Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

wake
you
up, but it was totally fine to wake
me
up.”
    “That’s because you don’t have a head injury,” Laurel said. “And he called me too, remember?”
    Harris filled Olivia in on a few more details. Talley was being discharged from the hospital and had accepted Annette Stevens’ invitation to live with her and her family for a while. Fletcher Olsen, who was shocked and sickened to discover the monstrous duplicity of his longtime employee, announced that he planned to put his clients’ affairs in order and then close his practice for good.
    “He’s going to move to Hilton Head,” Harris continued. “And spend his days getting a golfer’s tan.”
    “Poor guy,” Laurel said. “I feel terrible about suspecting him and the Lumbee chief. That woman has done nothing but fight for her tribe. She’s worked her whole life to improve things for her people and we actually thought she might have killed one of them.”
    Olivia nodded. “I know how you feel, Laurel. But what we did was necessary, if not exactly kind. A young woman’s life was at stake and time was running out.” She saw a road sign for Oyster Bay up ahead and smiled. “In this case, I took the ask-for-forgiveness-instead-of-permission mantra. I know Annette will understand. I just hope Rawlings will too. Eventually.”
    The three friends rode in silence for a few minutes. As downtown Oyster Bay came into view, Olivia thanked Laurel and Harris for coming to get her and suggested they all meet for dinner at The Bayside Crab House later in the week.
    “Do you want me to drop Harris off and come back for you?” Laurel asked as she double-parked in front of the diner.
    “No,” Olivia said. “Thanks again for the flowers.” She put the lilies to her nose and hesitated for a second before getting out of the car. She hadn’t showered and was wearing yesterday’s clothes. Her hair had been shaved around the area where she’d received the stitches and she hadn’t bothered to dig out either the tube of lipstick or the bottle of Shalimar perfume she kept in her purse. Is this how she wanted to present herself to the man who was in all likelihood her biological father?
    Actually, it is,
she thought. Clutching the flowers to her chest, she waved good-bye to her friends and entered the diner.
    Dixie dumped the plate of waffles she was carrying and skated forward to greet her. “Lord have mercy! You look like you’ve been to hell and back!”
    Olivia darted a quick look at the window booth. Her father’s twin was there and he was staring at her. “I’ve had better nights,” she murmured, thrust the flowers into Dixie’s hands, and walked over to the booth.
    Zipping ahead of Olivia, Dixie performed the introductions. “Charles Wade, this is Olivia. Olivia, meet Charles.” For once, Dixie’s eyes weren’t glittering over the high potential for drama. In fact, her face was pinched with concern. “You want coffee, hon?”
    “Please,” Olivia said. “And grits with butter. I’m starving.”
    Charles Wade had been gazing unblinkingly at Olivia from the moment she entered the diner. After Dixie moved off, he clasped his hands together and exhaled very slowly. “You look just like her. When I saw you in the boat yesterday, I thought you were Camille. I knew it wasn’t possible, but my heart stopped.”
    “I saw you at the powwow on Saturday,” Olivia said cautiously, studying the man. Up close, it was even more obvious that he and Willie Wade were identical twins. Charles’s grooming was meticulous and he wore expensive designer brands from his eyeglasses to his watch to his Italian loafers, but the shape of his face and his tall, wiry frame were the same as his brother’s. “I thought you were my father, but he died last spring.” She waited for Charles Wade to react to this piece of news, but he didn’t. This bothered Olivia. Had he already known or did he just not care?
    “Why did you come to Oyster Bay?” she asked. “And how is it that I’ve never seen or heard of you before now?”
    “My company sponsored the Coastal Carolina Food Festival. We own the television network that produces most of the food-related shows, including the one that filmed the feature on The Boot Top Bistro.” There was nothing boastful in his manner, which was a relief to Olivia. She wanted to like this man. “Dixie told me that The Boot Top is your restaurant. I enjoyed an excellent meal there last night.”
    Olivia acknowledged the