The waiter came to their table and said, “Champagne from the table over there.”
Hazel looked at the bubbly glass and then glanced over to where the waiter indicated and did a double-take. Ruston was sitting at another table with a red-haired woman, but she was sure he was still sitting across from her.
“Shit,” Ruston muttered as the couple came over. Most of the time when he let swear words fly, she loved it. But not today.
“I told him to leave you alone, Rusty. He doesn’t listen to me,” the long-haired redhead said.
“Hazel, this is Ashley, who is Thomas’s sister and also married to my brother Randy. Mom told you?” Ruston got up and hugged the woman, and even the man before Hazel had to be hugged by them as well.
“That she did.” Randy looked at Hazel’s shocked face. “Did you tell her you have a twin?”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t think I would see him,” Ruston said through gritted teeth.
“Sorry, Rusty,” Ashley said again and patted him on his back.
“Are you okay, Hazel?” He squeezed the hands. Her mind was racing. Why had he never told her? The topic came up all the time.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” Ruston said, his fingers rubbing her hands, trying to calm her.
Ashley squatted down next to her chair and rubbed her back. “It’s a shock, I know. They do look a lot alike. I don’t notice it since I’ve known them my entire life.”
“It’s not that, Ash. She also had a twin,” Ruston told her.
“It’s okay, just a shock. I’ve never been on the other end of the twin surprise.” Hazel breathed, calming herself. Calm breaths.
Not that she and Hanna had many opportunities to surprise people. They had rarely left town, and everyone there knew them. Looking back on it, she didn’t think it was something they had ever done. Even trading places had been rare.
“Maybe we can have some twin surprises at the wedding. Two sets in one place,” Randy said with a smile and rested his hand on his wife.
Hazel pulled her hands from Ruston’s and put them on her lap. “My twin is dead.”
“I’m sorry.” Ashley hugged her, despite her turning completely bristly toward them.
These people were too friendly. She was sad, but she knew she wouldn’t cry at the mention of Hanna. Randy and Ashley pulled up chairs and ordered when the waiter came by. Having dinner with his brother was fun. Randy loved to tease Ruston about everything, and Ashley had known them all their lives. Hazel just took it in and let them handle the conversation.
“So, Mom says you have a son?” Randy asked her with interest.
“Yes, John Henry is four,” she told him.
“Where you twelve when you had him?” Ashley asked and punched her lightly in the shoulder.
“No, I was twenty. I don’t look that young,” Hazel argued. Yes, she was always carded, but she was not that young-looking.
“Keep telling yourself that,” Ashley said. “I had my first at nineteen, and now I look like I have three and am also raising his guy.” She pointed at her husband.
“Hey. Iamraised. My mom made sure of it,” Randy said to his wife in mock anger.
“No, you’re not,” Ashley told him with a grin.
Just then, Ruston got a phone call and excused himself as the couple continued to argue with each other. As Randy was pointing out how great he was in the kitchen, he got a text.
“Sorry, Hazel, we have to go. Tell Rusty that we love you, and he cannot let you go.” Hazel watched him get up quickly and pull his shocked wife away from their half-eaten meal on the table and then out the door. Outside the window, she saw Ashley start yelling at him. He was going to get it.
She had found she liked Ruston’s twin, though they were nothing alike besides the obvious. She was happy her twin was the better of the two. Turning away from the door, she saw him coming toward her. His eyes had lost the humor they had during the conversation with his family.
Once at the table, he said, “Let’s go, Haze. We have to get back.”
Panic set in immediately. “John Henry?”