Page 73 of Freedom's Kiss
Chapter 30
Present Day, Florida
Olivia eyed the laptop sitting on top of her tufted duvet cover as she pulled a brush through her hair. She winced when the brush snagged on a knot, and she rubbed the sore spot on her head. She glanced at her watch. Her shift started in forty-five minutes. She eyed the computer. A little multitasking wouldn’t put her behind schedule, and she could browse and scroll through the forums while she finished throwing her hair in a braid, brushed her teeth, and tied her shoes.
Decision made, she let the hairbrush dangle from the tangled mess on the side of her head and opened the top of her computer. It booted up, and she typed in her password. The adoption forum she’d been on last popped onto her screen. She hit Refresh and worked on the knot in her hair as the little loading signal swirled.
Her life had become a series of long shots. Getting a judge to sign off on releasing her original birth certificate—long shot. Finding any of her biological family through the reunion database—long shot. The most recent? Scouring adoption forums and posting like a child with a lost pet. Any identifying information she had on herself went up. Black hair, dark-brown eyes, five-foot-five inches in height. What she believed to be her birth date. Place of birth. She even posted a picture of herself and the DNA results Lily had gotten for her. If they still put lost persons on the side of milk cartons, she’d probably try that long shot as well.
So far no one had contacted her, and she hadn’t come across anyone else in the forums who seemed to be looking for a woman matching her description. Just a lot of other people who were searching around in the dark, all lights turned off by the judicial system.
The page reloaded, and two new entries began at the top of the thread. She read through them as she parted her hair in three strands and wove them together, tying off the braid at the end and letting it settle down the middle of her back. Her heart ached for the mother looking for her two boys she’d given up for adoption in the late seventies. The mother vowed she’d never give up until she found them. Olivia sent up a prayer on the woman’s behalf. The other entry wasn’t promising either. Another mother also searching for sons.
Olivia sighed as she stood and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and let the water run over her toothbrush before squeezing a small dab of blue toothpaste on the bristles. Treading back to her bed, she plopped down and clicked on another open window and refreshed the page again. Her toothbrush nearly fell out of her mouth as her browser loaded and she read the heading of a new email:I think you’re my sister.
Heart pounding, she clicked on the email, toothbrush dangling from parted lips and minty foam gathered at the edges. She devoured the torturously short note and then read it again.
Hi! I saw your post on the adoption forum last night and couldn’t believe it! I think you’re my sister! I’ve been looking for you since our mom, Charlotte, told me about you two years ago. I’m attaching a picture of me. Don’t we look alike! I’m not basing our sibling status on looks alone, but the info you posted on your date and place of birth as well as what you know about your DNA. I really want to meet you. Do you think that would be okay? I’m going to be at the Intertribal Powwow this coming weekend. Call me @ 238-9837 and we can set something up. I can’t tell you how excited I am!
Your Sister (I love the sound of that, don’t you?)
Amy Kinnard
Olivia bolted from her bed and ran to the bathroom, toothpaste shooting from her mouth and barely reaching the sink. She couldn’t believe it. All these years as an only child, begging her parents for a little brother or sister, wishing on shooting stars and birthday candles, and now all those wishes were possibly coming true.
A sister. Her breaths came in rapid succession as she tried to simultaneously hold out hope that this Amy Kinnard really and truly was her sister while also maintaining a cautious balance that this girl could very wellnotbe related to her at all.
But if Amy was…
Could she have other brothers and sisters? The short note didn’t say anything about other siblings, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any, did it? Amy had mentioned a mother. Charlotte.
Olivia rolled the name around in her mind a few times, too nervous to actually say the name for fear this was all a dream that she’d wake herself up from. She loved the names, Amy and Charlotte Kinnard. But what of her father? Amy didn’t mention anything about a dad in her too-short email.
So many questions. So many possibilities. Only one way to find answers.
She swiped her phone from the porcelain counter and dialed.
“Good morning, Seaside restaurant. How may I help you?”
“It’s Olivia. Who’s the manager on duty?”
“Dale.”
Olivia grimaced. Katherine would’ve been an easier sell, but if she had to deal with Dale, she would. “May I speak to him please?”
“Gotta warn you, he’s in a bear of a mood.”
She worried her lip. “I’ll chance it.”
“Your funeral.”
Soft music danced over the line but did nothing to slow her throbbing pulse.
The music shut off with a click. “Yeah?”
“Dale, it’s Olivia. I’m supposed to be coming in for my shift in the next”—she glanced at her watch—“thirty minutes, but something has come up—an emergency—and I won’t be able to make it.”
“Are you sick? Something contagious that you’d pass on to our guests?”
