Lost & Found
Page 17

The pile on her desk hadn’t dwindled too far when Ed came walking back into the office carrying a small bag. She honestly hadn’t noticed he wasn’t even in his office.
“Zach wants to discuss a project in Georgia before we start the meeting up. So, if you don’t mind, we need to head down to the boardroom.”
“Not a problem,” she said as she reached for her notepad.
She opened her top desk drawer to search for a new pen. That was when Ed set the bag he carried on the top of the desk.
“Try this one,” he said.
The bag was a small, white bag with rope handles. Tissue paper stuck out from the top.
Darcy bit down on her lip, trying to keep her emotions in check. For all she knew, there was one of those spring coiled snakes in the bag that would jump out at her.
She reached inside and pulled out a box. When she lifted the lid, she found an engraved pen set.
DARCY MCCARY
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You had these made for me?”
Ed shrugged his shoulders. “You looked like you could use a pick me up. And a useful one at that.”
Darcy sat back in her chair and looked up at the man whose dark eyes looked back at her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now grab your pad and one of those pens, and let’s go. He’s waiting.”
Darcy nodded and did just as he’d said, but as she followed him back to the boardroom, her knees began to shake. Perhaps she should stop all the silly thoughts she had about finding her birth parents. It was going to get in the way of her job. And her job was getting in the way of her feelings for Eduardo Keller—she was very sure she was falling for the man.
The meeting had gone on for another three hours. Darcy had missed her first bus, and now she waited for another.
She’d had three people ask if she needed a ride, and she’d turned them all down. Of course they’d been Ed, Zach, and Mary Ellen—and right now, all three of them were making her brain hurt. Ed most of all.
The generosity of this man was beyond anything she’d ever known. There was going to be a breaking point—there had to be.
Why was it he never hired anyone and only used temps? Was it because they didn’t work well when he fed them and gave them gifts? Or was this more?
Did he over work his temps and they quit? Was he just buttering her up and soon the whole world would shut down around her, and she’d be forced into hard work like she’d never known?
As the bus pulled up, Darcy hoisted her purse up on her shoulder and pulled the money she’d readied out of her pocket.
Tomorrow night was the fundraiser, and she’d agreed to go with Ed. It would certainly prove to be an interesting venture. She’d take it for what it was worth. A working evening—in a cocktail dress.
No doubt she’d be there with Zach and his wife. She wondered if Mary Ellen would be there too?
As the bus bounced through town, she wondered how much Zach’s wife knew about Mary Ellen. She’d been the one to hire her—Regan, right?—but then Ed had said Zach had fired her.
Darcy’s head was spinning.
Only something so twisted could mean that things had happened. Why would someone fire their own wife? And why had Zach looked at her the way he had?
The more she got to thinking of it, Christian had looked at her that way too—with curious eyes as though they’d met.
Darcy clenched her purse in her arms. This was stupid. Hadn’t she been told a million times during her lifetime that she looked like someone’s cousin?
That’s when the sinking feeling hit her stomach. She had been told that a million times, only she didn’t know it was possible. She hadn’t known she’d been adopted.
Someone had hit the signal for the bus to stop, and when Darcy looked up, she realized it was her stop as well.
She stood and filed off the bus when the doors opened.
As she walked up the sidewalk, Christian backed out of the driveway. He rolled down his window and rested his arm on the door.
“Hey, it’s my beautiful housemate.”
She smiled. “Thank you for the compliment.”
“A package came for you today. I set it by your door. A package from home.”
“Thanks.” She noticed he was dressed up and not wearing anything athletic. “You going out?”
“Yeah. The sister of one of my teammate’s wives.” He rolled his eyes. “But, at least if this goes good, I can drag her to that fundraising event tomorrow night—unless you’ve reconsidered and would rather go with me than my brother.”
Darcy laughed. “I’m just using him to climb the corporate ladder.”
This time, Christian laughed. “I think you’re already doing that. You got permanent employee status, not temp status.”
Hadn’t she already found that odd?
She gave him a wave. “Have a good night.”
Christian held up his hand and crossed his fingers. Then he gave her a wave and backed out of the driveway and headed down the street.
The package Christian had said was by her door was waiting for her. She recognized her father’s handwriting immediately.
The anticipation of opening it reminded her of Christmas morning. How her mother would make her hold all her gifts on her lap while she took a picture.
She held the package to her chest.
She missed her mother.
Darcy opened the door to her apartment and walked inside. She sat down on the couch and held tight to the box. She’d been mad for so long over finding out she was adopted and then over her mother’s quick illness and death. But having met some of the Kellers had made her miss what she’d had. And, though it had been small, it had been her family.
Darcy opened the package and pulled out the contents. Her father had added family pictures, college transcripts, and important papers—such as her birth certificate.
She let out a slow, steady breath. She’d asked her father for the items before she’d secured the job with Benson, Benson, and Hart. The pictures had been a bonus and would look wonderful on her walls.
As she held the birth certificate in her fingers, she thought about what a lie it was.
Her parents’ names were on that piece of paper, but they hadn’t given birth to her. Someone else did, and she wanted to know who.
She ran her hands over her face. Why was she obsessing over this? Her parents loved her, and that should be enough. But didn’t every adopted child want to know who and why they were given up?