When Snow Falls (Whiskey Creek #2)(93)
Author: Brenda Novak

Cheyenne didn’t know what to say to that. She wasn’t sure why he was being so generous toward the woman who’d kidnapped her. She was back to feeling angry again. Somehow, she could forgive Presley. Presley was as much a victim as she was. But Anita… “Is my real family looking for me?” she asked.

“Yes. They have been for some time. They’ve hired a number of private investigators over the years. They were working with an associate of mine, who tracked Anita to California. Then, at his recommendation, they hired me, since he lives in Colorado.”

“Where do they live?”

“They’re also in Denver.”

A place where it snowed… “Is that where I was born?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He slid a birth certificate across his desk. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Her hand shook as she reached over to take a look. She’d wanted that simple paper, a paper most people took for granted, for so long. “Jewel Montrose,” she read, and glanced at him. “That’s my real name?”

“It was.”

Jewel Montrose… Cheyenne had no recollection of ever being called that. The sound of it was strange. “Can you tell me about the blonde woman?” she asked. “Was she my mother?”

“You remember Victoria?”

She closed her eyes, conjuring up the image that had confused her for so many years. “I remember her face. She was very pretty.”

“She’s still pretty,” he said when she opened her eyes. “But no longer blonde. I’m afraid that, like mine, her hair’s gone gray.”

Her attention switched back to the birth date. “This says my birthday is July 5.”

“Yes. Is that the one you’ve been celebrating?”

She shook her head. Anita probably hadn’t known her real birthday so she’d given her one—May 15. She was nearly two months younger than she’d thought. At least Anita had gotten the correct year. “Are you sure you have the right person?” she asked, feeling more and more unsettled.

“I am. You look exactly like your mother. But it would be wise to do a DNA test, just to be sure. It wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for you or her to meet and then learn…”

He let his words fall off but Cheyenne understood what he meant.

If they connected and then learned they weren’t related, they’d both be disappointed. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to feel she’d found her real family at last, only to discover it was a case of mistaken identity.

“Okay,” she said. “Does that mean I have to go to a lab? Or…”

“Actually, it’s much simpler than that. I have the kit right here.” He swiveled to get inside a drawer. “We just need to swab your cheek and send it in. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have the results.”

She followed the instructions he gave her. Then, when he’d placed the swab securely in its vial, she gathered up her purse and stood. “How long does it take to get the results?”

“A few weeks at most.”

Telling herself she should save all other questions until this vital piece of information was in place, she started to leave, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she turned back at the door. “Do you know how it happened?”

“How—”

“I was abducted? From where?”

“A preschool located near a park. It was during a blizzard. As the parents were coming to pick up their children, there was an accident in the parking lot. The teacher walked over to make sure no one was hurt and when she turned around, there was one less child lined up against the wall.”

“So how did you ever track me?”

“That teacher, a Ms. Grimwald, had met Anita a few days earlier. Anita had approached her to see if she needed any volunteers in the classroom. Because she smelled of alcohol and wasn’t particularly…respectable-looking, Ms. Grimwald told her that anyone who had contact with the children had to pass a background check, and Anita immediately backed off. Ms. Grimwald thought her behavior strange enough to mention that incident to the police. Then someone else came forward to say she saw a woman matching that description in a car pulling out of the school the day you went missing. Your mother realized it was the same person she’d hired to help get the house ready for a charity event. Victoria had allowed her to bring her daughter over to play one afternoon while she worked, and in the course of their conversation she happened to mention where you went to school.”

“That sounds like Anita—taking advantage of someone who was trying to be nice to her. So my abduction was reported.”

“Absolutely. The police had Anita’s name, her description and the make and model of her car. Thanks to the fact that she already had a record for minor infractions, they even had a photograph. But they were never able to find her. She didn’t go by ‘Anita’ back then. She kept changing her name, which complicated matters.”

“But my family didn’t give up.”

“No, they didn’t give up.”

She slid her hand inside Dylan’s. “Do I have a father?”

“You do. Walt is sixty this year. He and Victoria are still married and love each other very much.”

Dylan’s fingers tightened around hers. “Siblings?”

“A younger brother. Victoria couldn’t have any more children after that. Fertility issues.”

Cheyenne tried to imagine a “Walt” and a younger brother to go with her “Victoria” but couldn’t. “I had a bedroom with a canopy bed.”

He smiled. “Yes, you did.”

* * *

The next two weeks passed with agonizing slowness. Cheyenne tried to throw herself into the remodel at the B and B, which was taking longer than expected. She also worked with Gail over the phone, trying to gain the interest of Unsolved Mysteries. She wanted to help Eve kick off the inn’s upgrades and new name in grand style—with the type of PR that would really attract attention. But the whole time, her mind was on that DNA test she’d taken in Eugene Crouch’s office and what might happen once the results were in.

She was at the inn when she got the call. Eve was sitting at the other desk in their small back office, paying bills, but swung around the second she heard Cheyenne say, “Oh, my God!”

“What is it?” she asked as Cheyenne hung up.

“The DNA was a match. My name is really Jewel Montrose. My birthday isn’t May 15, it’s July 5. And I’m from Denver, Colorado.”