Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (24 page)

“This-This
seems so surreal,” Leigh Anne insisted. Her troubled face scrunched with worry.
“This is more like something out of a movie, than my own life. It is hard to
fathom that these are people I know, people I invited into my home… people I
trusted! And to think they meant my Maggie harm!”

Kenzie
debated on telling her grandmother what she knew, but there had been too many
secrets in both their lives, too much trickery. In a low voice, she admitted a
terrible truth to her grandmother. “Bernard Franks was responsible for our
mother’s death.”

“What!”

“I-I
don’t know the details. I have no idea why only Makenna and our mother were in
San Antonio. But before he died, Franks bragged that he was responsible for the
accident.”

Leigh
Anne dropped her face into her hands and sobbed quietly. After a moment,
Makenna draped her arms around her shoulders and hugged her. When Leigh Anne
reached out her arm, beckoning Kenzie to come near, Kenzie hesitated. A part of
her longed to be held in the embrace of her grandmother, but the concept was so
foreign to her.
That woman
who raised her had been so stiff and
impersonal; shows of affection were awkward for Kenzie.

In
the end, Kenzie could not resist. With a little whimper of defeat, she slid out
of her chair and fell to her knees beside her grandmother. The three women
hugged for the first time in twenty-three years. The moment was poignantly
sweet, and long overdue.

“I’m
so sorry,” Leigh Anne whispered fervently. “I’m so sorry I could not find you
before now. But I looked. Please know I looked for you!”

Kenzie
merely nodded, while Makenna whispered her own sentiments. “I’m so sorry for
all the years we lost! But we’ve finally found each other again, and that’s the
important thing.”

“It’s
nothing short of a miracle,” Leigh Anne insisted.

“If
only our mother was still alive…”

After
a fresh round of tears, the women pulled apart and Makenna passed around a box
of tissues. With trembling laughter, they sniffed and mused at the sight they
made. Wiping away smeared mascara and streaked make-up, they finally declared
each other presentable.

They
were still patting their hair into place when the doorbell rang.

“Who
on earth…?” Makenna wondered aloud. She glanced at her sister. “Craven?”

She
shook her head. “I-I doubt it.”

“It
may be Harry,” Leigh Anne said. With a worried glance down at her gold Fendi
wristwatch, she grimaced. “I didn’t realize how late it was.”

“He
knows you’re here?” The thought disturbed Kenzie; she was not ready to face the
man just yet. She needed time to absorb the fact that he was her biological
grandfather before she saw him again.

Another
thought floated through her mind and hit her with staggering force. While doing
the photography session in the Lawrence’s home in New Hampshire, the Senator
had proudly boasted of his family, showing her a framed photograph of his
brood. She recalled him saying he had over a half dozen grandchildren.

She
had cousins. Aunts and uncles and cousins. She had a family.

Tears
pricked Kenzie’s eyes again as emotions crowded into her throat. She almost
missed Leigh Anne’s admission that no, she had not told her husband where she
was headed off to.

While
Leigh Ann fretted over unnecessarily worrying the Senator, Kenzie jumped to her
feet and went to the door. She needed to put space between her tumbling
emotions and the woman whose startling revelations had set them a-spin. She
glanced through the peephole, saw the officer on the other side, and opened the
door with confidence.

“Makenna
Reagan?” A smiling courier stepped up from beside the officer, holding up a
single red rose.

“Just
a sec.” Kenzie turned toward the living room and called her sister to the door.

“I
don’t understand…” Makenna said, clearly confused as she took the flower. It
had a simple white tag dangling from its stem with the letter ‘I’.

“Sorry,
I was just told to deliver this,” the girl shrugged apologetically.

Makenna
murmured a distracted thanks and shut the door. She barely had time to turn
away when the bell rang again. This time a young man stood on the other side
bearing another rose, this one with a tag that said ‘am’.

“What
is going on? Who sent these?”

“No
idea, miss. Just making my deliveries.”

Makenna
poked her head out into the hall, but Officer Larza was the only person there.
He raised his eyebrows in question and shrugged his shoulders, before she could
even ask what was going on.

She
made it halfway into the living room before the doorbell rang a third time. A
different girl offered the rose that bore the word ‘sorry’. Seeing the
sentiment melted Makenna’s heart and brought tears to her eyes.
Hardin
,
her soul sang happily.

Each
time the door closed, another rose appeared, each with a single word attached.
The same couriers rotated delivery of the next six roses that stated, one word
at a time, ‘Please forgive me. I’m a fool’.

Kenzie
brought a vase and helped her sister arrange the flowers in a semblance of
order. Makenna was laughing by the time she opened the door and admitted all
three couriers at once, this time with roses that said the most precious of
words: ‘I’, ‘love’ and ‘you’.

Leigh
Anne and Kenzie stood back and watched Makenna as she put the final roses into
the vase. A full dozen of the red beauties, all with their precious tags
attached. Makenna’s face was glowing with happiness when the doorbell rang yet
once again. With a gleeful laugh, she swung the door open.    

Another
dozen of roses was thrust into her face, arranged artfully in a cut-glass vase.
A white satin sash draped across the greenery, with more words spelled out in
glittering silver and gold. Pure gold was never more valuable than the words
she read now: ‘Marry me’.

Tears
blurred her vision, but Makenna was fully aware of the bouquet lowering, down
enough to reveal the most amazing and intensely blue eyes she had ever seen.

“Hardin!”
With no thought at all to the cost of -or the destruction to- the beautiful
roses he held, Makenna flung herself against him. He caught her with his free
hand and crushed her to his side as she threw her arms around his neck. She
fought a spiky leather leaf fern for his lips, not caring that florist greens
flavored the kiss. All she tasted was Hardin.

He
gave a low growl and thrust the bouquet aside, releasing the entire thing so
that he could sweep Makenna into his arms.

Sensing
what was about to happen, Kenzie rushed in and made a diving rescue to catch
the roses mid-air as they fell. The kissing couple never noticed her impressive
save, but a glance over her shoulder confirmed that her grandmother, at least,
appreciated the amazing feat.

Locked
in one another’s arms, Makenna and Hardin never knew when Kenzie straightened
to her full height, adjusted the crooked bouquet, and tiptoed silently back
into the apartment. She shut the door behind her, allowing them a moment of
privacy. Even the officer on duty had vanished.

“Makenna.”
Hardin breathed her name against her lips. He could not get close enough, could
not bear to allow even the space of a word to come between them. Even then, Makenna
was pulling him nearer, trying to fit his skin into hers.

“God,
I missed you,” he growled. Between kisses, against her lips and the tender skin
of her neck, around the overwhelming love that stole both their breaths away,
he muttered more words in a voice thick and hoarse. “I was going mad without
you. What was I thinking?”

“Yes.”
The word was little more than a weak breath that feathered against his ear as
he nuzzled her neck.

“I
can’t live without you,” he ground out.

“Yes.”
This time, she managed the word with more strength.

“I
love you.”

“Yes,”
she breathed, as he kissed her again. “Yes,” she repeated, struggling to remain
coherent. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Her
words finally penetrated Hardin’s fogged mind. He pulled his head back, just
far enough to peer down at her. “When?” he demanded.

Soft,
feminine curves begged to mold around the hard angles of his body. It was
difficult to think, when their bodies were carrying on a conversation all their
own.

“Set
the date,” she promised. “Next week. Tomorrow.” She swallowed his kisses.
“Right this minute.”

“Makenna.”
He leaned his forehead into hers, blowing warm air over her face as he released
a sigh. “I’m sorry, baby. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Can
you forgive
me
? I was the one who-”

“Shh.
It doesn’t matter who did or said what. I don’t care what happened in the past,
as long as I have a future with you.”

“Oh,
Hardin, I was so miserable without you!” Makenna threw her arms around his neck
as she began to cry.

“Shh,
baby, no more crying. We both did enough of that.” His big hands were warm as
they came up to her waist and pulled her close. “I love you, Makenna,” he
whispered in a voice rough with emotion.

“I
love you. So much. So very, very much.” She put her hands on his cheeks and
stared into his incredibly blue eyes, willing him to see the truth in her gaze.

Hardin’s
eyes darkened to an intense shade.
The exact color of desire,
Makenna
thought, as he pressed proof of that desire against her. When her body melted
around his, she said regretfully, “We have company.”

“Get
rid of them,” he growled, nuzzling her neck.

“Okay,”
she agreed mindlessly. Then, as she grabbed for a wisp of sanity as it floated
by, “No! I can’t. My- My grandmother is here.” Her lips faltered around the
word.

“Granny
Maybelle? Or Grandma Reagan?”

“Neither.
Grandma Leigh Anne,” she said, knowing he would not understand. She barely did.

“Huh?”

“It’s
a long story. I still have trouble wrapping my head around it, but I know it’s
true.”

“Babe,
I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe we should go inside.” For the
first time, Hardin realized the roses were gone. He glanced around in
confusion. “What happened to the flowers?”

Makenna
peeked over his shoulder and frowned. “I-I’m not sure. But listen, I need to
tell you something before we go in. Today I-I met my biological grandmother. My
mother’s mother.”

“You
did? That’s awesome, babe! How did that happen? Did you find some connection
while you were in New Hampshire?” Just for a moment, his eyes darkened as he
recalled her deception, but she saw the determined way he pushed the thoughts
aside and concentrated on her news. Her heart warmed at the effort he was
making to forgive her so completely.

“You
might say that,” she admitted. “Hardin, you are never going to believe this,
but our grandparents… my grandmother… my grandmother is Leigh Anne Lawrence.”

“I
know that name,” he murmured, running it through his mind. “Leigh Anne
Lawrence.” Recognition dawned upon him and registered as surprise in his blue
eyes. “But… that means…”

“Yes,
I know,” Makenna sighed wearily. “That means Harry Lawrence is my grandfather.”

For
Kenzie, the next evening was a bit surreal; she was having dinner with her
grandparents. It was something she never thought possible.

“I’m
nervous,” Makenna confessed as they entered the restaurant. It was an upscale
steakhouse near the Capitol, where the maître d’ led them to a private dining
room. “Do you think we’re dressed okay?”

Kenzie
was wearing her royal blue silk dress, the one that hugged her torso before
falling in flattering folds around her hips. She recalled the last time she had
worn it, when Travis had dropped in unexpectedly just before she left on a
date. That night, the air cast encircling her leg dampened the overall effect
of the waltz-length dress, but she had still managed to render the Ranger
speechless. Remembering the warm look in his eye gave her confidence tonight,
even if it did leave an odd ache in her chest.

“I
think you look beautiful,” she told her sister. Makenna was wearing a similarly
styled dress in dark emerald green, the perfect shade to highlight the auburn
glow hidden within her curls.

“Thanks,
Ken. I think the Mandarino sisters clean up quite nicely, if I do say so
myself.” She paused at the doorway and turned toward her twin. They
automatically touched their palms to one another, glancing at the other as if
to check their reflection in a mirror. “Let’s do this.”

Harry
and Leigh Anne Lawrence were already seated and waiting for them at the
elegantly appointed table. Although a handful of tables were scattered
throughout the room, the exclusive dining area was empty except for their party
of four.

The
Senator stood as they approached, a smile touching his handsome face and
warming the cool gray of his eyes. The first time Kenzie had seen him, she had
thought him too nearly perfect to be sincere; even at his age, he was tall and
imposing with an excellent physique and perfectly styled silver-tipped hair.
Even his teeth were a dazzling white, as revealed by a most charming smile.
Handsome and dignified with a pleasant speaking voice, Kenzie’s first thought
was that Harry Lawrence made the perfect politician.

Makenna’s
first impression of their grandfather was that he made an excellent companion
for his wife of forty-six years. Harry was as handsome and dignified as Leigh
Anne was elegant and lovely. Noting the way he laid a protective hand upon his
wife’s shoulder, Makenna warmed to her grandfather instantly.

“Kenzie!”
His voice was warm with affection as he thrust his hand toward the twin he
knew. When she put her hand in his, he covered it with his other large palm and
cocooned her in a warm handshake. Turning to the woman he had yet to meet in
person, his eyes crinkled with pleasure. “And you must be Makenna. It is indeed
a pleasure to meet you at last.”

“I’m
sorry if I seemed ungrateful when we spoke on the phone.” Makenna cringed when
she remembered how she had spoken to him that day, insisting that he take the
car back. He had listened to her vehement refusal to accept his generosity,
praised her determination to be self-sufficient, and then flatly but politely
refused to reclaim the vehicle. She had driven it to the restaurant tonight, in
fact.

“I
was most impressed with your arguments and your integrity. You quoted your
sister almost verbatim.” His eyes twinkled with merriment as he pulled chairs
out to seat his granddaughters.

“You
girls look absolutely lovely tonight!” Leigh Anne beamed at them.

Harry
eyed them warmly. “They remind me of Maggie, the night she went to prom with
that Miller boy. Wasn’t her dress something like theirs?”

“Yes,
I do believe it was, now that you mention it.”

“You
both look so much like your mother, it is a bit startling. If only she could
see you now…” In spite of his best efforts, his voice choked with emotion. “If
I could turn the clock back, I would do so many things differently.”

“Unfortunately,
life does not come with a rewind button,” Kenzie said with sage wisdom, but her
words were gentle.

The
waiter appeared with a wine list and a basket of hot, fluffy rolls, shifting
the subject to the lighter topics of favorite foods and wines. After a gourmet
meal enjoyed over easy conversation, the waiter brought a tray of assorted
desserts and a carafe of hot coffee.

“I
do admit to an ulterior motive with our meeting tonight,” Harry said as he
sipped his coffee. Kenzie stiffened but was not surprised. “Of course, my main
objective was to meet Makenna and to get to know both of you better. And I must
say, I could not be more pleased -or more proud- to know that you exceptional
women are my own flesh and blood.”

“Why,
thank you,” Makenna blushed.

Kenzie
remained silent, waiting for the ulterior motive to be revealed.

“But
now I have to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with
me. As you know, I am considering a bid for the White House. If I should get
the nomination, and especially if I should win the Presidency, there will be
many changes in store for me and my entire family.” Harry took his wife’s hand
in his, smiling at the love of his life. “I do not take my responsibilities as
a husband and father lightly. And being a grandfather has been the ultimate
highlight of my life.”

He
looked back at the twin sisters, his eyes warm and sincere. “I have asked this
question of every member of our family, and I have taken into consideration
each and every person’s response. So now, it is time to hear from the final two
members of my family. I want you to know your answers bear as much weight as my
other seven grandchildren’s. I would like to know if you have any reservations
about me running for President.”

Both
women were stunned. Kenzie was the first to recover. “You-You’re asking
us
?”

“Of
course. You are as much my grandchildren as your cousins are. Our relationship
is more fragile, in fact, so your opinion matters to me a great deal. If you
have any concerns, any reservations, any just cause why I should not run, I
will pull out of the race.”

“You
would do that for us?” Makenna asked in awe. “You barely know us!”

“I
was there when you were born, Makenna. Or shall I say Tamara? I was a part of
your life for almost two years. I missed out on the next twenty-something
years, but I do not intend to miss the coming twenty. If being President keeps
me from being your grandfather, I will put an end to my campaign right now.”

Kenzie
thought the words sounded a bit too practiced, a bit too polished, but they had
a wonderful ring to them, nonetheless. She slid her gaze to her sister, whose
face was shining with delight.

“How
would your Presidency affect us, exactly?” Kenzie asked quietly. Unlike her
sister, she was not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon for a Lawrence
Administration.

“Aside
from the aspect of the Press, which both of you are familiar with and actually
a part of, there should be little impact on your day-to-day life. During
campaign stops and visits to the White House, should I win, there could be the
occasional issue of personal protection and bodyguards. Nothing too obtrusive,
but the Secret Service would become a part of our lives. And naturally, my
accessibility would be limited. I would have world-wide obligations that would
demand a great deal of my time.”

“Speaking
of body guards,” Kenzie blurted out impulsively. “Why on earth do you have them
as a Senator?”

Her
grandfather had the grace to cringe. “I can assure you, I no longer have them.
That was one of Franks’ nuances. He convinced me they were necessary in this
day and age, but in retrospect, I realize they were more for his protection
than mine. I have quickly rectified that situation.”

“Okay,
sorry, just wondering.”

“Never
be sorry for asking a question. Do you have any others?”

“We’re
journalists,” she reminded him with a saucy grin. “Of course we have
questions!”

Harry
laughed. “Any that won’t end up in print?”

“Yes.
Will we be invited to the Inaugural Ball?”

“I
would be terribly hurt if you were not there to celebrate with the rest of our
family.” There was a twinkle in his eyes, much as there had been the first time
they met and he sparred with her unexpectedly. “That is, of course, if I should
win. I think we are both getting a little ahead of ourselves.”

“I
don’t think so,” Kenzie said with confidence. “If you decide to run, which we
all know you will, there is no doubt that you are going to win.”

“I
appreciate your confidence. Does that mean I have your blessing?”

“Blessing,
or vote?” she asked, with a brow arched high in feigned aloofness.

“Both,
I hope.” His answer was unabashedly honest.

“I’ll
have to hear more about your policies before I can promise you my vote. I don’t
agree with some of your views on politics, to be quite honest. But I will offer
you my blessing. If you want to run for President, I think you should.”

Her
candid reply obviously pleased her grandfather. “I would love to discuss
politics with you, my dear, but we’ll save that for a later date. And Makenna?
What about you? How do you feel about me running?”

“I
have to agree with Kenzie, on all accounts. I may not agree with all of your
political views, but I admire your desire to serve your country. If you decide
to run, I have no problem with it.”

“Thank
you, ladies,” he smiled. “I appreciate your support.”

“Emotional
support,” Kenzie quickly pointed out. She tipped her wine glass toward him.
“You’ll have to earn my ballot support.”

“Touché,
my dear.” His gray eyes sparkled. “Touché.”

***

“I’m
glad you brought me along,” Makenna said a week later, as they lunched at a
Fredericksburg eatery. They sat by a window so they could watch pedestrians
stroll along the picturesque sidewalks. Kenzie was on an assignment for the
magazine, getting shots for an upcoming issue highlighting German culture in
Texas.

“I
thought we could both use a breather, after such a hectic week.”

“I’m
sorry about this week, Kenzie. I’ve been so caught up in my own happiness that
I’ve been living in a little bubble. I’ve been selfish. Can you forgive me?”

“Oh,
please. You don’t have a selfish bone in your body,” Kenzie assured her twin.

“Yes
I do. All I’ve thought about this week is me, me, me, and how happy I am.
Hardin and I are planning our wedding, my parents and my biological
grandparents are getting along wonderfully, I have some sense of closure about
our mother, our guard detail has let up, and so far, no one from the press has
made the connection between us and this Modern Power fiasco. Oh, and Kate loves
the articles I’ve turned in so far. But I’ve been so caught up in my own
happiness that I’ve forgotten it’s not the same for you. I’ve been very
insensitive, going around glowing while you’re still in such turmoil.”

Kenzie
gave a breezy wave of her hand. “I’ve been getting my shine on by proxy,”
Kenzie assured her. “I’m thrilled for you, Kenna, you know that. And just
because things aren’t as bright for me right now, that doesn’t mean they’ll
always be that way. My time’s coming.”

“And
soon, I hope. Hardin says Travis nearly has his case all sewn up.”

Kenzie
nodded. “At least the undercover part of it is over and I don’t have to worry
so much about his safety. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean he has more time on
his hands. What with the paperwork and red-tape and all, he still barely has
time to call.”

Makenna
dipped a chunk of spicy kielbasa into the cheddar and beer fondue they were
sharing, stringing a yellow liquid thread all the way to her mouth. “This is
delicious, but messy,” she said, smearing more with her napkin than she
actually cleaned off her face.

“You’ve
got a smudge…” Kenzie advised, touching the corresponding spot on her own
cheek. Her eyes trailed past her sister, drawn to the flat screen television on
the wall. “Oh, great. Another news conference.”

Makenna
twisted in her seat to see Harry Lawrence taking center stage behind the
microphone. “Poor guy,” she sighed. “You know he has to be sick to death of all
the questions.”

“Are
you kidding? Have you seen the latest polls? All this attention has been great
for his campaign. He’s got like a thirty point lead in the polls, and he hasn’t
even made a formal bid yet.”

“It’s
crazy, isn’t it?” Makenna murmured. “To think that our
grandfather
might
actually be President of the United States.” Another yellow thread dripped its
way from the fondue pot to her mouth.

“We’ll
have to brush up on our dining etiquette, that’s for sure,” Kenzie giggled,
fishing out a chunk of smoked turkey from the cheesy confection. When she
finally retrieved it, she used her fingers to pop it into her mouth, foregoing
the slippery stick from which it slid. “They probably don’t serve something as
messy as fondue at the White House.”