Twice Kissed by Lisa Jackson Page A

he leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. “Sometimes I was there, but a lot of times I wasn’t.”
    “I…I never knew that she even saw you,” Maggie said, realizing for the first time how little she understood about the woman who was her twin. It was almost as if when Mary Theresa had changed her name to Marquise, she’d severed ties with her family.
    His eyes were steady. As cold as the Arctic Ocean. “There are lots of things you don’t know about your sister, Maggie. Lots of things you’d rather not know.” He stood and looked out the window to stare into the night. His reflection, distorted in the cold panes, was pale and shimmering with a steady determination. She knew from experience that Thane Walker was as stubborn as he was sexy.
    The phone jangled and Maggie jumped, nearly spilling coffee all over her lap. By the second ring she grabbed the receiver and felt her heart thudding a million miles a minute. Maybe Mary Theresa had finally gotten her messages. “Hello?”
    “Maggie? It’s Connie.”
    Maggie’s soaring spirits crashed. She recognized her sister-in-law’s voice and steeled herself for more bad news.
    “Hi.”
    “I know you’re wondering why I’m calling so late, so I’ll get right to the point. I heard that Marquise is missing. I have a friend who lives in Denver who knows we’re related. Well, sort of. Anyway, I…I know this is awkward, but I wanted to call and see if you and Becca are all right.”
    As if you cared. “We’re fine,” Maggie lied.
    “Well, good. Good. I, um, wanted to offer to help out. Oh, I know we’ve had our differences in the past, and still do. But Becca is still my niece, damn it, and I care what happens to her.”
    Or what happens to her share of her inheritance.
    “Thank you,” Maggie said without much warmth.
    “Have you heard from Marquise?”
    “No. She hasn’t called.”
    “Oh. I…I don’t know what to say. But, believe me, if I can be of any help, just let me know.”
    “I will,” Maggie lied as she hung up.
    Becca, in her room, waited until she heard the click, then replaced her receiver. Through the thin walls of the cabin, she’d heard most of the conversation between her mother and Thane Walker, Marquise’s first husband. When the phone had rung, she’d picked up, but before she’d been able to answer, her mother had started talking.
    From what she could gather, Marquise was missing, no one knew why, but Thane wanted her mother to go to Denver with him. Her mom was worried about her sister. Becca smiled to herself in the darkness. She wasn’t worried about Marquise. Marquise was too smart and pretty, too much of a celebrity to be in any kind of real trouble.
    Becca watched the blue bubbles gently rising in the base of her lava lamp. She liked the fact that Thane was trying to talk her mother into going to Denver. In fact, that was perfect. If Becca worked things right, she’d be able to con her mom into letting her visit her cousin in L.A. Hadn’t Aunt Connie offered any kind of help?
    For the first time in a long while, Becca felt a ray of hope. Maybe there was a chance that she could get out of this loser, hole-in-the-wall town that her mother thought was heaven. In Becca’s opinion, Settler’s Ridge, Idaho, was the pits.
     
    “Just think on it,” Thane suggested as he shoved his arms through the sleeves of his jacket. He watched as a gamut of emotions crossed Maggie’s face, and, along with a sense of satisfaction in knowing she was going to agree, he felt a second’s hesitation, a tiny grain of guilt that pricked at his conscience.
    “I’m not sure.” She glanced at the phone again, as if willing Marquise to call. It wasn’t going to happen.
    “I’ll be back in the morning.” He reached for the door and saw the hesitation in her eyes. She didn’t know whether to invite him to stay or not. Didn’t matter. He wasn’t about to spend the night here. “You can let me know then.” As he walked through