Would she ever be as strong a woman as her mother?

“Hey,” Kate said from behind her. Mia had been so wrapped up in the videos that she hadn’t seen her sister standing there. She slammed the laptop closed and dried her eyes.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

Kate smiled and sat down beside her. “Can I see?”

“You want to?”

She paused for a moment. “Yeah. I’d like to know more about my birthmother.”

Chapter Nine

Kate sat beside her sister and looked at the videos on her laptop screen. She had actually come downstairs for a glass of water, and now she was sitting there watching videos of the woman she said she didn’t want to know more about. For some reason, she’d felt a pull when she’d seen Mia watching them.

“This one is from when I was about eleven years old. Momma decided to have this big birthday party for me, but we had only been in that school system for a few months. Only one person showed up, and that was because she didn’t have any friends either,” Mia said, laughing.

“What about Raven?”

“We met right after this, actually. She kept me safe around school. Nobody messed with Raven then, and nobody messes with her now.”

Kate chuckled. “Yeah, I can totally see that.”

Mia moved to another video. “This is a Christmas video. You see that wreath on the door? Momma made that. She would sell them at the holidays, although she gave more of them away than she sold. I never could make them like she did.”

“Is that a go-cart?”

Mia smiled. “Yeah. Bobby, her husband, bought that for me when I was fifteen. We used to ride it all over the trails out there. But then I crashed it right into the lake, and Momma made Bobby get rid of it. She said since I was her only child…” Mia stopped short. “Oh, gosh, Kate. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

Kate sighed. “It’s not your fault, Mia. It’s not really anyone’s fault, I guess.”

“I wish you’d gotten to meet her,” Mia said, her eyes welling with tears.

“Me too.”

They watched a couple more videos, laughing and chatting. Kate was starting to get more comfortable around her sister. Even the little town was starting to grow on her. She could see potential in the B&B too.

“Can I ask you something?” Kate asked.

“Sure.”

“What do you know about your biological father?”

Mia sighed. “Honestly, not much. Momma never wanted to talk about him. When I asked as a kid, she would just tell me my father wasn’t in the picture and that she was going to work so hard to be everything I needed. I felt bad asking, so I finally stopped.”