Don't Say a Word - Barbara Freethy [130]
"This is my sister," Elena said quickly.
"I thought you didn't have any family."
"We've been separated for a long time. I need to take a break. Can you watch the store, Colin?"
Colin couldn't take his eyes off Julia. "She looks exactly like you, except your hair is longer."
"I know. I'll explain later. And I'll be upstairs if you need me." She turned to Julia. "My apartment is on the second floor. We can talk there."
Julia nodded. As Elena mounted the stairs, her limp became more pronounced, reminding Julia that Elena had suffered more than one loss in her life. They had so much to discover about each other, and Julia wanted to know everything.
Elena's apartment was not as stuffed with items as her shop, but it was still warm and cluttered, with knickknacks and colorful but mismatched furniture.
"I wasn't expecting anyone." Elena grabbed a basket of laundry off the couch. "Just sit down somewhere," she said as she headed toward the bedroom.
Julia glanced at Alex. "Well, what do you think?"
"I would have recognized her anywhere," he said with a smile. "It's hard to believe there really are two of you. Double the fun."
She sighed at that. "Let me know when we start having fun. I feel so unsettled. My stomach is churning. I don't even know how to explain it all to Elena."
"You'll find a way."
Julia hoped he was right.
When Elena returned, they sat down together in the large room that seemed to serve as living room and dining room, with a small kitchenette off to the side. After a moment, Julia said, "Why don't you start first, Elena. Tell me what happened to you when you got to the States."
Elena stared down at her hands, clasped tightly together in her lap. "I went to a foster home, the O'Rourkes'. I lived there for three years, I think. Then they got divorced and couldn't be foster parents anymore, so I was sent to another home. That's pretty much the way it went for the rest of my childhood. I was moved every couple of years for one reason or another. It was not a happy time for me. The only place I loved was ballet class. No matter where I lived, I always managed to talk my way into a class by either trading chores for the teacher or begging a lot. When I was fifteen, I got into a bad situation at one home, and I ran away. I hid out at the ballet academy where I had taken some lessons. Mrs. Kay found me. She took me in, became my foster parent, and helped me become a dancer." She paused, a dark shadow crossing her face. "Now I run an antique store. Your turn."
Julia knew Elena had left out a lot of her life, but it was enough for a start. "I was raised as Julia De-Marco. My mother, Sarah, never told me I was adopted, and as I said before, I didn't remember anything but the story she constructed for us. She married an Italian man, Gino DeMarco, when I was five. They had a baby girl named Elizabeth. We grew up together. I never thought I was anything but a member of the family, until I saw a photograph of a famous Russian orphan girl. I thought it was a picture of me. It was taken by Alex. I started researching the photo, and it turns out it wasn't me at all. It was you."
"I was in a famous picture?" Elena asked, her eyes wide and surprised once again.
"It was at an orphanage," Julia explained. "I guess we were put there until we could be smuggled out of the country."
"An orphanage?" Elena echoed.
"Yes. Your hands were on the gates, and-"
"Wait." Elena suddenly straightened. "The day was cold and gray. I wanted to go home. I didn't know where you were. I asked everyone I saw, even a boy who came over and took my picture," she finished. "I remember that now. That was you, Alex?"
He nodded. "You said something to me, but I didn't understand. I just knew there was a look in your eyes I wanted to capture."
"I was scared. I didn't know where I was or what I was doing there." She turned to Julia. "What was I doing there? And where were you?"
"I think I was there, too," Julia replied. "We were both there because our parents were important Russians, and they were planning to