The Stranger in the Mirror(30)

Gabriel pulls his sweater off and drops it on the floor next to him. “Hot,” he says, and runs a hand through his wavy hair. We’ve kept the door to this exhibit room closed so the light won’t shine into the front of the gallery, which closed at eight.

“Cold pizza and warm ginger ale. That should cool you off,” Hailey says, taking a bite of a limp-looking slice, and we all laugh.

I look at both of them and feel such a rush of gratitude and love that it chokes me. “I can never thank you guys enough for all your help.”

“Of course.” Hailey squeezes my shoulder. “We’re family.”

I look at her—this fresh-faced woman who will soon be my sister-in-law—and think how much like her brother she is. She’s welcomed me without reservation, and I can relax with her in a way that feels so easy and natural. A few months ago we started a new tradition—a girls’ night every Thursday. She introduces me to a different restaurant each week so we can discover what I like. We’ve done Thai, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Mexican, French, Spanish. I’ve discovered that I actually enjoy all different kinds of cuisine, but my current favorite is Thai, with Indian a close second. Hailey makes it fun to try and figure out my predilections, and never makes me feel odd in any way. She’s one of those people with the rare ability to bring out the best in people, and even though I have missing parts, she makes me feel whole.

We’ve almost finished the drooping pizza when Blythe and Ted come in with two large cartons.

“Wine delivery,” Ted calls out, and Gabriel jumps to his feet and takes the box from his mother.

“This is great. Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome. This is the white. Why don’t you take it back to the refrigerator?”

“I’ll put the other one here.” Ted places it on the floor and looks around. “How’s it going? All finished yet?”

“Come on, take a look,” Gabriel says to his dad, and Hailey and I both get up to follow them.

We stand there, the five of us, at the back of the small room and look without speaking. I know Gabriel and Hailey are looking at the exhibit with pride. They’ve both had such a big hand in it from beginning to end that I know it feels like it’s their exhibit too, and I’m glad for that. I’m not quite sure about Ted. He strikes me as a man who doesn’t rush to judgment but takes his time, careful not to jump to conclusions. If he doesn’t know what to make of me yet, I think he is giving me the benefit of the doubt unless I prove him wrong. The outlier is Blythe, of course. She has actually pitched in to help with the exhibit, but without the gusto of the rest of the family. There’s always a little bit she withholds.

“It looks amazing,” Gabriel says, coming to put his arm around me.

Blythe nods. “The photographs are beautiful, Addison. I’ve seen these bridges for years, but your camera has turned them into a thing of wonder. Thank you for trusting us with your work.”

I feel a rush of gratitude. Her approval means more to me than I care to admit. Dare I believe that she’s come a little bit closer to accepting me?

“Thank you, Blythe. It’s really something to see them displayed like this. It’s more than I ever dreamed of.”

“I have a feeling that after tonight your name is going to be spoken of in a lot of art circles,” Gabriel says with a huge smile.

For some reason the thought makes me nervous. I’m comfortable in the small little world I’ve created. I think about the ticket I’ve booked to Florida. Who knows what might happen if that world opens up too wide?





??26??

Julian




Julian fumbled as he removed his wallet from his inside jacket pocket, and his hand shook as he pulled the photograph from the covered flap. Cassandra with her arm around Valentina, both of them grinning at the camera. He looked from the picture to the poster and back again. Some of the light had gone out of her eyes, he thought sadly, but it was without a doubt his Cassandra. He read the information under her photograph.

First Friday: Journey into Light

Photographs by Addison Hope

Oliver Gallery 5:00–10:00 p.m.



She’d changed her name. Julian frowned. The only possible explanation was that she didn’t know who she was. He’d been right. Something had happened to make her forget. How on earth had she wound up so far away from home? He took a picture of the poster and hailed a cab back to his hotel, feeling a weight lifting from his shoulders.

As soon as he got back to his room, he called the airline and canceled his flight back to Boston. Then he phoned the house to let the housekeeper and nanny know that he would be delayed in Philadelphia. Next he opened his laptop and searched online for Addison Hope, but she had no social media presence he could find. He leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily, thinking about next steps. He thought about calling the detective but decided against it. Instead he picked up his phone and tapped the Photos app, scrolling through the hundreds of photos he had of Cassandra and him, as well as some shots with Valentina in them. Tomorrow night he would go to the gallery. When he showed her the pictures, they would finally reunite.

By the time he finally got into bed, it was after two, but despite the late hour he barely slept. At five he gave up and threw back the covers, rising to shower and shave. He looked like hell, he noted. Too little sleep and too much tension. His stomach rumbled with hunger as he slid into the taxi, but there was no way he could hold down breakfast. He nervously tapped his foot on the floor of the cab until they finally reached the symposium hotel, where he bolted into the lobby. A group of participants were clustered outside the meeting room, and he nodded as he walked briskly past them, hastily placing his notes on the podium in the room and opening a bottle of water that had been left for him.