Page 46 (1/2)

CHAPTER ONE

WHEN Rachel saw a silver Maserati careen around the bend of the narrow road and head straight for her, she yanked the steering wheel to the right, praying to avoid a collision

To her shock, the dark-haired, Italian-looking driver slowed down and waved, as if to thank her for getting out of his way

“You lunatic!” she shouted at him, and received a white smile for her effort before he cruised on

Craning her neck out the , she cried, “Lunatic!” But he’d sped up again and was out of sight before she could get her rental car started again

The incident had left her so weak, it took a h to continue on

Within five minutes she arrived in the little town of Thann, France, and found the hotel where she would be staying for the night

Before she freshened up and went out again, she had an important call to make But the fear of her twin sister’s rejection always put a knot in her stomach

Their estrangeic situation Rachel wanted to fix if she could find the courage Maybe this phone call could be the first step

Yesterday was the anniversary of their mother’s death Normally Rachel would have flown to New York to put flowers on the grave, but this year her work prevented it

To her relief the sexton at the cereed to accept the florist’s delivery and place the flowers against the headstone

If Rebecca had been able to visit the cemetery, she could tell Rachel if she’d seen the flowers After six rings she heard, “Rachel?”

So her sister was in New York…

“Hello, Rebecca” She sed hard “I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to reach you”

“I’ve been in Wyo, and only came here briefly on business What is it?”

“H-how are you?”

“I’ too? Or had Rachel just iined it “And you?”

“I’ well It never ell “By any chance did you notice sorave yesterday?”

“If you mean the potted rose tree, then yes”

“Oh, good”

After a tension-filled silence, “Is that all you wanted to know?”

Rachel clutched the receiver tighter No…it wasn’t all, but she didn’t knohere to begin

“Look, Rachel, I’o”

She nodded “So do I”

“Where are you?” Rebecca asked at the last second