The Good Liar(49)

“A boy?”

“It’s just Kevin.”

“Just Kevin the boy you had dinner with last night?”

“Yeah.”

“You made up?”

“I guess?”

“He can’t go into your bedroom.”

“Mom!”

“I’m serious, Cass, or I’ll call Grandma and have her chaperone you.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Don’t test me. Downstairs only, and you know Henry will rat you out. I’ll be home in an hour.”

“Okay, whatever.”

I hang up and go to Joshua’s table. I sat them at a six-top so there’s plenty of room for me. The bottle of champagne I ordered arrives a moment later.

“What’s this?” Joshua asks, smiling.

“It’s on me.”

Franny giggles again. The waiter pops the cork, an explosion that gets the attention of everyone around us. I make eye contact with one of the patrons who was eyeing me earlier. Seeing me sitting with Joshua, he’s certain he knows who I am now. I turn pointedly away.

“Can we have some, Aunt Cecily?” Emily asks shyly.

“You can have the kids’ version.”

I signal for the waiter and order a bottle of nonalcoholic sparkling cider. When we all have our drinks, I propose a toast.

“To the Rings. My second-favorite family.”

“Second?” Emily asks.

“After my family, honey.”

“Right! Cassie and Henry and Uncle—” She stops and looks at Franny. Franny pats her on the head. Emily looks pleased.

“It’s okay,” I say. “I forget sometimes, too.”

“I’d like to propose a toast as well,” Franny says. She has a serious look on her face now, as if she has an important task to do.

“Please, go ahead,” Joshua says, looking at her fondly. She touches his forearm, quickly, then pulls her hand back.

“I wanted to propose a toast to Kaitlyn.”

The girls look grave, but I put a big smile on my face and raise my glass high. “To Kaitlyn.”

And because it’s been that kind of day, month, year, that’s when the flash goes off.





Chapter 22


First, Know Thyself

Kate

Though it came later than expected, Kate had spent a year getting ready for Andrea’s question.

“Interesting coincidence,” she said, her heart beating so loudly her own voice sounded odd to her, like something aquatic, swallowed by waves. “She even looks a bit like me, don’t you think?”

Kate pretended to study the iPad for a moment, looking at the picture of herself with Cecily from two years ago. She was heavier then, carrying pregnancy weight she hadn’t lost. She’d still had twenty pounds of it in her face and around her middle when she met Andrea. But that was before life robbed her of her appetite and she ran around after two little boys all day. The thirty pounds she’d lost in the last year had made a world of difference. Sometimes, when she caught a glimpse of her face in a mirror, she almost didn’t recognize herself. And her hair in the photo was that sun-kissed color she’d been dyeing it then, not the dark-brown shot with gray it was now.

She handed the iPad back to Andrea. “See?”

Andrea gave the picture a cursory glance. She’d already discounted the possibility that it could be Kate.

“You’re much more attractive than this woman.”

“Thank you. They say everyone has a twin out there somewhere.”

“I’ve heard that.” Andrea flicked her finger, and the next news story loaded. “I don’t think that’s true. I mean, I’ve never seen anyone who looks enough like me to confuse someone. Though this one time, in the grocery story, a woman came up to me and was convinced I was Trisha Smith. Can you believe it?”

Trisha was a Westmount mommy who lived one block over. Her hair was the exact same shade as Andrea’s, as was her spray tan, and since they shared a trainer, their bodies had the same emaciated shape. Kate had mistaken them from a distance more than once.

“That’s crazy.”

“Right? It’s like all mothers look alike or something.”

“Right. Anyway, I should get that laundry on . . .”

Andrea had already lost focus, peering at her iPad with a squint because she refused to accept that she needed reading glasses. Kate went down to the basement, the location of the laundry room, and promptly threw up in the bathroom. Then she washed her face and put on a load of laundry in case Andrea thought to check.

Kate spent the rest of the day until the boys went to bed on autopilot. She’d spent the last year with her head in the sand. She needed to correct that.

When the boys were firmly asleep, she asked Andrea if she could borrow the spare iPad and went to the basement. Her new friends on IKWYDLS.com were right. It was time to explore more than TMZ. Time to see what the rest of the world had seen since she’d stopped watching a year ago.

Back then, after three days of nonstop coverage, Kate had worked up the courage to leave her depressing hotel room. She’d spent a week getting to know her new city. Listening to its sounds. Reviving the French she’d learned more than twenty years ago. She still thought of herself as Kaitlyn Ring then. A persona she tried to shed as she walked. Up to Mount Royal. Down to the Old Port and the Saint Lawrence River. Along the Lachine Canal for hours. Letting the cold October wind whip against her skin until it felt baby soft.