Am I on a date with the wrong twin?
The question bounces around my brain like a racquetball, and I find myself auditing everything about this woman I’m out with—the bangs, the bounce in her step, the full-face blush. She didn’t engage in conversation about the history of this place or about the random swan facts. Granted, she could have truly not known, but I don’t necessarily believe that Lucy wouldn’t have at least shown piqued interest.
Suddenly, it’s clear. I think I’m on a date with Lorelei, but I can’t fathom why Lucy would send her in her place. Maybe to test me? But that seems out of character for Lucy. I hope she wouldn’t do that to me. The twin I spoke with before I left started on a tangentabout how the American judicial system was off-kilter due to many people being falsely accused. That was a very Lucy thing to say.
Oh no.
I think I’m on a date with the wrong twin.Unless they are both that way…
We walk around in silence for a few minutes, winding down the path to the lakes before we come across a splatter of chrysanthemums. Here’s a good chance. The real Lucy would know all about and would want to talk about her favorite flowers. “Look, Lucy. Your favorite.”
She follows my gaze and smiles. “Yep. Sure is.” Her voice isn’t as animated as I thought it would be. In fact, she sounds agitated. But I press on.
“Could you remind me of the history of the meanings behind each of the colors and how different cultures perceive them?” That should get her talking if it is the real Lucy.
She releases my hand and nears the flowers, lightly touching the stem, tracing her finger to the red petals. “They symbolize… love.”
The inflection in her voice indicates a question, but she said it as a statement.Strange.“And?” I prompt, attempting to get her swept away into her element.Please don’t let my assumption be correct…
“And…” she tapers off, still gently caressing the flowers. Suddenly, a dumbfounded look flashes across her face. “And…”
Lucy drops her hand, balling it into a fist at her side. She squares her shoulders as she turns to face me. Her lips are pressed into a tight line, an expression I am all too familiar with when it comes to her. ThisisLucy.
Oh, no. This is the real Lucy, and she’s going to break up with me because I’m pushing too far and acting too weird in my apprehensions.
I’m going to have to start this search all over, and quite frankly, I don’t want to. I want Lucy, even if she has this alternate side to her. I want her brain. I want her zing. I want her heart. I want her lips…I should have let her kiss me.
“We need to talk.”
Those dreaded four words pierce through my soul like the legendarySvaard aav Dood, a mystical sword in Korsan mythology that never left a soul it pierced still breathing. It was instant death.
“I’m sorry!” I blurt. “Kiss me.”
As soon as I lean in, she steps away, her hand splaying across my chest as she strikes her arm out to keep distance.
Then she laughs…
Laughs!
“Seriously, Finley. We need to chat first.”
Left feeling confused and unsure of what in the world is going on, I do all I can right now, and that’s follow her lead down the remainder of the stone path until we are seated on a white bench overlooking the lakes with the swans, singing a song of what I’m sure ismyimpending death.
After a treacherous moment, she looks at me with a sad smile and says, “My name is Lucy May Spence.”
“I know. I—”
She places a hand on my thigh like it’s the most familiar, comforting touch she can muster. “Hold on. Yes, I am Lucy MaySpence, but the woman you went out with that first night, and again after church, was my twin, Lorelei Raine Spence.”
She pauses, gauging my reaction I presume. But her words are still tumbling over me, and I’m trying to make sense of it. So this whole time, I’ve been falling for Lorelei, not Lucy? And I actually am on a date with Lucy? Not Lorelei like I briefly surmised? I’m definitely in some alternate universe…
After a deep breath, she spews everything out. “I sent her that first night in my place because I had received a black eye from a kid bouncing a tennis ball off a wall while I was at work. I am the event coordinator and stand-in assistant director at Juniper Grove Community Center, a job I only work because I’m a small-scale independent romance author. I haven’t made it big yet, which is my goal, so I work odd jobs. I thankfully landed this one, a bit more long-term, but it’s not what I want to be doing. I’m not as successful as my sister, I’m not as booksmart as she is, and I’m not as put together. I’m kind of a mess, a hopeless romantic, and well, not who you think I am.”
I don’t respond, mostly because I’m processing everything she’s telling me. The woman I’m sitting next toisLucy, but the woman I’ve fallen for is hersister,Lorelei. Logically, piecing together all the discrepancies, it makes sense. Even their names correlate to their personalities. Lucy is a fun, flirty name while Lorelei is structured and calm. There are so many differences between the two, but I let the fact that they look the same distract me. I can’t even be mad… If I had a twin, it’s a prank I would pull.
But then again, this wasn’t some prank, Idoneed a wife, and the one thing that tops it all, I’m enamored with Lorelei.
The woman I’ve been eyeing and desiring this whole time might not even be into me. Because that’s the feeling I gathered from Lorelei.
