Chapter 2 - The Man Who Looked Like My Husband
I ended the party.
Nobody argued.
Not after seeing Glen’s face.
Ariel stayed with my father inside while I took Glen and Clara into the kitchen.
The photograph lay between us.
“Start talking.”
Clara looked at Glen.
Glen looked at the floor.
That old choreography enraged me immediately.
“No. You don’t get to decide who speaks first.”
I pointed at Clara.
“Gabriel.”
Her lips trembled.
“Glen’s identical twin.”
I stared.
“Identical?”
“Yes.”
“How did I marry a man for eight years without knowing he has an identical twin?”
Glen answered.
“Because Gabriel was declared dead.”
“When?”
“Seventeen years ago.”
“How?”
“Boating accident.”
“Body?”
Silence.
There it was.
“No body?”
Glen shook his head.
My heartbeat changed.
I picked up the photograph.
“What was he doing with me?”
Clara looked toward the backyard.
“You were six.”
“I can count.”
“Megan…”
“Tell me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Gabriel saved your life.”
I froze.
My mother had died when I was six.
I remembered almost nothing clearly about that year.
A hospital.
My father crying in a corridor.
A car wreck everyone described as an accident.
Clara continued.
“Your mother’s car went off the road near Lake Geneva. Gabriel and I were behind them.”
My mouth went dry.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
My father had told me Clara entered his life years later.
Apparently that was another lie.
“Who took this photograph?”
“Your mother.”
That hit hardest.
“My mother knew you.”
Clara nodded.
“And Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
Glen spoke quietly.
“Megan, the official story about your mother’s accident isn’t complete.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew?”
“Not when we met.”
“When did you know?”
His hesitation lasted too long.
“Before we married.”
Something inside me cracked.
“You married me knowing your brother had been involved in my mother’s death?”
“He wasn’t responsible.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
His answer came softer.
“I knew Gabriel was there.”
Ariel appeared in the kitchen doorway holding her stuffed dolphin.
“Mommy?”
I immediately softened.
“Yes, baby?”
“Other Daddy came when you were sleeping.”
Everything stopped.
I stared at her.
“When?”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Nighttime.”
Glen went white.
Clara grabbed the counter.
I knelt.
“Did he talk to you?”
Ariel nodded.
“He said not to wake you.”
My skin turned cold.
“What did he look like?”
She pointed directly at Glen.
“Daddy.”
Then shook her head.
“But sad.”
Behind me, Clara whispered:
“Oh God.”
I turned.
“What?”
She looked at Glen.
“If Ariel saw Gabriel…”
May you like
Glen finished:
“…then he knows where we live.”
