The Good Twin(19)

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better,” he said after I filled him in on my made-up plans. “If you ever find yourself back in New York, call me.”

The last person I needed to cut ties with was Brian. I’d never known a father, and he’d come closest to filling that void.

As soon as I got to the school, I told him.

“You’re leaving? But the class has another seven weeks to go!”

“It’s a great job offer.”

“Doing what?”

I’d practiced my lie in advance. I knew Brian would grill me. “They’re going to teach me graphic design. A friend from Scranton works for the company, and she recommended me.”

Brian put his hand on his hip. “Well, we’re just going to have to come to LA to visit you. Stan goes out there now and then for business, and I’ll tag along.”

“They have offices throughout the country. My training will be in LA, but I have no idea where they’ll send me afterward.”

Brian pulled me in to his chest. “I’m going to miss you, Mallory. You’re the best damn artist in this class.”

He let me go, and I stepped back. I was starting to get misty-eyed, and I didn’t want him to see.

“As soon as you know where you’ll end up, you’ll let me know, right?”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

I nodded.

“I mean it, Mallory. If you don’t, I’m going to hunt you down.”

I reassured Brian, all the time with a lump in my throat. I was going to miss him the most.



The home in High Falls that belonged to Ben’s parents was larger than any place I had ever lived. It was off a quiet, heavily wooded road, set back far from the street. A wall of windows overlooked Mohonk Preserve and its acres of trails. Ben had suggested I get a hiker’s pass for the preserve, and explore. “It’s a good way to walk off extra pounds,” he’d said. I’d never considered myself overweight, just curvy in the places it counted. At five foot six, my weight seemed just right. Charly, though, was model slim, wearing size 0 clothes, or sometimes size 2, depending on the cut.

Ben had taken me to the local supermarket, tiny in comparison to the supermarkets I’d shopped at in Scranton, and we’d filled up on food before he’d left me and driven back to the city.

Once he was gone, I set about exploring. In addition to the eat-in kitchen, which was at least twenty feet long, there was an equally large living room with a wood-burning fireplace, a master bedroom with its own bathroom, and two smaller bedrooms. The furnishings were simple but appeared sturdy—a deep rose-colored couch in the living room, with two gingham-slipcovered chairs on either side of the fireplace, a round wooden pedestal table with four wood chairs in the kitchen. The king-size bed in the master bedroom had a mustard-colored upholstered headboard and was covered with a patchwork quilt in colors of brown, beige, and gold. There was no TV reception—the cable had been turned off—but Ben had brought up a box load of DVDs, including home videos of Charly, for the DVD player. There was no Internet connection, or Wi-Fi, but I could use my iPad to access anything I needed.

The house was on ten acres of land, mostly wooded. There was a rocking-chair porch in the front of the house, and a screened-in porch with views of the mountains in back. It felt like paradise to me, a place I’d be happy living in forever. I grabbed my sketchbook, plopped myself down on the back porch, and began sketching the mountains. Before I knew it, hours had passed. The pale-yellow sun had deepened to an orange glow, then slowly disappeared. I went back inside, put a frozen dinner in the oven, then popped a DVD into the player. It contained a video of Charly’s twenty-fifth birthday party. It would be my first time studying the woman I was to become.



The next day, I took the car out of the garage and began exploring the neighborhood. Nestled between the supermarket and a drugstore was a liquor store. I stopped in and stocked up on wine. On the one main road that ran through the heart of the hamlet were three restaurants and several artisans’ shops. I pulled into one—a pottery store/workshop—and looked over the pieces. They were beautiful, so much more artistic than the standard pottery seen in the big-box retail stores.

“Are you looking for a gift for someone, or for yourself?” a voice behind me said.

I turned and saw a middle-aged woman with short brown hair and a warm smile. “Are you the artist?”

She nodded. “My name is Katy Patel.”

“Your work is lovely.”

She took me through the store and pointed out some pieces that were her favorites. I picked up a vase and looked at the price tag on the bottom—$1,200. My first reaction was disappointment that I’d never be able to afford one of her pieces, and then it hit me that soon I would. In the not-too-distant future, I’d never have to look at the price of something I desired. I liked the way that felt.





CHAPTER 14

It had become easier for Ben to see Lisa after work now that Rick was no longer coming into the office, especially with Charly heading over to her father’s apartment after she’d closed up the gallery. In fact, most nights lately, Ben left work early and spent the evening with Lisa. Tonight was no exception.

“I could get used to this,” Lisa said, after they’d already made love and she lay cuddled up next to him.