Tuesday Tales: From the Word SILVERY

Welcome to the last post for the month of March and the first in my new Contemporary Romance, Finding Melinda. Have you ever taken one of the DNA tests they advertise? I did a few years ago as part of the research I was doing for a book I was working on at the time. The results were surprising, not Earth-shattering in any way, but they did lead me to discover aspects of my past that I hadn’t known. Finding Melinda is a purely fictitious story about what could happen if the results were completely unexpected.

Pierce’s eyebrows rose as he stared at the world map with its highlighted areas.

“Are you sure those are your results?” He leaned in closer.

“It’s my account, and this is my number,” Melinda confirmed, her lips pursed, her brow furrowed. “Is it possible they made a mistake? Mixed up the samples at the source?”

Pierce shook his head. “Anything is possible, but it’s unlikely. That particular company has a 97 percent accuracy rate.”

“Come on,” Mandy said, pouting. “Don’t keep us hanging.”

Melinda swallowed. “Well, according to this, I’m 68 percent French, 20 percent Basque, 7 percent Iberian Peninsula, 1 percent Greek, and a couple of other ethnicities each at less than 1 percent. What I’m definitely not is Irish. It’s as if I’m from a completely different family tree. Hell, I don’t even belong in the same orchard as you guys.”

“That’s got to be wrong,” Danny said, frowning. “Mandy and I have Ireland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, and Western Europe, but none of what you have, and given we should have between 25 and 50 percent, they must’ve made a mistake. I’ll order another test when we get home, and you can try again. In the meantime, let’s put the bet on hold. The next drinks are on me. What’ll you have, ladies? Let’s not let this spoil our last day here.”

“Of course not,” Melinda said, her voice maybe a little too bright as she fought down her concern. “Mom did say I took after the Crites while you guys are Donners through and through. This is just a hiccough. Pierce, didn’t you say they were constantly updating results? You two have Western Europe. The last time I looked, that’s where France is.” She laughed. “Who’s to say the first Crites didn’t originate in France? Danny, I’ll have a Bahama Mama.”

Melinda stared at her results once more before shutting off her tablet, her fertile writer’s imagination coming up with one scenario after another before deciding on the most likely one. The hospital had made a mistake, and she and another child had been switched at birth. Hadn’t she always felt like the odd man out?

Her mother’s last words came back to her. You were my gift, our gift. A gift from whom? She looked out at the ocean, as silvery under the sun as the wrapping paper on the Christmas gift had been. If she wasn’t a Crites, who was she?

That’s it. Stay safe, and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.