Falling for the Wrong Twin by Kathy Lyons Page A

“Yeah!”
    Darla did the same. “Yeah!”
    Henry just rolled his eyes as he focused on his pancakes. And then--sadly--the day went from awkward to disaster in about fifteen seconds.
    He’d just managed to take his own bite of pancake when his sister came tearing into the room. “Mike! Mike! ”
    He bolted out of his seat, spinning around fast enough to catch his sister who appeared to be half stumbling, half shaking with rage. She bolted straight for him waving her cell phone at him.
    “Chrissy?”
    “God, Mike, can anything else go wrong this year? How about a plague of locusts? Volcano? Maybe I’m about to turn into a pillar of salt?”
    “How about a monsoon on St. Louis?” Anna’s dry voice cut through the room, like a knife through drama. She hadn’t spoken very loud, but Chrissy had been taking a breath, so her words came through loud and clear. Fortunately, it was exactly what was needed. Mike’s sister stopped cold and focused on Anna. Then her eyes widened a moment before she released a self-conscious laugh.
    “I like that,” she said. “Monsoon in St. Louis. Sorry guys, apparently God has it out for me.”
    Mike grabbed his sister’s still-waving arm, stilling it before she accidentally punched him. “What happened?”
    His sister shoved her phone at him, but then started gesturing with it before he could take it. “I’m being audited! Jeez-louise, haven’t I suffered enough? Don’t they know my husband was a war hero? I haven’t even gotten his Purple Heart yet, and they think I’m cheating on my taxes? What the--”
    “Stop waving that thing around and let me see!” he snapped. Then he blinked. Hell if he hadn’t sounded just like his father right then.
    Then he saw why his father had used that tone of voice because his sister immediately snapped to attention and slapped the phone into his hand. Sadly, the thing was locked with a code. He turned it to her, and together they fumbled a bit before he finally got to see the email message.
    Yup. She was being audited. Of all the shitty luck.
    “What the hell am I going to do?” she wailed.
    He gave his sister an impatient look. “You’re going to get your documents together and go to your appointment just like it says.”
    She rocked back on her heels and gave him an impatient look. “Michael Smithson, you’ve known me all your life. Think about this for a moment. Do you seriously believe I kept all those documents? That I can find any of this shit in between peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pre-school? Not to mention the fact that I have a job! It’s not easy raising two kids alone, you know. Now I’m going to have to take time off to deal with this, not to mention clean my office. God, the last time I picked up in there was when the dog threw up on the carpet!” Then she gasped. “Oh shit. What if he threw up on the documents? I threw all that stuff out!”
    Mike re-read the email, letting his sister rant as much as she wanted to. He knew from experience that she had to get her emotions out before she calmed enough to deal with the situation. Truthfully, she was holding up really well considering everything. Thankfully, this was something he could help with.
    “You brought your laptop with you, right?” he asked when she paused for breath.
    “Yeah, it’s upstairs.”
    “You filed on-line, right?”
    “Yeah, I used that tax program you said I--”
    “Great. And that’s on your laptop, right?”
    “Of course it is.”
    “Good, then how about you get some breakfast while I check things out, okay? Now do you want to grab your computer or should I--”
    “It’s right beside the crib. Can’t miss it. In fact, Henry here has kicked it half a dozen times just to hear Mommy scream.”
    Mike smiled and squeezed his sister’s arm. “I’ll find it, and we’ll figure things out, okay?”
    His sister pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You’re the best.”
    “Damn right I am.” He started to head out of the dining room when