Matt Henderson opened the file he'd put on the table. He stayed standing and Zena stared at his face. She'd never seen him this scared. Her father's hand shook as he flipped through the pages inside, until he pulled a picture out.

The man in it was tall. She recognized the front entrance of Pettigrew manor behind him. The maple tree beside him was tiny compared to the towering graceful limbs clothed in deep green leaves now. He had the same color hair as the twins, and there were two children standing in front of him.

"Who is he?" Zena demanded.

"Your grandfather. You get your hair color from him. He had a daughter and a son. Your mother and your uncle. You are both Pettigrew's. But we had to separate you and hide you to keep you safe."

"So, we are twins?" Lacey asked.

Zena let out the breath she just realized she was holding.

"You are," her father confirmed.

"What happened? And how did you adopt us?" Zena asked. At least they had the answer about being twins. What was the rest of the story?

"The family kept it quiet when your great grandmother passed away. There was no way to prove it, but even Papa Juan and Mama Rosa agree, there was something suspicious about the way she died. She fell from the upper landing. It was ruled a suicide, and it happened just after your mother married. She was pregnant with the two of you at the time." Matt Henderson's eyes glazed over with the memory. "She didn't even know her granddaughter was pregnant. Elise was going to tell her at the party."

"So, who did it?" Zena asked her eyes thoughtful. "Was it the landing that looks down on the ballroom, or the one of the ones in the family wing? Where our rooms are? And how long have the Chicarro's been part of the staff? And are they part of it?"

"It was the one above the ballroom. They were getting ready for their annual New Year's Eve Gala. It was a charity event the Pettigrew's held every year for as long as anyone in town could remember." Her father explained.

"Keep going, who did it?" Zena knew her impatient questions were pushing her Dad's buttons, but she couldn't help it. It didn't make sense.

"Patience, Zee." Lacey said. "This isn't a short story. I know the Chicarro's have been taking care of the estate for like forever. They love it like it was their own. They are family if you get what I mean."

Zee shook her head.

There's something wrong with Papa Juan. I can't put a finger on it, but he's just not right. But they trust him. I wonder if they're wrong.

Deanne took up the tale. "It isn't. There's a lot of history to this. We should explain a bit more. We've got things out of order. Let me start from the beginning. Stella, Elise, and I were best friends. We went to school together and we went away to university together. Stella did a degree in aviation, she always wanted to fly, and there was no stopping her."

"What about Elise? She was our mother, right?" Zena kept right on asking questions, even though her father shook his head as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Arts. She was an amazing painter. Photographer too. Most of the artwork on the walls in the mansion are her pieces. Some of them are your great grandmother's." Deanne said. Her voice cracked a bit. "I've lost them both now, and I wonder if I'm next."

"And of course, you did a law degree, right?" Lacey stated the obvious. "I'm sorry mom, this whole thing is more than I can understand. But I'm sorry you lost your best friends."

James reached over to clasp his wife's hand and continued. "Things kept going wrong on the estate. Your grandfather was found trampled in a stall out in the stables. Have you been out there yet?" He asked Matt.

"I haven't. I was hoping to get a couple of horses. Papa Juan has promised he can use the manure for the gardens, and Percy or Terry would be willing to come and take care of the mucking out. Both of them ride. Now I hear Percy has his eyes on my girl." His teasing tone had Zena shaking her head in denial.

"We all used to go there, until Elise's grandfather died, and your uncle sold all the horses. Elise was devasted." Deanne put in. "We all rode until we left for university. I haven't been on a horse since."

"Then she met Lawrence. Funny how we never gave him a nickname. He was always Lawrence. Lawrence Grenville, orphan with a modest inheritance. He fell head over heals in love with Elise, and he introduced us to his friends."

"Let me guess, Dad, and Mr. Pemberton were those friends." Zena said. "Predictable kind of."

James nodded. "I know. I took one look at Deanne and I was done for. She had me before Lawrence finished the introductions. She still does. I love her, she's my best friend and everything else."

"We meshed. The six of us became a group. We began planning our lives around each other. We had such great expectations." Matt's eyes watered as he spoke. Zena couldn't believe how upset her father was. He always seemed to keep his cool.

Zena sat back down for a few minutes, as silence and memories floated in tense air. Why had she inherited the mansion then? She was about to demand an answer when Lacey's father opened another folder. She wondered if she would find love like Deanne and James Pemberton. She couldn't remember much about her parent's relationship, but they did go out on date nights. They must have loved each other, just not as openly affectionate.

"What happened to Elise's mother? You've never said anything about her." She had to know.

"Koreena? She was the only one who died of natural causes. Ovarian cancer, which you two need to be aware of. Elise was only three when it happened." Deanne paused, shuffling through her folder. "This is the only picture we have of her."

She pulled a 4x6 inch photograph out from between the sheets of paper, turning it so Zena could study it.

"She's gorgeous. As blonde as our grandfather was too," Zena said before she passed the picture to Lacey.

Her father picked up the story. "The Pettigrew estate has always passed from mother to daughter. If there was no female heiress, then it went to the oldest son, and on to the next eldest female from there. This is written into their wills, and the governing rules of the trust which maintains the mansion and grounds. Your uncle didn't think it was fair, and he was planning on taking it all for himself."

"What? When did you figure it out?" Zena wondered what tipped them off.

"Theodore Pettigrew, your uncle, took control of the trust, claiming guardianship of his sister. He refused permission for Lawrence and Elise to marry, and demanded she come home. We were in our last semester before graduation."

"Asshole," Lacey hissed.

"Language, Lacey," her mother stared her down, and Zena snickered.

"We don't disagree with you Lacey. The six of us worked out a plan for Elise and Lawrence to elope. We went into Boston, and they were married by a judge exactly nine months before you were born. We partied at the hotel, and when Stella and I married your fathers, we did it the same way. Only we did it three months later, after we graduated. By then we knew Elise was expecting and we found out it was twins a couple of months later."

"How come you never told me about all of this?" Lacey asked.

Deanne stood up to stretch and asked, "Do you think we should order some food?"

"Don't change the topic, Mrs. Pemberton." Zena didn't like where her brain was going. She slid out to get herself some water, opening cupboards until she found the glasses, she started to run the water.

"You might as well call me Aunt Deanne. Your mother was my sister, my soul sister, as so was Stella. There's a Brita pitcher in the fridge, Zena. I'd like some water too," Deanne requested. "I will never get over losing them."

"Why didn't you have any other kids," Lacey blurted out. She clapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was rude." She hopped up, grabbing the bouquet Zena had left on the counter. "I'll just put these in water." She stretched to reach one of the vases on the top shelf of the cupboard with the glasses.

"We tried, but it didn't work. I'm allergic to your Dad's sperm." Deanne admitted, blushing as she spoke. "Ask your questions. Nothing is off the table. We know this is a shock and hard to figure out."

"Damn," Zena couldn't help herself. She felt sorry for her. "I'm sorry, Aunt Deanne." The name felt stiff on her tongue. She poured two glasses of water, handing one to the shaken woman. At least this Aunt wasn't like her Aunt Priscilla. This one might give a damn about her.

"What about Stella, Dr. Henderson?" Lacey asked as she came back with Zena's flowers, putting the mixed bouquet in the middle of the table before she sat down again. The green stems sat in a tall glass, and the scent of roses overwhelmed the quiet aroma coffee from the machine on the counter.

"We succeeded in keeping it secret, but we lost seven babies in a row. Stella's body wasn't built to carry to term. We gave up when you were almost ten, Zee." Matt used his daughter's nickname for the first time.

"It wasn't because she was flying all the time, was it?" Zena asked. She wanted confirmation on a private question. She knew her mother must have been pregnant a few times. Looking back on what she remembered, there was morning sickness, and there was weight gain, and then suddenly her mom would be back in skinny clothes again.

"No, there are women who fly right up till their last month of pregnancy. She even gave it up for a year and rested pretty much in bed for months before she lost the last one."

"I remember that. You told me mom was sick, and she needed to rest and get healthy so she could go flying again. I missed her so much when she went back to work," Zena knew the dreaded whine was back in her voice.

"Let's order food, pizza or Chinese?" Deanne asked. "It's going to take a while to get here, and I'm really getting hungry. We're going to be here for a while before everything gets explained."

"Chinese," Zena and Lacey said in the same breath.

"Okay, then. Here's the menu. This is the best place to order from." James grabbed the pamphlet from the counter beside him. "Everyone pick a dish. I promise, we'll finish the story before we go home."

Zena scanned the faces around her and swallowed her curiosity. Her father looked beat. Lacey's parents stood together, with their arms around each other's waist. She could see the strain on Deanne's face.

"What are you waiting for Lace, pick something. I'm hungry too." Zena decided she could wait for the rest of this. Bad news was always easier to take when she had food in her stomach.