Her name floated on the tip of her tongue.
Lila Anderson. My sister.
Hi, I’m Lila’s sister.
Nothing felt right about it.
Anderson was a pretty common name. Although, the fact that Lila Anderson had a dad called Jack, who just happened to share a birthday with her own father, and look exactly like him, was stretching the powers of coincidence way too far.
She’d searched the blonde’s face for any similarities, but if they were there, she couldn’t see them. Sure, they were both blonde, but even then, they were at opposite ends of the fair-haired spectrum. Lila was a light, baby blonde, tumbling in waves that fell halfway down her back. Caro was naturally dark blonde, cut in a long bob that just passed her shoulders. Usually, she wore it tied back in a ponytail, so it didn’t get in the way when she was writing on the chalkboard, or marking jotters. Low maintenance, that was how she would describe her look. Not a trait that was shared by the woman, sister or not,in the photos. This was obviously someone who loved to be the centre of attention, who was the star attraction of any occasion. Caro couldn’t think of anything worse. Not that she was a shy wallflower, but she definitely preferred to be more low-key than the extrovert in the Facebook photos.
Her phone buzzed and she picked it up quickly, before the noise woke her travel companion. ‘Hey,’ she whispered, desperately trying not to be one of those people who shared their whole life with every other passenger on a train journey.
Todd dispensed with the fripperies. ‘Are you there yet and have you been arrested for stalking? Only, I haven’t had a chance to set up a Crowdfunding page for the bail money.’
‘Not there yet, no arrest and you’ve still got plenty of time. We got held up for a while somewhere around Dundee – leaves on the line, they said – so we’re just coming into Perth now,’ she told him, trying to keep her tone light because this whole thing was so ludicrous it couldn’t possibly happen. Could it? She changed the subject. ‘Is everything ok?’ she asked him. ‘Have you called?’
‘I’ve called and everything is fine,’ he promised her. It had been her one request, that he call the hospital and check on Mum for her every couple of hours. Actually, it wasn’t so much her request as his order. He’d decided she had enough on her plate with one stressful parental situation, so had insisted he help with the other one. Caro knew he felt better because he was doing something productive, so she let him win that one.
‘Thank you. So… what are you up to today?’
It was one of those questions that usually made Caro think she had to make more of an effort to enjoy life. Todd never stood still, never had an off day, and he and Jared were on a mission to make the most of their lives. They went rockclimbing. They took spontaneous trips. They went clubbing on a work night. They jet-skied on sunny days. They worked hard and played hard, though the two of them worked in different salons, having decided that they could get too much of a good thing. Todd was tall, athletic, and totally confident in his own skin. He’d always been that easy-going, non-stressy kind of kid, and now he balanced out Jared’s boundless enthusiasm and fondness for drama by being an easy-going, non-stressy kind of adult. Caro loved him. Loved them both.
‘Took the day off for a rugby tournament this morning. Travelling team from New Zealand. We’ll get hammered, I’ll get hypothermia, and I’m fairly sure some of my internal organs will be moved to a new location.’
‘Ouch.’
‘Yep… oh, and Jason will no doubt ask about you.’
Jason was Todd’s best friend, and until two months ago, her boyfriend of three years. They’d split – her decision – after her mum’s health deteriorated and she found Lila’s Facebook post. She couldn’t explain why. Something shifted. She didn’t have the energy to give anything to him, when every waking moment was about caring for Mum and doing the best job she could as a teacher.
‘You didn’t tell him where I was going today, did you?’
‘Are you kidding? He already thinks you’re certifiable for ditching him, so this would only add weight to the theory.’
‘Thanks. I think,’ she smiled again.
‘Right, I need to go. Are you sure you don’t want me to jump on a train and head down? I’ve got the rest of the day off and I could be there this afternoon.’
‘Thanks, but honestly I’m fine. Nothing’s even going to happen. I just want to see… well, you know. I’m not planning ondoing anything drastic. There’s every chance I’ll be back up on the last train tonight and none the wiser.’
She wasn’t being glib. Therewasevery chance. In fact, it would probably be the most sensible thing to do. Confrontation wasn’t her thing. She just wanted to try to find a way to subtly suss out what was going on.
‘You know, messaging her would have saved the train fare and made this all so much easier.’
Todd was convinced it was all a big misunderstanding. Or her dad had a doppelgänger. Or…
‘I’m still going with the evil twin, separated at birth theory,’ he added.
‘Me too,’ she agreed. Although, she absolutely didn’t. Because, in a completely contradictory, nonsensical way, much of this actually made sense.
Dad had been spending most of his time in Glasgow for as long as she could remember. As far as she knew, he’d stayed in hotels there, but he could easily have been staying with someone else, living with another woman, spawning more kids. Her mum had never gone with him, put off by his protestations that he was swamped with work when he was there.
Mum couldn’t protest any more.
The only blessing was that she was too ill to realise he’d gone.
Since Jack had walked away, Caro hadn’t heard from him. A few days after he’d left, in a moment of fury and rage at the injustice of his behaviour, she’d called his mobile and discovered it had been disconnected. Not surprising, really. Her whole life, she couldn’t remember him calling her a single time. It was always Mum. Mum made the arrangements. Mum visited after she’d moved out. Mum. Not Dad. They’d neverbeen close, never had that emotional bond that she saw between her friends and their fathers. So now, she had to know if this Lila Anderson was the reason why.
