Sisters Found

FAITH Faith Butler hadn't seen her twin sister Hope since shortly after they'd arrived at the party celebrating Jake Whitelaw's impending marriage to their former English teacher Miss Carter. Not that Hope's entrance hadn't been noted by one and all. The afternoon gathering that was supposed to be held inside Miss Carter's two-story frame house had been moved into her backyard when a warm Chinook wind came through, making the mid-December afternoon feel like a summer day. Hope had stepped out onto Miss Carter's back porch dressed in a tight black skirt barely long enough for decency and a form-fitting, V-necked black cashmere sweater cut low enough to raise a man's heart rate. Ruby-red lipstick emphasized her full lips, and she wore enough mascara and eye shadow to dramatize a dozen dark, smoldering eyes. Faith knew her sister's outrageous behavior only stemmed from desperation and determination. Because the man Hope loved was about to marry someone else. Nonetheless, Hope's get-up had done the trick. She'd managed to attract the one pair of eyes she'd been hoping to snare. Jake Whitelaw hadn't been able to stop staring at her. Or maybe it was more honest to say glaring at her. Faith sighed loud enough to catch her boyfriend's attention. "What's wrong?" Randy asked. Faith reached for Randy's hand without noticing that she did so with the prosthetic device on the end of her left arm, where a hand was supposed to be--but had never grown. Randy Wright's total devotion over the past three years had made it possible for Faith to forget sometimes that she wasn't perfect, like her twin. "I wish Hope would give up and accept reality," Faith said. "Jake Whitelaw might be physically attracted to her, but--" "Might be?" Randy said with a snort. "He practically paws the ground every time he lays eyes on her." Faith lifted an expressive black brow. "All right, he's got the hots for Hope. But he's going to marry Miss Carter." "It sure looks that way," Randy said, eyeing Jake, who stood with his arm around Miss Carter's slender waist. "Unless somebody does something fast." "Hope has done everything she can to make herself into a potential wife for Jake. She raced through college in three years to get her degree in computer science from Baylor this past summer. And she's spent the past two summers traveling the world and experiencing as much of life as she can. But--" "But she can never catch up to him, because he's lived too much longer than she has," Randy finished for her. Faith sighed again. Jake Whitelaw might be only eighteen years older than Hope, but he was ages older in life experience. She didn't understand her sister's attraction to the older man, but Hope had fallen head-over-ears for Jake years ago, and was still tumbling even now. "So what are you going to do to help her out?" Randy asked. "What can I do?" Randy grinned. "You might have acted like the shy sister growing up, but I know better. Whenever you want something and go after it, you get it. So, I ask again, how are you going to help Jake discover that he belongs with Hope?" "Do they belong together?" Faith asked skeptically. "Look at Jake," Randy said. "His gaze is constantly searching out Hope. And his behavior with Miss Carter is anything but loverlike." "Oh," Faith said as she watched Jake's eyes scan Miss Carter's backyard, even though Hope was nowhere to be seen in the crowd. His arm was linked around Miss Carter's waist, but they stood a good six inches apart. And although they were physically together, Miss Carter seemed to be talking to everyone except Jake. Faith watched as Hope appeared at one of the five entrances to the gazebo in the center of Miss Carter's backyard, laughing and flirting with one of Jake's hired hands. When Hope looked toward Jake to see if he'd noticed her, Jake quickly and carefully averted his eyes. Oh, Jake was attracted, all right. But it looked like he'd bJohnston, Joan is the author of 'Sisters Found', published 2008 under ISBN 9780373773299 and ISBN 0373773293.