door. "Let your friends take you for a walk." Her white shoes squeaked away, and she closed the door behind her.

Kate looked up at the girl she'd come to think of as her half sister. A crazy, impossible idea began to take hold. Claire would likely vote to commit her if she actually said what she was thinking, but what did she have to lose at this point?

She pleated her gown at the knee with her fingers. "I had an imaginary friend once. Her name was Rachel."

Something s.h.i.+fted deep in Claire's eyes. "I've always liked that name. I think I had a friend named Rachel when I was little. I used to call myself Rachel when I was playing pretend. It drove my mom crazy."

"Do you remember anything about that friend?"

Claire frowned and uncrossed her legs again. "Why the questions? What does an imaginary friend have to do with this?"

"I have quite a few memories of my friend Rachel. I think she might have been real."

"You think Rachel is the little girl who was found?" Claire rose and paced the gray tile floor. "That makes no sense, Kate. She was identified by dental records, not DNA. At least not yet."

"No." Kate slipped out of bed onto the cool floor. The cold air from the AC unit blew down her spine. She dropped both hands onto Claire's shoulders. "Maybe you're Rachel."

Claire's eyes went wide, and Kate could see the fear s.h.i.+mmering in them. When she tried to twist out of her grip, Kate held on.

"Just think about it, Claire. See if you have any memories of playing with someone you loved. Let's go to Mom's house. You can take a look around my room and see if anything seems familiar."

Claire succeeded in twisting away. "This is crazy, Kate! A-Are you saying you think we might be sisters?" She shook her head. "That's not possible."

"Explain the doll, then."

"I can't."

She grabbed Claire's arm and half dragged her to the bathroom where she s.n.a.t.c.hed up two hand towels. She handed one to Claire, then wrapped her hair in the other one. "Put that around your hair."

In a trancelike state, Claire tucked her hair under the towel and turned to stare into the mirror with Kate. Two young women with similar noses and mouths looked back, but the biggest resemblance was their distinctive blue eyes. Surely Claire could see it now.

Luke's broad shoulders loomed in the doorway. "It's a pretty striking resemblance. It was hard to see past your red hair, Kate. What do you think, Claire?"

Claire reached up to touch the towel as it tried to slide. "I don't know. People resemble other people all the time." A dimple came in her cheek as she made a face in the mirror.

"See that dimple?" Kate put on a fake smile. "I have one just like it."

"There's one way to find out," Luke said. "Go down to the lab and get a DNA test run on both of you."

In the mirror, Claire's face reflected her doubt, but at least someone was taking Kate seriously. "And it would show if you're a good donor match for me too."

"I-I guess we don't have anything to lose." Claire pulled the towel off her head. It dislodged strands of her updo. "But why would Harry take me in place of Claire if I was your sister? And why would your mother allow it?"

Luke leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's what we have to find out. I say we go talk to your mother and see if she'll tell us the truth. If anyone knows it, she does."

Kate sat by the window of the truck, and Claire was in the middle with her arm squeezed against Luke's. At the sight of the blue s.h.i.+ngle cottage, Claire pressed her hand to her stomach and closed her eyes. She had a brief recollection of two little girls playing on the wide porch and running through fields filled with flowers. Every nerve in her body vibrated with the awareness of this place, but she couldn't move.

Luke touched her hand, and she opened her eyes to see his worried face. "I'm all right. But, Luke, I've been here before." Her voice trembled.