Her Twin Surprise (Forsaken Sons Book 2) Read online

Janus never would have thought that Stevie was like that. Everything about her four months ago would have led him to believe she was a kind, compassionate woman with a heart of gold. He would have thought she’d stand by him, support him during his recovery.

  But not a word from her. Until now.

  Not until he was fully recovered did she reappear. Well, he wouldn’t fall for her act again. Not this time!

  Walking over to his desk, he ignored the pain and focused on work. He’d bought several new restaurants over the past four months and they were slowly becoming profitable. He had a formula now and it was working even better than his projections suggested.

  There was no need to complicate his life with a superficial woman!

  Chapter 9

  Five years later…

  “Come on you two!” Stevie called up the stairs. “We’re going to be late for school! Don’t forget your family tree projects.”

  A moment later, Stevie heard a small stampede of feet thundering down the hallway above her. Halley and Harrison along with Herbie, the great Dane-collie-retriever mutt, raced down the stairs.

  “We’re ready!” Halley called out, jumping from the second to last step with a loud thud.

  Stevie beamed at her beautiful children. Twins. Years ago, she’d cried at the enormity of the responsibility when the doctor had heard two heartbeats. Thankfully, her mother had left Stevie a small inheritance, as well as the house, which was fully paid off. After feeling sorry for herself for about a month, Stevie had picked herself up and forced herself to deal with reality. She’d moved out of Seattle and into her mother’s house because there were so many memories in this house. Good memories. Stevie hadn’t been able to put the house on the market, so she’d moved in. Then she’d gotten a job as a teacher here in the Snohomish county school system.

  It was still a small house, but it was larger than her old apartment, plus it had a big backyard and was in a wonderful neighborhood. It was perfect for raising a pair of rambunctious twins and their dog that was big enough to be mistaken for a pony.

  There had been so many challenges over the years, but right now, things were pretty good. School had started back last month. Halley and Harrison were in the prekindergarten program at the day care facility right next to her school. So, Stevie was close by in case of an emergency. They were happy and healthy and, for the moment, generally obeyed her when she asked them to do something. Stevie knew that was going to change, but for right now, life was good.

  If she occasionally wondered about their father, who had callously vanished from her life all those years ago, well, she simply pushed Janus out of her mind. And out of her dreams. He was no longer a part of her world, she reminded herself. In fact, men in general weren’t really a part of her life. Raising twins as a single mother was…time consuming, to say the least!

  “Got everything?” she asked, plunking a hat on Halley’s head, then Harrison’s.

  “Yeah,” Harrison replied, looking into his book bag by stuffing his entire head inside, as if he could inventory the bag’s contents that way. “I think so.”

  Stevie laughed, and handed him a lunch bag. “Don’t smoosh it this time,” she warned her son.

  Harrison’s only response was to put his football into his book bag first, then his lunch.

  “He’s going to smoosh it, Momma,” Halley warned. But she grabbed her soccer ball and did the same thing.

  Stevie sighed. She’d grown up taking ballet lessons and piano lessons. She’d been the most uncoordinated person on any sports team. One year, her father had convinced Stevie to play soccer. She’d scored five times. For the other team. On a different field. Another time, he’d tried to teach her to play tennis. But Stevie kept smacking the ball outside of the tennis area. There had been a few other attempts at sports before her father accepted that Stevie just wasn’t athletically inclined.

  So Stevie knew that their affinity for playing games that included balls hadn’t come from her side of the family. That had obviously come from their father.

  Even after all these years, Stevie still felt a pang of loss over Janus. He hadn’t returned her phone calls when she’d tried to tell him about her pregnancy. And all of the letters she’d sent after the twins’ birth had been returned unopened.

  Such was life, she thought as she grabbed her keys. “Stay!” she ordered Herbie. The enormous dog sat down on his butt, but looked as if she’d just slapped him. “Don’t even try it, you big goof,” Stevie warned, bending down to kiss his giant head and scratch behind his ears. “We took you out for a long walk just fifteen minutes ago.”

  Herbie sighed soulfully. But Herbie didn’t want another walk. Stevie knew that the big lug would lumber into the family room and jump up onto the couch for his morning nap as soon as she closed the door. Herbie was an enormous dog, not quite as big as a Great Dane, but pretty darn close. And he loved breaking the rules…as long as he wasn’t caught.

  Stevie did a visual inventory of boy, girl, and dog, then nodded with satisfaction. Being a single mother of twins meant being organized to the nth degree. Every moment of her day was planned out. Otherwise, chaos reigned supreme.

  “Okay, let’s hit the road or we’re going to be late.”

  Halley and Harrison trudged out the door, their book bags full and family tree projects held carefully. Each had made a poster, tracing their ancestry as far back as Stevie could remember. She’d even done a DNA test on her babies, wanting to give them a bit of background on where they were from further back. Since they had no other relatives, besides their absent father, Stevie had wanted to give them a better sense of who they were.

  Now was the day of The Big Reveal! Halley and Harrison were excited to show off their projects to the class. The DNA test had discovered that her family had come from Ireland. So, Stevie had helped her twins research Irish history…well, as much Irish history as four year olds could absorb. Which meant that they’d stopped at the “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” legend, devouring stories of leprechauns.

  Stevie pulled the front door open and…froze. A copper haired woman with the most amazing green eyes was on the front porch, her hand lifted to knock.

  “Oh!” she gasped, stepping backwards. “I’m sorry,” the beautiful woman yelped.

  “Who are you?” Harrison demanded, pushing his hat back so that it didn’t cover his eyes.

  “Are you a leprechaun?” Halley asked, obviously focusing on the copper curls.

  The woman blinked, eyeing the little girl curiously. “Um…no. At least,” she tilted her head thoughtfully, her smile widening playfully. “I don’t think so. But it would be super cool if I was, wouldn’t it?’

  “Can I help you?” Stevie asked, pulling the heavy front door closed, then wiggling the knob to make sure it was locked. And also to let the strange woman know that the door was locked. She didn’t look dangerous, but Stevie wasn’t about to take chances. Not with her children’s safety.

  “I’m sorry to catch you at a bad time.” The woman reached into an inside pocket of her leather jacket and pulled out a card. “I’m Frankie Winward, Private Investigator. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to talk with you, at your convenience. You’re obviously on your way out, but if you wouldn’t mind giving me a call, I can come back when you have a few minutes to spare.”

  Stevie took the card, glanced at the name, and stuffed it into her purse, refraining from laughing at the idea of “spare” minutes. Stevie didn’t know what that was. “Right,” she said, not intending to call the number. Private investigator. Hmph! “Well, I’m sorry to rush off, but I need to get my kids to school.”

  The woman stepped back, then turned and walked down the porch steps. “I’ll get out of your way. Looks like you have your hands full.”

  “Bye, Ms. Leprechaun!” Halley yelled, then dumped her project and book bag into the backseat of Stevie’s SUV before climbing into her booster seat. Halley was intensely independent and preferred to strap on her own seat belt. Ha
rrison toddled around to the other side, bouncing his head from side to side as if he were singing a song in his head. Which was entirely possible. Her dark haired, silver eyed twins were…well, precious. After strapping Harrison in securely, she reached over to test Halley’s seat belt. The little darling hadn’t gotten it exactly right, but it took only a slight push to get the lock engaged. “Okay, now we’re off!”

  Fifteen minutes later, Stevie pulled into the parking lot of the day care center. The kids were excited to show off their family tree project and, from the moment she walked in, her kids barely acknowledged her. Before they could dive into the fray, Stevie tugged both of them into her arms for a big hug. “Okay, now you can go,” she said, laughing. She watched for perhaps thirty seconds, just long enough to watch her children settle into whatever game was being played, then she left for her school.

  Frankie pulled over to the curb and tugged her camera out of her backpack. Quickly, she took several photos of Stevie Hunt and the adorable twins by her side. They looked nothing like her, but the dark hair and silver eyes were eerily similar to Edward Meyers. He was a bastard right down to his pretentious, pompous, greedy soul. Meanwhile, these two tiny beings looked happy and sweet, eagerly waving to their friends as they toddled along beside their mother.

  Frankie didn’t like or respect Edward, but the old man had hired her to find his sons. It had been a stroke of luck that Stevie Hunt had submitted her children’s DNA to the same company Edward had used. He’d been notified of a match to his DNA. Obviously, both parties had agreed to notification of any familial matches. Otherwise, neither would know about the other.

  Hence, why Frankie was sitting here, watching two kids head into their school, trying to figure out what to do with this new piece of information. She was also a bit uncomfortable taking pictures of kids. Cheating spouses? Sure, she’d snap those pics, although even that aspect of the job was wearing thin lately. But for the first time in her career, kids were involved, and taking pictures of them left a bad taste in her mouth. Still, she had a job to do, even if she was starting to wonder if this was a job she actually wanted.

  She’d located one of Edward’s sons, Lincoln Meyers, a tech genius with a body to die for! For all his faults, Edward Meyers was a tall, handsome man who had obviously passed good genes on to his offspring.

  Unfortunately, Edward Meyers was a total bastard. He’d rejected the mothers when they’d informed him that they were pregnant. Now, decades later, the man was dying and wanted to find his three sons to determine which might be “worthy” to run his business empire.

  As horrible, unethical, and amoral as Edward Meyers was, Lincoln Meyers, the oldest son, was a good man. He was also now a friend. Frankie had become friends with his now wife, Kinsley, last year, before they had gotten married.

  Lincoln had chosen not to be reunited with his father and Frankie had respected his decision, telling Edward that the first son wanted to maintain his privacy and distance. Edward hadn’t liked that. In fact, the old man had tried to bribe Frankie into convincing Lincoln to talk with him. But Frankie wasn’t made like that. She didn’t lie or cheat, and she never violated a person’s trust. Then Edward had shown up at Lincoln’s wedding party and…well, apparently, Edward hadn’t approved of Kinsley.

  Frankie shook her head and sighed. Kinsley was good, kind, and incredibly sweet. She loved Lincoln and their happiness was a sight to behold! How could a father disapprove of a woman who so obviously adored his son?

  Edward wanted to leave one of his sons in charge of his business empire, but Lincoln was about ten times wealthier than Edward. The man was a freaking genius when it came to inventing things. Just a few months ago, Lincoln had announced the creation of a contraption that would create better balance on a motorcycle. And although motorcycles were still dangerous, because they didn’t surround the rider with a cocoon of metal, like a car, this contraption of Lincoln’s would help riders in all sorts of dangerous riding conditions. And because several countries had demanded that this contraption be included on every motorcycle manufactured and sold, Lincoln had just made another huge amount of money. More money than Frankie could imagine!

  Frankie tapped her finger thoughtfully on the steering wheel of her car. This woman, Stevie Hunt, had seemed like a good person as well. A good and protective mother of her children, obviously. And wow, those two were adorable! She chuckled, shaking her head at the memory of the small, silver-eyed munchkin asking if Frankie was a leprechaun. How cute!

  So, what was Frankie to do with this new information? The news that Edward had twin grandchildren?

  Of course, Edward hadn’t hired her to find his grandchildren. But the twins were her only connection to the father.

  Biting her lip, she considered her options. In the end, Frankie decided that she’d just have to talk with Stevie Hunt. There was no other honest and ethical way to go about this.

  Chapter 10

  “Hey Frankie, what’s up?” Kinsley Meyers called out as she waddled into the coffee shop. At seven months’ pregnant, Kinsley was big and glowing as she carried her herbal tea over to the table and sat down.

  “You look great!” Frankie said, smiling at her friend. “How are you feeling?”

  Kinsley sighed, resting her hand on her belly. “Yeah. I’m doing okay. It’s a bit much right now. When this little guy,” she patted her belly, “gets the hiccups, he prefers to have them at night.”

  Frankie blinked, surprised and…a touch horrified. “The baby gets the hiccups?”

  Kinsley nodded emphatically. “Oh yeah! I know that sounds like a science fiction novel, but yes. Babies in utero get the hiccups, and I feel them happening.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Lincoln gets jealous when it happens. He’s such a goofball.”

  Frankie’s eyes widened upon hearing the terrifying Lincoln Meyers described as a goofball. Nope. No way could Frankie see that man as anything other than tall and intimidating. Plus, he was smart in a spooky kind of way. No, wait. He’s smart in a MacGyver kind of way. Lincoln Meyers was the guy who invented that thingamabob that car manufacturers now install in their cars to make them more fuel efficient. And he invented a doohickey for hospitals last year that warned doctors when a patient was struggling to breathe before the patient even realized it. That little contraption had saved so many lives! Every hospital emergency room and intensive care unit had ordered one as fast as the factories could make them. He’d invented several other things too. Some things, no one even knew about because they were top secret and for government use only.

  How Frankie knew that was a secret that she’d take to her grave. But yeah, the guy was scary smart. And so nice too! Nice and ethical and just an all-around good guy. Frankie could sort of see why Kinsley said he was a goofball. But only to Kinsley. That man doted on his wife and it was obvious how much they loved each other.

  “Okay, so tell me what’s up. Why do you have that look on your face? You look lost. Frankie Winward is never lost. She loses other people, never herself. So, what’s up?”

  Frankie laughed, shaking her head at her friend. “How can you tell?” No one else could read Frankie quite as well as Kinsley.

  “You have that line between your eyebrows that says you’re worried about something. And since you don’t worry about many things, I’m guessing this has to do with Edward Meyers?”

  “Yep. I…” she hesitated, worried about privacy issues. “Okay, so here’s the deal. Edward did that DNA test in the hopes of finding his sons. He checked the box that said he’d like to be notified if familial matches turn up. A few days ago, he was notified that there had been a match. The other party also checked the box that they’d like to be notified.”

  “Okay, so both people want to find family members. They are looking for the same thing. So, what’s the problem?”

  Frankie swirled her coffee cup nervously. “It’s not his son that submitted his DNA.”

  Kinsley leaned forward, her curiosity piqued. “What’s the problem,
Frankie?” Kinsley urged gently.

  Frankie bit her lip and glanced out the window. “The problem is that the DNA matches his grandchildren.”

  There was a long silence as Kinsley processed that. “Plural?”

  “Yeah.” Frankie sighed, bowing her head. “A son, an adult, could probably withstand Edward’s intimidation tactics. But grandkids?” She leaned back, shaking her head. “And their mother is really nice. She’s beautiful and kind and a freaking kindergarten teacher, Kins!” Frankie sighed. “I can’t ethically subject those two beautiful kids and a nice person to Edward’s intimidation tactics and threats. He’d make mincemeat out of them!”

  “So, your dilemma is whether to tell Edward or not?”

  “Exactly.”

  Kinsley nodded thoughtfully, then a smile blossomed on her pretty features. “Wait! That means that I’m an aunt!”

  Frankie blinked at her friend. “That’s true! You’re an aunt!”

  “So is Linc! Well, an uncle. But wow! Our baby will have cousins!” She chuckled softly. “Lincoln is going to be thrilled. He wants a big family. But…” She paused, looking worried at the odd expression in Frankie’s expressive eyes. “Wait,” Kinsley frowned. “You can’t tell us either, can you?”

  Frankie shook her head. “I don’t think it would be ethical to tell you and Lincoln about these kids until I’ve spoken with the mother. Or the father. And that’s the problem. If I ask this woman who the father is, and he’s dead or a jerk, who is going to protect them from Edward?”

  Kinsley’s eyes widened, then narrowed with conviction. “Lincoln and I will protect our…” she stopped, blinking. “Can you tell me if they are boys or girls? Would that violate your ethics? I don’t want to ask you anything that would violate your code.”

  Frankie smiled, grateful for Kinsley’s consideration. “It’s a boy and a girl. They are about four years old and look alarmingly like Edward, if that helps to form a picture.”