Page 97 of Secrets Hidden In The Glass

She closed her eyes and gripped the cool granite. “From when I was little—right after you and Dad brought me to Oregon.”

“From your first plane ride or when we got to the house for your welcome home party?”

“I don’t—Any one is fine. Just something from right around the time I came to live with you.”

“All right.”

“I need it right away. Right now.” She shook her head and leaned her forehead against the cupboard as she heard the demand in her tone and gentled her voice. “I’m sorry. If you could please send it as soon as possible.”

“Let me go downstairs and I’ll scan something for you, honey.”

“Thank you.”

“What’s going on, Callie?”

“Nothing. I just need a picture. That’s all.”

“I’ll get it right to you.”

She knew Mom was concerned, but explanations were going to have to wait. She was still trying to believe what she thought she was seeing. “I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She hung up and paced back and forth, waiting for what felt like hours for her phone to alert to a new email. Preferring her laptop, she hurried over to her MacBook on the kitchen table and sat down, clicking on the file and opening it. She stared at the picture Mom had sent, pressing her quaking hand to her mouth as her breath shuddered in and out. In this photo, her hair was secured back with a headband and she wore a plaid skirt and short-sleeve top as she stood smiling next to her brother and sister. Jennifer and Jacob had black hair, but Callie’s was blond. She zoomed in on her face, then looked at the picture from the library lying on the keyboard, clutching her arms around her stomach. “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,” she whispered as she scrutinized the grinning woman who had the same nose, chin, and brow line Callie did. “Oh, God,” she said again as she slammed her laptop shut with the picture still inside and gained her feet, knocking over the chair.

“I need to—I have to…” She ran upstairs, gasping as the walls closed in around her. She pulled off her UGGs, then her jeans, and stumbled to the drawers, rifling through her things until she found a pair of jogging pants. After yanking them on, she put on her Nikes, needing to run—to get away. She went back downstairs and slammed the door behind her as she took off into the woods and down the long trail that would eventually take her out by Route 1 and to the water. She hurdled fallen logs and slipped several times on wet pine needles but never stopped despite the pouring rain, fighting to outdistance the dread that sickened her stomach.

Tears mixed with the raindrops and she sobbed each breath, knowing exactly what she’d found today. She’d always wondered about her biological parents—what they looked like, who they’d been. Why they left her alone at some scuzzy diner in the middle of the night. Now she had one of her answers. She looked like her mother—or certainly they shared a strong resemblance.

A car rushed by, kicking up water, and she glanced around. Somehow she’d ended up by the lookout at Mary’s Bluff, miles from Nate’s house. Finally purged and exhausted, she sat on the edge of the cliff and stared out at the Atlantic, bewildered as to what she was supposed to do now. In a flash of a moment, her entire life had changed again.

~~~~

Nate slowed as he approached the library parking lot and frowned when he didn’t see his pickup parked in any of the spots. When he’d stopped by the bakery for a late afternoon snack, Molly had mentioned Callie’s change of plans. According to his sister, Callie was supposed to be here instead of at the Sanderson mansion meeting with Leah and Mini. Flipping on his blinker, he pulled into the lot and got out, jogging to the door in the pouring rain.

Jillian turned in her seat and smiled as he stepped inside. “Nathan. It’s nice to see you, honey.”

“Hi.” He smiled as he slid his fingers through his wet hair, walking closer to the long table where a serious project was well underway. “It’s always nice to see my favorite librarian.”

Jillian smiled again, waving away his compliment. “Aren’t you sweet?”

He glanced around the quiet space, noting that no one was wandering around the stacks. Cold, rainy days didn’t exactly bring readers out in droves. “Has Callie been by?”

“Yes, she was here helping me. She left about a half hour ago or so.”

It surprised him some that Callie hadn’t contacted him. Typically, she sent him a text before she headed home. “I guess I’ll get going, then,” he said, eager to be on his way and give Callie a call. He glanced at Jillian’s crippled hands as he started turning toward the door and stopped. “Is there anything I can do to help out?”

Jillian shook her head. “I’m just fine, honey, but you should probably check on your friend. She left rather suddenly—stood up pale as a ghost and said she needed to go.”

Nate’s frown returned as his unease grew.

“She assured me she was all right,” Jillian continued, “but she certainly didn’t look that way to me.”

He rubbed at his jaw, not liking what he was hearing—especially when Callie hadn’t gotten in touch with him. “You said she left about thirty minutes ago?”

“Yes, honey.”

“I should probably head home.”