Page 23 of Close Match

“You and me both, sister. You and me both.”

Thirteen

Evangeline

Being in LA to record the album was a break I desperately needed. I was in the studio for what seemed like every waking moment trying to record twelve songs in three weeks. It kept me from constantly checking the email account Bristol set up for me. Night after night I’d get notices like, “Your DNA is being processed,” or “We’re excited for you to get your results! Just a little bit longer now.”

I’m in line to board the plane in LA to head back to New York. I want to be with my family and give up on this half-assed idea to find a father who likely doesn’t care he has a daughter anyways. It was so stupid. I’m not going to find out a damn thing. All I’m going to be left with are more questions, I think despondently.

“We now welcome our first-class passengers to board the aircraft at this time,” the sunny voice of the gate attendant says.

Excellent. I pull up my mobile boarding pass and make my way to the short line. Just as the scanner is about to process the code, my cell goes off with Bristol’s distinctive ring. MAGIC! screams out on full blast. Quickly pressing Silent, I start blushing furiously. I send my sister to voicemail. “I am so sorry. So embarrassing.”

The gate agent smiles as my boarding pass scans successfully. “It happens more than you think. Don’t worry about it. Have a safe flight.”

I give her a huge smile. “Thanks. Have a terrific day.” Moving past her, I dial Bristol’s number. My long legs eat the jetway at a fast clip. By the time the call connects, I’m already nodding at the first-class cabin steward. “What’s up?”

“Check your email. My results are back!”

I freeze in place.

“That doesn’t mean mine are,” I say slowly. I’m afraid to get my hopes up at this point.

“Well, either they are, or we have another half sibling somewhere because it already told me I have a close match.”

Holy crap. Excitement begins to pour through my veins.

“Bris, I’m on the plane to come home.” I drop my bag in the seat. Shifting my cell to my ear, I lift my larger carry-on to the overhead compartment. My oversized purse easily slides beneath the seat in front of me. Dropping into my chair, I lean my head back. “There’s no way I can process this right now.” Though, in reality, I want to jump off the plane and spend hours looking over my results.

“Then don’t,” she replies swiftly. “Go accept my connection and shut off your phone. I won’t look at anything else until you come home.”

My heart is pounding furiously in my chest. “I can do that.”

“Then do it before they close the cabin doors.”

“I will if you let me off my phone,” I shoot back.

“Oh, yeah.” She giggles. “It might work, Linnie.”

“Yeah. It’s better odds than lotto at least,” I laugh.

“Hey, what happened to this being a great idea when we were swapping spit?”

“We didn’t swap spit. We spat together but separately,” I correct her. The man in the seat next to me begins choking. “Well, that didn’t come out right,” I mutter.

Bristol is gone laughing. “Are your employees looking at you oddly? Because the man sitting next to me is questioning my sanity,” I say with a great deal of amusement. The gentleman in question flushes at so blatantly listening to my conversation. “It’s okay,” I assure him. “We’re talking about a DNA kit.”

“My wife and I did one of those. She found out she was part American Indian when she thought her whole life she was Hawaiian. Coolest thing ever.” He shakes his head. “One of the craziest things will be if you find out if you like cilantro or not.”

“Bris,” I whisper. “Did you hear…”

“Yes! It might be genetic?”

We both break up laughing. “Now I can’t wait,” I admit.

“Me neither. Have a safe flight, honey. Call when you land.”

“Will do.” We both hang up. I immediately pull up my alternate email account, and sure enough, my results are in there. I log in and accept Bristol’s connection. She called it—she’s my close match. Not a shock there. As she said, the real shock would have been if there was someone else. Then I immediately shut the site down. I want to dissect the information when I have more time and not more questions.