Sara interrupted. “Where is Quinn?”
For a moment Gil’s face was blank, then he showed his shock. “I told him to wait for me in the truck.”
At that moment, Quinn entered the room from the hallway leading to Jack’s bedroom. “You forgot about me,” he said to his father, sounding hurt. “Who’s the woman on Jack’s bed?”
“Trauma,” Sara said, and went to the boy to hug him.
He stepped away from her, frowning. “What’s going on?”
Gil got up and went to his son. “I’m sorry. Rachel wouldn’t want you to be sad. We have to think of her as she was.”
Quinn pushed away from his father. “Are all of you crazy? That’s not Rachel. Is that woman dead?”
Gil reached out for Quinn, but he moved away.
“That isnotRachel!” Quinn shouted.
Each of them had had experience with grief. Denial was the first step of it.
They formed a half circle around Quinn, with no one knowing how to comfort him.
Jack stepped forward, his hand extended. In the months they’d spent together in Colorado, he and the boy had become close.
Quinn was about to take Jack’s hand when a woman spoke.
“I don’t meant to interrupt, but Lenny said all of you were here, and the door was open. I made muffins.”
Slowly, they turned to look at her, then froze in silence.
It was Quinn who reacted. He plowed through the circle, nearly knocking Kate down, as he went to the woman. He threw his arms around her, lifting her from the ground.
Randal caught the basket of muffins before they hit the floor.
“I told them!” Quinn said in triumph. “I told them you weren’t her.”
The others stood still and stared.
Laughing, the woman broke away from Quinn before he crushed her, and looked at him. “I’m glad to see you too. Have you had breakfast?”
Jack was the first to recover from shock—and he didn’t look happy. Without a word, he stepped behind the woman, put his hands on her shoulders, and guided her down the hall to his bedroom.
There on the bed lay the woman who looked like the one in front of Jack. Rachel was dead on the bed and Rachel was being held in Jack’s strong grip.
“Is she...?” Alive Rachel asked.
“She’s dead.” Jack’s voice wasn’t kind.
“I guess you want an explanation.”
Jack raised an eyebrow but said nothing as they went back down the hall. The others were sitting in the living room, with a space open on a couch for Jack, and for the Rachel who was alive.
Kate, Sara, and Randal were frowning, their faces serious to the point of anger. They didn’t like being played for fools.
On the opposite couch were Gil and Quinn. They were enjoying the freshly baked muffins, a platter of fruit, and big mugs of cold milk. They were very happy. Quinn was wearing a smug I-told-you-so look. Having outsmarted so many adults was a highlight of his life.
Jack and the woman sat down on the couch, waiting in silence for her to explain.
She took a couple of breaths, let them out, but said nothing. She looked at Kate. “Do you still like the coconut pieces the best?”
