Mistaken Identity

Mistaken Identity - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next afternoon, the two couples arrived at the Walker house. Addie had called her parents on the satellite phone the night before letting them know she had company coming home with her for dinner the next night. She asked if they could meet with them around four. There were some very important things to discuss. Knowing that they would do anything they could for Addie and that she would not ask them to do this unless she desperately needed it, they assured her they would change their schedules and be home waiting to meet with them.

At first Jackson did not understand why it was so important to Beth to meet the Walker’s, because as he put it, “They didn’t adopt you, why should it matter?” But after Beth explained that she knew very little about her mother and nothing about her father, he understood. When the couple adopted Addie, they may have learned something about her biological parents.

Now standing at the front door, Jackson wondered if this was a good idea? The couple did not owe her anything, maybe they would turn her away like they did when she was a baby. He did not want to see Beth hurt, and he would do whatever he needed to do to protect her.

Addie walked in without knocking and waved them in. “Wait in the living room, let me talk to them first. I don’t want them to have a heart attack when they see the two of us.” She smiled at Beth and hugged her before she left the room. “They will love you too. How could they not, you’re my sister!”

Beth looked around the living room, she couldn’t help comparing it to the small house she grew up in. Grandma had given her everything she needed, but extravagances were not an option. Pennies were pinched and life was not always easy. Beth had started working in high school and graduating with good grades was the only thing that helped her get to college. Giving up that dream when Grandma died was difficult. If she had been adopted by the Walker’s, she would not have been forced to start working to pay the bills. But then again, she would not have known Grandma. She was tough, but one thing Beth knew was that Grandma did love her. She always told her she pushed her so hard because she wanted the best for her. She didn’t want her to end up like her mother. The mother she never knew.

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Addie walked into her parent’s study. She knew she would find them both there with their faces buried in medical journals or writing for a medical digests. She softly knocked before she opened the door and peeked inside.

Madalynn looked up from her journal at the sound of the knock. “Baby! I am so glad to see you! I worried about you when I got the message that you were going out of town. You just came home. What happened?”

Addie smiled, “Well honestly, a lot has happened since then that I need to talk to you both about.” Addie sat down on the sofa and pulled her knee up to hug it trying to relax. Suddenly she wished that Duncan was there with her. For moral support if nothing else. William turned from his computer to give her his full attention and Madalynn came to sit next to her on the sofa.

“Yesterday at the spa...” Addie went on to tell her parents of the ordeal of the last few days. She watched their faces and comforted them when she talked about Wesley Maddox chasing her and Duncan. She told them how she felt about Duncan and expressed even though they had just met, there was something special there. When she got to the part about meeting Beth she paused.

She looked her parents in the eye and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me I was adopted? It wouldn’t have made me love you any less. You raised me. But, I wish I wasn’t knocked for a loop when I met my twin.”

Madalynn asked, “You met her?” William came from around the desk and stood in front of Addie. “We have so much to tell both of you, but we couldn’t.”