Page 38 of Chance
She was thoughtful for a long moment, her eyes clouded with memories of her own.Then she shook her head.“Social workers don’t wear flashy capes, but they are unsung heroes in many stories.They get overlooked and undervalued, but without them, I know Sanctuary wouldn’t be what it is today.Yes, donations went a long way.Our doctors and nurses and other staff are essential, but without my team of social workers, the road to get here would have taken us right off a cliff more than once.”
“I don’t imagine social work will be an easy career.I’m not looking for easy.Fortunately, I have the luxury of not having to worry about a high-paying job either.”William’s fortune was mine now.I hadn’t touched it yet, and I wasn’t sure if I ever would.That money felt tainted, covered in blood and tears and the ghosts of my own fears.“All I’m hoping for is the chance to make a difference.If that’s as an intern or a volunteer or something else, I am ready.”
“How upset would you be if I said I already did a full deep-dive background check on you?”she asked, tilting her head to the side.
“I would say I’m thankful you allowed me through your gates,” I replied honestly, my heart rate spiking.If she knew who I was, there was no way she would let me near her residents.Shame was like a chain around my neck, always there, getting so heavy at times it felt like it would suffocate me.
“Hm,” she murmured, her life-lesson-filled eyes glued to me.“Weirdly enough, my IT genius didn’t find much on Evelyn Adams when she did the preliminary check that everyone is subjected to before I approve them to work here.But my girl, she’s a curious little genie.She went searching before I gave her the green light.Unbeknownst to me, she had a very interesting weekend playing detective.”
Keeping my face blank, I sat there quietly, waiting.
“Vaughn and my genie are sort of mortal enemies.He did a very good job of hiding your identity, as expected.He likes to think he’s the world’s top hacker.”
“Dark-web king,” I corrected, and we both shared a grin before I blanked my face again.
“I’ll be sure and relay that back to Genie.She is equally skilled, but she’s skeptical of him.Until Vaughn married Abi, I was too.Now Genie and Vaughn are distantly related in a weird, found-family kind of way.Let’s call them cousins-in-law.”
“Okay,” I agreed, not having the faintest clue what she meant.Found family wasn’t a term I was familiar with.
“Still unbeknownst to me at the time, Genie made a few calls and asked Abi to pretty please make her husband share information on you and your sister.”Gracie smirked, shaking her head.“That’s how I’m telling myself the conversation went.I can’t represent Genie in a court of law if I know exactly what she said and/or did to convince Abi to share.All that matters is that she did.”
“Okay.”
She leaned forward, her eyes locking with mine as she gently touched the back of my hands that were folded in my lap.“Only Genie knows the full details of what Vaughn reluctantly supplied to her.I got the bare necessities.Are you a threat to my residents or family?No.Would you make a vital member of my team?Yes, I think you would.”
Releasing the breath I’d been holding, I swallowed back my tears.“Knowing who my father was, the evil he was capable of, you still think I might be vital to your team?”
“Who a person shares DNA with doesn’t mean anything to me.I’ve seen too much in this world to hold the sins of the father against the innocent.Now that we have that out of the way,” she said, sitting back in her chair for the first time.“Let’s discuss the important parts.I was thinking you could start working as an assistant in Sanctuary’s social work department, Tuesdays through Thursdays.It’s mostly answering the phone, keeping files up-to-date, and helping with a few scheduling matters.It might not sound like much, but I’m warning you now, it’s not easy keeping up.”
The first tear spilled over.“You’re serious?”
“It’s only three days a week for now, if you’re interested in the part-time position.But you would be working directly with my social workers as their assistant, not interning.I don’t actually have an internship program, although I plan on changing that.Perhaps you could help me build one, something that focuses on the administration side that works with the courses you need to finish your degree.”
“Yes!”I half yelled.Covering my mouth, I blinked wide eyes at Gracie, who gave me a soft laugh.Dropping my hands back into my lap, I spoke at what I hoped was a normal volume.“Yes, please.To all those things.This is more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
She stood and held out her hand to me once again.“Welcome to Sanctuary, Evie.We’re happy to have you joining our family.”
Chance
Slammingthe door to my truck in a rush, I jogged across Aggie’s parking lot.As soon as I was through the door, I was looking for Evie.She’d refused to talk to me all weekend.Reid kicked me out of her apartment and emphatically informed me I wasn’t welcome back until either Everly or Evie said otherwise.
That was Saturday night.
Now it was Wednesday evening, and I was dying to see my peaches.
An hour before, I’d gotten a text from Everly, casually mentioning that she was going to dinner with Evie, along with the time and place.Two minutes later, she sent another message.
Everly: Shit.Sorry.Wrong person.Meant to send that to Reid.My bad.
Whether she meant to send it to me or not, I was thankful she’d given me a heads-up.I’d still been at work, but I’d finished up what I was doing, grabbed my gear, and hauled ass the fifty-two miles from the project site to Aggie’s.
It was the dinner rush, and as usual, there wasn’t an empty table in the diner.Evie and her twin were easy enough to spot.Matching hair, makeup, and outfits, they were beautiful carbon copies.They sat at a booth, facing each other.I swallowed a curse, trying to figure out which one was which without the extra help of their scent.I needed to know who was who before I got to them, or I’d be in even more trouble with my girl.Mistaking her sister for her again would be another strike against me.
Sweat beading on the back of my neck, I scanned them both.It was impossible to simply look at them like this and instantly know which twin was which.But I’d paid attention to Evie’s mannerisms.She wasn’t as comfortable around people as her sister was.There was a stillness to her that gave her more of an ethereal aura than Everly possessed.Her shoulders tended to be a little more straight, stiff, as if someone had programmed her to have perfect posture at all times.
She hadn’t said it, but I could guess it was one of those things from her dad that haunted her.
Evie and her sister had caught the attention of a few other tables.On their own, they could stop traffic, but together, dressed exactly the same from head to toe, they were enough to start a damn war.Before I could reach their table, a guy sitting directly across from them stood up and strutted over to them.
