Page 16 of My Twin Sister

He looks at me as though he’s unsure what to say.

“You were his best friend,” I say. “You know he wouldn’t do anything like what he’s being accused of.”

He sighs. “You’d be surprised what people are capable of. Even people you think you know.”

“Would I be?”

“Yes.”

“And what about you, Sheriff? You identified my body, right? Is it you or the funeral home I should request to have the grave exhumed? I’d love to know who looked so much like me that a mistake like that was made.”

He doesn’t say anything, and all I can hear is the heavy pounding of my heart in my ears. I stand up and push back my chair. “Are we done? I’d really love to see my nephew’s tee-ball game.”

Thirteen: Geny

I can’t stop looking at the parking lot for Grace’s or Frank’s cars. I’d give anything to listen in on the conversation they’re having. Is she telling him things she hasn’t told me? Is he even asking the right questions?

“Hey,” Wyatt says. He puts his hand on my bouncing knee. “She’s fine. It’s just standard protocol.”

“Then why did you ask if she needed a lawyer?”

Wyatt sighs. “I don’t know. That was dumb. Of course she doesn’t need a lawyer. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Is faking your death not wrong?”

“Is that what she did?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. You were the one out in the water with her that night.”

His hand slides off my knee. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Grace’s car pulls into the parking lot, and I stand up, ignoring his question. I step around him and off the bleachers. Carter sits in the dugout, waiting for the game to start. I give him a thumbs-up through the chain-link fence as I pass, and he returns it with a grin that melts my heart.

Jack stands beside him. It’s his first year assistant coaching. It’s Wyatt’s first year not coaching. He’s been working a lot of overtime hours since my hours have been cut.

I walk toward Grace, but my mind is on the little family I’ve created here in Raven. The family I know I wouldn’t have if Grace never died. Or disappeared. Whatever it is she did. None of this would be mine if she never left.

It’s a gut punch, but something I’ve always known. It’s the basis for the constant tug-of-war between my emotions. Grief and guilt. Is everything I have in jeopardy now that she’s back? I hate myself for the thought, but it’s there nonetheless.

I taste stomach acid and swallow it back. I wave at Grace as she heads toward me.

“Hey,” I say when she’s close enough to hear me. “Is everything okay? What happened?”

“Everything’s fine.” She smiles and walks past me.

I turn and catch up with her. “That’s all I get?”

“What more do you want?” She laughs, barely looking at me.

I open my mouth, then shut it. I don’t know why I try. She isn’t going to tell me anything. She’s already made up her mind to keep me in the dark, and there’s no changing Grace’s mind.

“It’s so weird to be here again,” she says.

Bile burns my throat. How much time had Grace spent here growing up? She never missed one of Wyatt’s games back when he played town ball. And the only time she missed his high school games was when her cross-country schedule interfered.

Now she’s here to watch his son play. My son.

But if Grace finds it uncomfortable at all, she doesn’t show it. She walks as if this were any ordinary family occasion, stopping at the fence behind Carter and crouching down.