Read Susanna's Dream: The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley, Book Two for Free Online Page B

She sat and stared, the cup seeming forgotten in her hand. The deep blue of her eyes had grown even darker.
    “Susanna, did you hear me? Lydia and I are your sisters.” Still no response. “I . . . I guess I shouldn’t have blurted it out. We were adopted—you, and Lydia, and me—after our parents died in a van accident.”
    Susanna shook her head slowly. “This can’t be true. I would know. Mamm and Daad would have told me.”
    “I’m not sure why they didn’t.” She’d have to tread carefully around that part of it. “Lydia is the oldest. She was five when it happened. She had a head injury, and she doesn’t remember anything from before the accident. She was adopted by our father’s brother and his wife. She knew about our parents, but they didn’t tell her about her little sisters.”
    A hint of a spark came into Susanna’s eyes, her expression growing more normal. Still, she shook her head. “It is some sort of mistake. I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. I have no sisters.”
    The words hit Chloe like a slap. At least Susanna wasn’t jumping to the instant conclusion that this was all a scam, the way she had when Seth had told her. Maybe a woman raised Amish wouldn’t think that way.
    “Lydia found out quite by accident. Her adoptive parents told her the whole story then. Relatives and friends had rushed to the place out in Ohio where the accident happened. We three were in different hospitals, and I guess there was a lot of confusion. In the midst of that, our Englisch grandmother, our mother’s mother, took me away.” She tried to keep her voice clear of bitterness. “She never told me the truth about my family.”
    Susanna’s gaze finally focused on Chloe’s face. Maybe she was starting to take it in. “How did you learn this story, then?”
    All she could do now was to forge ahead and hope for the best. “Once Lydia knew the truth, her first thought was to find us. An Englisch neighbor of hers, Seth Miller, offered to help locate me. He’s the one who came to Philadelphia to tell me.”
    “You’re telling me that is why Lydia came to my shop that first time? Because she believed I was her sister?”
    Chloe nodded, uneasily aware that their actions in befriending Susanna might be considered stalking in some circles. But well meant, after all. “Not just believed, Susanna. The bishop in Pleasant Valley confirmed everything. He told her where to find you.”
    Susanna set her cup on the table, as if buying time. “Then why didn’t she tell me this herself that first time? Why have you both been lying to me?”
    “Not lying,” Chloe protested, knowing it was feeble. “We were just trying to get to know you. We felt we shouldn’t disrupt your life when your mother was so ill.”
    Anger flared in Susanna’s face. “So you didn’t say anything when I could still ask my mamm about it. Instead you’ve left me with questions that can never be answered.”
    “I . . . I’m sorry if we did wrong. I know how upsetting it was for Lydia and for me to learn the truth. We wanted to find the right time.”
    Judging by the expression on Susanna’s face, this hadn’t been it. She should never have let herself be carried away by her impulsiveness. She should have waited and talked to Lydia first. Seth had been right, little though she wanted to admit it.
    Chloe took a step closer to Susanna, longing to touch her but not daring. “I just wanted you to know that you have a family who want to help you. That’s all.”
    Susanna wrapped her arms around herself in a protective gesture. “I don’t want help from strangers.” Her voice was tight, and she shook her head. “I can’t talk about this any longer. Please leave.”
    A dozen things she might say darted through Chloe’s mind. None of them would do any good. She’d failed.
    Blinking to hold back the tears that wanted to spill over, Chloe fled.
    * * *
    The only way Nate could keep his mother from stopping back at the shop that