Caitlyn's heart raced. Her nephew was now as high as the goal, and he easily dropped the ball through the hoop. His team cheered as he landed on the cement.
She gave Howard an incredulous look. "Did you see that? He just jumped ten feet in the air!"
"Well, yeah. I told you he has some special skills."
"Like what? Flying?" She glanced out the window again. The guys were playing in a normal manner now, as if nothing strange had just happened.
A chill tickled the back of her neck. This was too weird. "Is this related to the reason my dad told me never to come here?"
Howard winced. "Please don't tell your father what you saw. He might reject Tino, and it would break the little guy's heart. Tino's a great kid - "
"Who can fly?"
Howard frowned as he opened the door. "It's not my place to say. Shanna will explain it to you."
Caitlyn glanced inside at the cheerful balloons and happy people. The chill on her neck skittered down her spine. It's just a birthday party for a little boy. No big deal. Then why did it feel like she was about to tumble down the rabbit hole?
It's an adventure. You love adventure. She squared her shoulders and strode into the cafeteria. It was a large room with glass walls on two sides, overlooking the courtyard, the basketball court, and landscaped gardens in the distance.
Howard motioned to the first table, which was laden with gifts, and she set her crumpled gift bag there. The next table boasted a punch bowl and trays of finger food. Across from it, a table held a large chocolate sheet cake with Happy Birthday, Constantine written in bright red icing. Another table was topped with tubs of ice containing bottles. Beer, she assumed, for the adults.
Finally, she reached the tables where people were sitting. All female, she noted as she searched for her sister. Her eyes widened at the sight of one woman with purple spiky hair. She estimated about ten women her age, all happily chatting with each other. A handful of younger girls sat with them.
But no Shanna.
"You must be Shanna's sister!" A beautiful brunette stood and hurried toward her.
"Yes. I'm Caitlyn." She smiled briefly as everyone at the tables hushed and looked at her.
"Where's Shanna?" Howard grumbled.
"She'll be right back," the brunette continued in a crisp British accent. "She's in the washroom, helping Heather. Both the twins needed their nappies changed." She grinned and extended a hand to Caitlyn. "It's so lovely to meet you. I'm Emma MacKay, Tino's godmother."
Did you know he can fly? Caitlyn refrained from asking the question out loud and shook the woman's hand.
"I'll head back to the security office," Howard grumbled.
"Thank you," Emma told him. "Be sure to come back later for a bit of cake."
"Will do." Howard smiled a farewell at Caitlyn, then lumbered from the room.
"Let me introduce you to everyone." Emma began calling their names, but there were too many for Caitlyn to keep up with at once. She smiled and waved as they all greeted her.
"And this is your niece." Emma moved behind a chair where a little girl was sitting. "Sofia, this is your Aunt Caitlyn."
"I'm happy to meet you, Sofia." Caitlyn's heart squeezed in her chest as the little girl gazed at her with wide blue eyes. She was beautiful. Her eyes were like Shanna's, but she must have inherited her black, wavy hair from her father.
"Hi," Sofia said softly, then glanced over her shoulder at Emma. "I thought you were my aunt."
Emma smiled and brushed the girl's hair over her shoulder. "I'm a pretend aunt. Caitlyn is your real aunt."
"I don't have any aunts," one of the other little girls muttered. "They were all killed."
Caitlyn's breath caught. She tried to recall the girl's name. She was one of Tino's classmates.
Emma moved over to the little girl and touched her shoulder. "Coco, I would love to be your aunt."
"Me, too." The woman seated next to Coco gave her a hug.
All the women echoed a desire to be Coco's aunt.
"Me, too!" Sofia cried. "I want to be an aunt."
Caitlyn smiled. Shanna was fortunate to have such caring friends. From the loving way they interacted with each other, it was obvious they were a close-knit group.
With a small jolt, Caitlyn realized these people were Shanna's family. They knew Shanna better than she did.
A twinge of annoyance needled her. She'd only been nine years old when Shanna had turned fifteen and taken off to a boarding school across the world. Caitlyn had sorely missed her only sister. She'd written letters, but never received a response. Shanna had simply left her family behind. And she'd acquired a new one.
Caitlyn knew she should be happy for her sister, but damn. Why hadn't she been good enough for Shanna? She'd spent most of her teenage years feeling lonesome and abandoned. It was clear her father didn't approve of Shanna or her new family. And he didn't even know the full story - that her son could fly.
"Here's Shanna now." Emma motioned to the double doors.
Caitlyn spun around, her heartbeat shooting to a fast pace. Tears threatened at the sight of her sister. Shanna was accompanying another woman, and each carried a baby.
Shanna still looked much the same, with her strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. She'd matured some, naturally, since Caitlyn had last seen her, but the years had only added a warm and beautiful glow.
Shanna's face lit up. "Caitlyn!" She rushed forward and passed the baby she was holding to Emma.
Caitlyn wasn't sure how to greet the sister she hadn't seen in years, but her awkward hesitation quickly passed when Shanna threw her arms around her in a big hug.
A few tears escaped as Caitlyn held her sister tight. It had been so long, but finally, she had her sister back.
"Look at you." Shanna leaned back and tears glistened on her cheeks. "You're all grown up. And so beautiful."
Caitlyn wiped the tears from her face. "I always thought you were the beautiful one. I missed you."
Shanna hugged her again. "Did you meet everyone?"
"Emma introduced me. Your daughter's precious.""I totally agree." Shanna grinned. "You need to meet the birthday boy, too. He's outside playing basketball."
And flying up to the hoop. Caitlyn needed to get her sister alone so she could ask a few pertinent questions.
"Oh, you haven't met Heather." Shanna motioned to the pretty redhead who was holding a squirming baby in her arms. "I was helping her with the twins, Jean-Pierre and Jillian."
"This is Jillian." Emma strapped the little girl into a high chair and handed her a cracker.
"They're adorable." Caitlyn admired the two dark-headed babies. "How old are they?"
"Eight months." Heather placed the little boy on the floor, and he shot off in a fast crawl. She sighed. "He'll be halfway back to Texas before the party's over."
The women laughed.
"I'll watch him." A young redheaded girl jumped to her feet and ran after the baby.
"Thank you, sweetie." Heather smiled at Caitlyn. "That's my daughter, Bethany, otherwise known as Assistant Mommy and Lifesaver."
"Older sisters are good to have." Caitlyn glanced at her sister. And really painful to lose.
Shanna blinked and gave her a curious look. "We don't have to be separated ever again."
Caitlyn gulped. Had Shanna read her mind? They'd been so close when young, always in tune with each other's thoughts and feelings that she'd often wondered if they shared some sort of odd connection. It was a few years after Shanna's departure that Caitlyn had realized the full extent of her own unique abilities. She'd written about it to Shanna, knowing her sister would understand, but there'd never been a response.
"Shanna was telling me about your family while we were in the restroom," Heather said. "You lived in a lot of foreign countries."
Caitlyn nodded. "Yes, we lived in Poland, Belarus, Latvia - all over that area."
"And Mom home-schooled us," Shanna added. "I swear, every time Caitlyn went out to play, a stray dog or cat would come up to her. Drove our mom crazy 'cause there were too many to keep, and she'd have to find homes for them."
Caitlyn smiled, remembering her favorite kitty, a solid black cat she'd named Mr. Foofikins. Now she understood why animals came to her, but at the time, in her youthful ignorance, she had assumed everyone could understand the noises made by their pets.
"And every time we moved to a new place," Shanna continued, "Caitlyn was the first to pick up the new language. She was incredible. I swear she could learn a language in a month."
Caitlyn's face grew warm as all the women expressed amazement.
Emma watched her closely. "Is it true you know over a dozen languages?"
Caitlyn nodded. She had an odd suspicion that Emma's interest in her was more than casual.
"How long does it take for you to learn a language now?" Emma asked.
Caitlyn hesitated before answering. "A few hours." Her face burned hotter when the ladies gasped. It wasn't like she'd mastered some fantastic skill. It was simply a weird gift she'd been born with. Once she'd figured out she was a psychic linguist, she'd honed the talent to her present level of expertise. It wasn't something she usually talked about, since most people refused to believe she could understand any language she heard. They either thought she was lying or loony.
"That must have been extremely useful for your job with the State Department," Emma observed. "They were wrong to let you go."
Caitlyn stiffened and glanced at her sister, who stepped closer and lowered her voice. "I told Emma you were looking for employment."
"How did you know?" The State Department had done a good job of hushing up her big mistake.
"I called Mom to invite her to the birthday party," Shanna continued quietly. "After she gave me an excuse for not coming, she told me what had happened to you and that you were here in New York, looking for a job. She said Dad wanted to hire you for his team. I wanted to give you an alternative, so I asked Emma to find you."
Emma smiled. "I'm one of the owners of MacKay Security and Investigation."
So that was how they'd tracked her down at her hotel. Even so, Caitlyn was stunned that her mom hadn't wanted to come to her grandson's birthday party. "I don't understand why Mom and Dad aren't here. Or why Dad told me never to come here."
Shanna winced. "I was afraid of that." She leaned closer. "I just want you to know that you're not alone. You don't need to stay at a hotel. We have a townhouse in Manhattan that's mostly empty, and you can live there as long as you need to."
Caitlyn swallowed hard. "That would really help."
"Emma and I thought you might like a job with MacKay Security and Investigation," Shanna continued.
A job offer? This was the last thing she'd expected at her nephew's birthday party. She turned to Emma. "That's very kind of you, but I have no experience in the security business."
Emma dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "We conduct investigations all over the world. Your linguistic abilities make you ideally suited for that kind of work."
"Thank you. I'll be glad to consider it." Caitlyn looked over the faces of Shanna's friends and realized her sister was attempting to draw her into her family, a family her father didn't approve of.
"Before you consider anything," Shanna said with a worried look, "you need to know all the facts. About us."
The chill returned to tickle the back of Caitlyn's neck. Her instincts flared. The entrance to the rabbit hole loomed before her, gaping ever wider and enticing her to fall in. As much as she loved adventure, she wasn't sure this was a place she wanted to go. Her dad certainly didn't want her involved with these people.
But her sister was here. She didn't want to lose Shanna again. She didn't want to lose her niece and nephew. I saw Constantine fly. How could Shanna possibly explain that?
Shanna winced. "I'll do my best."
Caitlyn stiffened. "You're reading my mind."
Chapter Two
Caitlyn took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. Maybe she shouldn't be so shocked. She was a psychic linguist, so it was entirely possible that her sister had psychic abilities, too.
Shanna motioned for her to accompany her to the refreshment table. "I'm not making a conscious effort to read your mind. I want to respect your privacy, but some of your thoughts are so intense, I'm catching them."
Caitlyn glanced back at the other women across the cafeteria. They were busily chatting, so thankfully, she could now speak privately with her sister. "You have telepathic powers."
"I'm usually better at blocking messages than sending or receiving," Shanna confessed. "But with you, I've always had a strong connection. Remember when we were young, and we'd always - "
"Finish each other's sentences," Caitlyn said with a sad smile. If their connection was so strong, why did her sister leave her?
"Are you telepathic, too?" Shanna asked.
"I don't think so. Most of my psychic ability is centered on language."
"You have a rare gift." Shanna ladled some punch into two red plastic cups. "When I was at boarding school, I would think of you often and dream about you at night. You were surrounded by snow, and you wore a bright red woolen coat and mittens."