When Rich Meets Poor

38|Family Connected at Heart

September 29,2018
New York City, New York

   "He's not going to call you,"

   "He will, just give him time. It's only been one day, maybe he is just nervous,"

   "If he really cared, he never would have kicked us out of H&M in the first place,"

   "Maybe I was too pushy! It was hard for him to accept everything,"

   "Harper, I know,"

   Ring. Ring.

   Connor and I both look at each other.

   "Well, answer it!" He shouts.

   I quickly pick up the phone to the unknown number.

   "Hi, who is this?" I ask.

   "Levi, the boy you harassed yesterday while I was trying to do my job," he laughs. That laugh is so much like my Dad's.

   I look at Connor with puppy dog eyes and he gives me a weird look in response.

   "Right, hi, I'm Harper. I'm assuming you were wondering what I was talking about?" I nervously laugh.

   "Yes, is there anyway we could meet up face to face again, today possibly?" He questions.

   "Sure, is it alright if I bring my family?" I ask.

"As long as if it's okay I bring mine too," he responds.

"Of course, Buvette at 10:00 A.M sharp?" I question.

"Sounds like a plan!" He agrees before hanging up.

"Get up! Get up! We have to be at the Buvette at 10!" I shout at Connor.

"What kind of insane people make plans to hang out thirty minutes prior?" Connor questions while getting up off the couch.

"Olivia!" I call for her.

She comes running out of her room.

"What is it?" She asks from the top of the staircase.

"Come down stairs, we have somewhere to be in thirty minutes," I tell her before rushing outside.

Connor grabs Olivia and follows closely behind me.

"Where are we going?" She questions while Connor buckles her in her car seat.

"To eat breakfast, with strangers," he quietly adds the last part.

He drives quickly through all the traffic until we reach the Buvette with minutes to spare. To our surprise, "Levi" is already there, sitting with a young lady.

"Hi, I'm Harper. This is my boyfriend Connor, and Olivia," I shake both of their hands.

"Your boyfriend Olivia?" The young girl jokingly asks.

"I'm Jaelynn," she adds.

"Nice to meet you," I say back.

The waiters takes our orders before we finally have time to discuss our past.

"So, have you seen pictures of you from when you were a baby?" I look at Levi.

"Nothing before the age of two," he shrugs.

   "That's close to when you went missing!" I exclaim.

   "Slow down, I'm still not sure you're my twin sister. This could all be a set up for money or something," he crosses his arms.

   "Babe, that's Connor Humphrey. The richest man in New York, if anything we want their money. Plus look at her, she looks just like you," Jaelynn explains to him.

   "What happens if I am your brother?" He leans his elbows on the table.

   "Well then I guess we tell the police or something? What are your current parents names?" I ask.

   "Ariana and Jerry Wilkinson," he answers.

   "Ariana and Jerry Wilkinson?" I put my hands on the side of my head.

   I know that name, I know that name.

   There's an abandon house bedside ours with the letters "Wilkinson" on the mailbox. They were our neighbors. The Wilkinson's moved almost immediately after Ryder's disappearance. I remember Mom telling me that they had a son our age, we have pictures of the three of us from when we were younger. His names was Levi. LEVI. But in the pictures of  the three of us, the boy is blonde with dark brown eyes.

   This might seem far fetched, but what if their son died. They kidnapped Ryder and changed all the facial feature information they had written about their son to Ryder's information. The Wilkinson's had this planned out for months and they immediately left town after kidnapping Ryder.

   I explain my philosophy to the group, they all look extremely confused.

   "Please, please, please tell me that made somewhat sense?" I ask.

   "You're my twin sister," Levi quietly says.

   "I can't believe you're alive. We always thought that you were long gone," tears brim in the corners of my eyes.

   "I have to make a phone call," I excuse myself from the table to call a Nashville sheriff who has been investigating Ryder's case for years now.

   "Jessie," I say into the phone.

   "Harper?" He asks.

"I found Ryder," I say quietly.

"You found Ryder?" He gasp.

"They found Ryder everyone!" He shouts.

"They found Ryder?" I can hear people ask in the background.

"I'll try to get him home as soon as possible," I promise him before hanging up.

I take out my wallet and place a picture of Mom, Dad, Levi, and I on the table.

"This was taken a month before you disappeared," I sigh.

He holds the picture delicately in his hands.

"Where are they at?" He questions while pointing at Mom and Dad.

"Dad passed away a few weeks ago. Mom is in a coma. They got into a car accident," my voice cracks mid sentence.

"It's okay, we're family now," Jaelynn responds.

"We've always been family connected at heart," Levi corrects her.