Hopefully, they were finally coming around. Admittedly, the entire episode with Phillip was unnerving and like something out of an old soap opera, the kind my grandmother never missed—disenfranchised twin resurfaces to wreak havoc on the family who did him wrong.
If I could take my parents’ word, they both believed Phillip was Van. It wasn’t until after Van and I left the house and Arnold told my father what was happening that my dad was even suspicious. I couldn’t blame them. I was fooled too, at least on the surface.
Instead of facing my parents or the guests, Phillip slipped out shortly after us. When I asked Dad who else heard Arnold’s news, Dad said it was Marlin, confirming Van’s suspicions to me. The Butlers knew it was Phillip and tipped him off.
That was the news neither of my parents wanted to believe. As the evidence mounted against Marlin, my mom’s heels dug in, refusing to discuss that he and possibly Uncle Logan deserved any fault.
She had one point I couldn’t ignore. She asked why Marlin, as a major stockholder, would want to hurt Wade’s worth. The way my mother saw it, I missed the opportunity to right the wrongs of the last month. In one afternoon, I could have gotten Van out of Wade and married the man I’d vowed to love.
The thing was that I never vowed to love Skylar. I stopped it before it went that far.
I shook my head, thinking how she’d rather I were with Skylar than Van.
“More shoes,” Margaret said, pulling me from my thoughts.
The pile of suitcases and boxes we’d been unpacking was slowly getting smaller. It wasn’t everything I’d packed at my parents. There was more to be delivered, along with my car, but our current effort was a start.
“You don’t need to help me unpack,” I told Margaret for not the first time. When she turned, I smiled. “But I’m glad you are.”
“I don’t mind. You two were gone, and the house barely needed cleaning.”
I opened a heavy box as Margaret carried the box of shoes back to the master suite closet. Looking at the books and papers within, I sighed. “I think these should stay boxed up.”
When Margaret didn’t answer, I carried another garment bag to the closet. Pushing past the tall doors, I found Margaret sitting on the floor within, pulling shoe boxes out and stacking them by style. I shook my head as I looked around. “I feel bad taking up so much space.”
“Donovan wants you in here. I don’t think he’ll mind if he loses some closet space. His suits can touch one another. It isn’t a sin.”
Tugging my lip, I watched as the number of shoe boxes multiplied. It was as if Margaret was pulling them from Mary Poppins’s magic bag. “Where can we put them?”
Looking around, she laughed. “Okay, hear me out. This entire section”—she gestured— “with his casual clothes. Imagine that there’s a shoe rack or shelves and drawers for the unmentionables you brought from the other suite.”
I laughed. “I think we can mention them. You bought them.”
“I delivered them,” she said. “Donovan picked them out.”
Margaret stood and brushed her hands on her blue jeans. “Oh, and I saw this thing in one of Jonathon’s magazines. Instead of one clothes rack, it’s three. They rotate. I know it sounds odd, but it would work for slacks.”
I took a deep breath. “Sometimes, I wish things were easier.”
“I didn’t want to ask, but the curiosity is killing me. Why were the state patrol officers here?”
Shaking my head as I condensed Van’s suits from two racks to one, I debated mentioning Phillip. If I didn’t, I would be putting Margaret in the same situation that I’d been in if he came around. Sighing, I replied, “It’s a mess.”
“It sounded like it ended all right.”
“It did because it was a false alarm in the first place. Do you know anything about Van’s brother?”
Margaret’s lips came together as she contemplated my question. “I know a little.”
“I’m not digging. I think you should know.” I remembered that Margaret’s husband helped with the security. “Van is a twin, a triplet. But his brother is identical.”
Margaret nodded.
“You knew?”
“When we first met Donovan, there was family drama.” She shrugged. “I haven’t met his siblings.”
“I met Phillip.”