Willow Spring by Toni Blake Read Free Book Online Page B

abused his power as a cop by turning on the blue lights and even the siren as he put the car back in drive and sped toward town.
    A nna tried to be cool in all aspects of life. Especially lately. It was easier that way, if you could just act confident, cool, and like you had it all together. And she was usually good at it—because until recently, she mostly had been someone who was confident and had it all together. Life had made her a pretty tough cookie in ways, and she’d learned that a little confidence could be a girl’s best friend.
    But then her mother had gotten sick a few months ago. And on her deathbed she’d confessed to Anna that she wasn’t really her mother. And as shocking as it had been, there had been some small part of Anna that wasn’t completely surprised, that had somehow always known there were parts of her life she wasn’t really aware of, vague memories that didn’t fit with who she was. And she’d maybe always known in the back of her mind that she should dig deeper into that, ask more questions, but . . . well, it had seemed crazy, and like the kind of thought that was easier to just push aside whenever it entered her head.
    And so at the moment, it didn’t matter how good she looked or how cool she wanted to be—she was nervous as hell. Because this was big. Bigger than big. And even if she hadn’t rolled into the town of Destiny entirely discreetly—could she help it if she drove a fabulous car?—she’d thought she’d have time before she’d be confronted with her real family. In fact, she’d thought she’d be the one doing the confronting. She’d planned to go into town hall and quietly inquire about the Romo family. Maybe see if she could get a phone number, an address. And then she’d gather the next bit of courage she needed to contact them.
    Yet instead, somehow, these people had miraculously recognized her—something she’d never even imagined happening. And now—now a police car was barreling around a corner and screeching to a halt in the middle of the street, siren blaring and lights blazing, and the guy she’d been talking to was saying, “It’s Mike.” And given that she thought she had vague, fond memories of someone named Mike from when she was very young, she now began to feel overwhelmed, bordering on terrified.
    “Okay,” was all she could manage, wondering if her fear showed on her face.
    That was when the nice girl with the guy said, “Don’t worry. I’m sure this isn’t how you envisioned this, but Mike loves you more than anything.”
    Okay, so it showed. And Mike loved her more than anything. And that should be reassuring—yet it also felt pretty weird, considering that she didn’t even know him.
    And then, there he was, this large, dark-haired man in a beige police uniform rushing toward her, stopping in front of her, looking her over the same way the other two had—but after a few seconds, that began to matter much less than the fact that she could see, clear as day, that this was her brother. He looked like her. Uncannily. And then their eyes met—his eerily familiar, like staring in a mirror—and he said “Anna?”
    All she could do was nod.
    He appeared utterly in awe for a minute, like she was amazing, and then he said, “My God. Can I hug you?”
    And somehow, the look in his eyes made that feel okay. So she gave another short nod.
    And then his arms were around her in an embrace that was at first shockingly gentle—more gentle than she might have suspected this particular man could hug—but then it grew more fierce. Though she didn’t mind that either, because as strange as it all was, she was beginning to feel, deep down inside, down in her very core, exactly what she’d hoped to by coming here: that she’d really, truly come home.
    After that, there were obvious questions. “Where have you been all this time?” “How did you find us?” And she began the story as best she could, even when a small crowd slowly began to