The Right Woman

“Tell me, please,” Brooke begged. “Just keep talking. You have a nice voice and if you’re talking, I can’t think.”

Serena was the only one who knew her full story. Talking to people, sharing her feelings, had never been easy for Sarah and she knew it was because she and Celia, her adoptive grandmother, had moved around so much while she was growing up. She’d never had a chance to form lasting friendships. It had always been her and Celia against the world.

“I have an identical twin sister,” she found herself saying.

“That had to have been fun when you were growing up.”

“We didn’t grow up together. I met her for the first time five years ago.”

“Oh,” Brooke murmured. She was falling asleep, so Sarah kept talking.

“When our mother, Jasmine, was eighteen, she fell in love with an older man, John Welch. He’d dated Jasmine’s mother, Aurora, in high school. Since Jasmine and Aurora had a tumultuous relationship, her dating John only added to the discord in the family. Finally, Jasmine ran away to be with John, who separated from his wife Celia. Then Jasmine got pregnant.”

She paused, thinking Brooke was asleep, but the girl opened her eyes. “What happened next?” she asked.

“Jasmine lived with John above his mechanic’s shop, but as the babies started to grow inside her, she became miserable and wanted to go home. John always talked her out of it. In her ninth month, she called Henry Farrell, her father, to tell him she was coming home. But she never made it. When she’d told John, they’d argued and he managed to get into the car with her. They crashed not far from their apartment.”

“And they died?”

“Not right away. Jasmine lived long enough to deliver my sister and me. John was able to talk to his wife, Celia, and ask her to raise his daughters. Jasmine agreed, signing papers to that effect before she died.”

“Why did they want Celia instead of Jasmine’s parents to have you?”

“As I said, the relationship was not good between Jasmine and Aurora, and Jasmine felt that her mother couldn’t truly love her daughters since John was the father. John felt the same way.”

“Did it happen that way?”

“Partly. Henry, Jasmine’s father, couldn’t live with that decision so he went to talk to Celia and they made a deal. Henry and Aurora would raise one twin and Celia would raise the other.”

“Who raised you?”

“Celia. Aurora and Henry raised Serena.”

“You never saw each other after that?”

“No. Celia and I never stayed in one place long because she feared Henry and Aurora would hire an attorney to try to take me, too, since they were the biological grandparents. And the Farrells worried that Celia might change her mind and want Serena back since she actually had custody. For over thirty years they avoided each other and Serena and I never knew of the other’s existence until…”

Brooke was breathing heavily—she was finally asleep. Sarah started to get up, but the story kept running in her head. Until Ethan Ramsey saw me stripping in one of Boyd’s clubs. That one night had saved Sarah’s life.

Ethan, a private investigator, was now Serena’s husband. That night he’d come to Dallas to try to persuade his brother, Travis, to come home for a visit. Travis played in a band and liked the nightlife. Ethan hated that lifestyle, but went out to a strip club hoping to persuade Travis to come home.

Two months earlier Sarah had fallen madly in love with Greg Larson, a narcotics cop, while she’d been working on her Masters in psychology. She’d worked as a waitress when she wasn’t in school. She’d met Greg at the restaurant and the attraction was instantaneous. At the time she’d been deep into her thesis on the lives of strippers, what made them do it and why. She’d felt it was bland and needed more—she’d wanted up-close-and-personal experiences. When Greg had told her about the undercover mission he was about to undertake, she’d thought it a great opportunity for her research. He’d resisted at first, but had eventually agreed because they hadn’t wanted to be apart.

She’d gotten a job as a waitress in the strip club without a problem, but she’d been unprepared for the seedier side of life. The job was degrading and disgusting and nothing like working in a restaurant, as she’d thought it would be. But as long as Greg was there, she’d felt safe. Then Rudy Boyd, the owner of the club, had taken an interest in her. When she’d rebuffed him, it had made him angry.

She and Greg had decided it was time for her to leave, to go home to Celia. The night she was packing, Boyd and two of his men had shown up at the apartment. Boyd had somehow found out that Greg was a cop out to get him. He’d shot him without a second thought, right in front of her. She’d never been so scared or horrified in her life. Holding Greg’s limp body, she’d waited for the sound of a bullet to end her life, too, but Boyd had had other plans.

He’d also learned of her thesis work and had taken the disks from her computer, telling her she was about to get a real first-hand look at a stripper’s life. She’d said she would never strip. He’d laughed, and put a knife to her throat, and said she had a choice—death or stripping.

She’d kept thinking that if she could stay alive, she might manage to get away and go to the police to tell them what had happened to Greg. As days turned into weeks, she hadn’t known how much longer she’d be able to continue to do something so humiliating, so repulsive. It had taken all her strength to go on, but that strength eventually waned. Then a miracle happened.

Ethan Ramsey had come to the club. Seeing how nervous she was on stage, he’d sensed something was wrong, though he hadn’t thought much about it at the time. The very next day he’d met Serena in Fort Worth. Looking suave, polished and beautiful, he couldn’t help but recall the familiar, distraught face of the woman of the night before. He’d given Serena his card, telling her that if she needed help, to just call him.

Serena had thought it a come-on line. But Ethan’s story about the stripper that looked just like her, had haunted Serena’s mind. She’d eventually hired Ethan to find the stripper—and he had. Serena and Sarah had found each other, too, learning they’d been deceived by the people who’d raised them.

In the end it had all worked out. Sarah now lived with her grandmother, Aurora Farrell, forming a relationship they should have had years ago. Sarah finished her degree and Rudy Boyd had been convicted of capital murder. The best part was that Serena and Ethan had fallen in love, gotten married and now had a three-year-old daughter, Jassy, named after Jasmine, their mother.

The connection between her and Serena was unlike anything Sarah had ever experienced. They were identical—looking at Serena was like looking in a mirror. It was as though they were the same person, yet different. At times, they could read each other’s minds, which was scary to Sarah, who had always been a private person. It was also wonderful to have someone who knew her so well. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t tell Serena and vice versa.

Sarah stood and brushed Brooke’s hair back from her face. The medication had finally taken effect and Brooke would be out for a while. It was what she needed—lots of rest. Sarah picked up her purse and the chart, and made her way from the room.

She couldn’t have made it through that terrible time in her life if it hadn’t been for Serena. Daniel had been there, too. She brushed that thought away as she wrote in Brooke’s chart. Handing the chart to the nurse, she walked to the doors and out into the night.

The cold wind blew against her and she shivered. She’d been in such a hurry to get to the hospital that she’d forgotten her coat. She ran to her car and quickly started the engine, hoping it would warm up quickly.

It was late so there wasn’t much traffic. Stopping for a light, she thought back to the day Ethan and Daniel had pulled her out of Boyd’s closet, where she’d been hiding from her captor. She had passed out, but had come to as Daniel checked to see if she was still breathing. All she’d had on was a robe and a pair of bikini panties… His head was on her chest… Her robe was open, her breasts exposed. Every time she’d seen Daniel after that day, she’d remember his face against her naked skin and it filled her with shame and embarrassment.

She’d taken off her clothes in front of men. It was hard for her to believe that now, but she had done what she’d had to do to stay alive. It was a debilitating memory forever etched in her mind. The reality of what had happened to her was still hard to understand. And Daniel was part of that reality. He’d seen her at her worst. She didn’t like being reminded of that.

Her hand went to the silk blouse buttoned at her neck. She never let anyone see her body anymore. After all this time, she still didn’t want a man to see her, to touch her. Maybe that part of her life was over.

The thought upset her. She didn’t want to be this repressed for the rest of her life. As a professional, Sarah recognized that her behavior wasn’t healthy.

She had the urge to talk to Serena, but it was too late to call so she would wait until the morning. She also had to tell Serena and Ethan about Daniel—that he was quitting. Then maybe she’d lose these guilty feelings.

Again, she knew that wasn’t going to happen until she faced whatever was between her and Daniel; guilt, blame, irritation or something deeper. There was an undeniable tension between them and until it was resolved, she’d have no peace.

CHAPTER THREE

THE NEXT MORNING Daniel rolled out of bed feeling good and he knew he’d made the right decision. He put on a pot of coffee and after his shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, grabbed a cup and went back to the bathroom to shave.

He rubbed shaving cream over his rough stubble then looked at himself closely in the mirror. There were lines around his eyes that he hadn’t noticed before. Worry lines—that’s what they were called. Well, he had plenty of worry in his type of work so he wasn’t surprised, nor did it bother him.

He wondered how Brooke Wallace was this morning. It was only five, so he hoped she was sleeping, getting some rest, because she had a rough road ahead of her. As he scraped the stubble away, he found himself unable to stop thinking about Sarah. She could help Brooke—Daniel knew that she would. But would it bring back painful memories for her? He threw his towel on the bathroom vanity. No, he wasn’t going to do this. He wasn’t worrying about Sarah Welch anymore. Her life was none of his business.

In the bedroom, he saw that his answering machine light was blinking. He listened to several messages before his mother’s voice came on. “Daniel, we’re still in Paris and having a great time. Your father is enjoying seeing his old friend, Jon Paul. His daughter, Yvette, is asking about you. She remembers you from her visit to America. She likes you a lot and she’s so beautiful. Wish you were here. Please think about your father’s offer. You work too hard and your job is so dangerous. Not sure when we’ll return. Don’t forget to check on Drew. Goodbye.”

Turning off the machine, he sat for a moment and stared into space. His father had been trying for years to place him at the helm of Garrett Enterprises. His grandfather had started a construction company then expanded the business to erecting shopping malls in Texas, eventually venturing in to other states and to Europe. Recently the company had scaled back on construction projects, but his father still managed extensive interests all over the country.

Daniel had always felt he wasn’t cut out to be a businessman. Ever since he was small, when people would ask what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d always say, “A policeman.” His parents thought he’d outgrow this particular ambition, but he hadn’t. After getting a degree in criminal justice, he’d entered the police academy, much to his parent’s dismay. Then something happened that had changed his life forever.

Growing up, Daniel had spent a lot of time watching out for his brother, Drew, who was five years younger. But in college Drew got in with a bad crowd and started to do drugs. For a long time, Drew hid this from Daniel and their parents. One night at a party, Drew overdosed on heroin and almost died. He’d been in a coma for days. When he’d finally come out of it, his brain had been affected and he’d ended up with the mental capacity of a ten-year-old. He still had a problem putting words together and he stuttered until he could form the thought in his head. Those first years had been difficult as Drew had struggled to find a way to express himself. They’d all been very patient and grateful he was alive.

That had been fifteen years ago and not much had changed. Drew would be a child for the rest of his life. For Daniel, a lot of things had changed. He’d gone into narcotics and spent the past fifteen years trying to take down the big drug dealers. Every time one was put in prison, though, another popped up. It was a losing battle, but Daniel had fought tirelessly—until now. Was he giving up? No, he needed a break from that world.

And Sarah didn’t want him around.

For a moment he let himself feel just how much that hurt. How much it had influenced his decision. How much he’d been hoping that, last night, she’d reach out to him. But he knew he was the last person she’d turn to for anything.