She’d gone after a big promotion at work, only to end up hating the new responsibilities she was given. So, she’d quit her job and left New York to chase a second chance with “the one that got away,” her college boyfriend, Darren. Charlotte had tried out a new life in Washington, DC, with him, but they’d quickly fallen into old patterns, fighting constantly, so in the end, she’d left him ... again.
Starting over in her hometown might be her last stab at figuring out what she was supposed to be doing with her life. Charlotte had moved back to Vermont four months ago, and it hadn’t taken long for certain habits to reappear, like not putting on her coat if she was just running out to her car.
Luckily, the weather today was fairly mild, by Vermont standards. It was about thirty degrees and partly sunny. She slid behind the wheel, grateful for her gloves, since the steering wheel was absolutely freezing. As she drove, her thoughts meandered in an attempt to distract herself when the campus came into view.
There was a reason she hadn’t attended Northshire University. It was a petty one, but it was hers. Both her parents had taught there. Her dad still did. Charlotte had spent countless hours as a child running around the campus, observing the college students as she dreamed of what her life would be like at that age, so mature and worldly.
But her mother’s disappearance and her subsequently strained relationship with her dad had tainted all her memories of the campus. It lost its magic, feeling instead like a prison she’d been desperate to escape. When the time came, she’d chosen to leave Vermont, attendingcollege in New Hampshire instead. She’d sworn she’d never come back, and yet, here she was.
Today’s showing was at a small colonial just past the main campus. This was the perfect location for a professor, but Charlotte had concerns about the house itself. It seemed dated, and not in a charming way. It needed enough work that it might even be considered a fixer-upper, which wasn’t what her new client was looking for.
The driveway was empty when Charlotte reached the small beige house. She parked at the curb and consulted the listing notes on her phone while she waited for her client, a woman named Marin Easterly. A few minutes later, a black Subaru Outback pulled up. This must be her.
Charlotte put on her coat, shut off her car, and stepped outside, flinching as the cold air gusted against her. A tall brunette was getting out of the Outback as Charlotte headed up the walkway to meet her at the front door.
“Hi, you must be Marin. I’m Charlotte. It’s so nice to meet—” She froze with her hand extended in greeting as she got a good look at the woman in front of her. Everything seemed to stop as adrenaline punched through her system, making her heart race and her stomach tingle, because it washer.
The woman she’d watched die two years ago was standing right in front of her. Which wasn’t possible, of course. Charlotte blinked, giving her head a slight shake. They said everyone had a doppelgänger ...
“It’s you.” The woman’s eyes widened as she stared at Charlotte with an expression of wonder. “It’s really you.”
This can’t be happening.
“But ...” Charlotte spluttered. “I watched you die.”
For a moment, Marin could have sworn her heart stopped for the second time. But it was still beating.Racing, in fact. The woman who’d comforted her as she lay dying in the street, who’d shaken her out ofthe fog that had shrouded her for so much of her life, was standing in front of her.
That fateful day, Marin had felt such a strong connection to her that she hadn’t paid enough attention to her surroundings as she crossed the street. She’d looked back over her shoulder, hoping for one last glimpse of the woman on the bus, a decision that had nearly cost Marin her life.
Now she knew that woman’s name. Charlotte Danton. Her new Realtor. What were the chances? If this wasn’t fate, she didn’t know what was. Tears pricked behind Marin’s eyes, and she felt the uncharacteristic urge to hug this woman she barely knew.
Charlotte’s eyes looked suspiciously glossy, suggesting she was just as affected by their reunion. Her hair had gotten longer, blond curls falling halfway down her back. And her scarf ... the pink-and-green scarf. She’d been wearing it on the bus. Marin had the inappropriate urge to touch that too. It had caught her eye that day, and it did again now. Those colors looked fantastic on Charlotte.
“I don’t understand,” Charlotte said. “How are you here? And in Vermont? I have so many questions.”
“I’ll answer them all, but let’s go inside first, shall we? It’s freezing out here.” Her body had a lot of aches and pains these days, and the cold certainly didn’t help. Perhaps she should have relocated to Florida instead of Vermont, but she’d had her reasons for coming here, reasons she never could have imagined would lead to this moment.
Charlotte reached for the lockbox on the front door and entered the code, then motioned Marin in ahead of her. She kept staring at Marin as if she’d seen a ghost, and she probably felt like she had, if she thought Marin had died that day. Obviously that accident had changed Marin’s entire life, but she’d never really stopped to imagine its impact on Charlotte.
“Okay, Marin Easterly.” Charlotte gave her an incredulous look. “You know, I always regretted not getting your name that day. It washard to mourn you, not knowing. Now here you are, alive ... and in my hometown, no less.”
Marin’s hands were shaking, and her heart pounded. “This feels like one of those ‘small world’ moments.”
“For me, it feels like an impossibility because I watched your heart stop,” Charlotte said. “And then I read a news article that said a woman died in that accident.”
“My heartdidstop, and a womandiddie.” Marin pressed a hand subconsciously against the organ in question. “I flatlined for almost two minutes. I had broken my right femur, fractured my pelvis, bruised my spleen, punctured a lung ... the doctors said it was a miracle I survived. But there was another woman injured in that accident, Brenda Lewis. Initially, she only broke her wrist, but she had a massive heart attack on the way to the hospital. She didn’t make it.”
“My god.” Charlotte’s eyes were wide and watery. “That’s ...”
“It’s terrible, a horrible tragedy, but I’m very much still alive.”
“And here in Vermont.” Charlotte reached out and touched Marin’s arm, as if reassuring herself that she was real. “You have no idea how many times I’ve relived that morning, how I’ve gone back over our conversation. I see that SUV in my nightmares. I watch it slam into you, watch youdie.”
“I’ve thought about it a lot too. Your face is the last thing I remember when I was lying there in the street. I always wished I could thank you for that, for holding my hand and reassuring me. I thought I was dying, and it helped ... knowing someone was there.”
Charlotte swiped a tear from her cheek. “I wasn’t sure if you knew I was holding your hand.”
“I knew. I felt so disconnected from my body ... it’s hard to describe. But I knew you were there.” She glanced around herself, suddenly aware that they were standing in the foyer of this house she’d wanted to see. “After we look at the house, do you want to maybe grab a coffee? I’d love to talk more, but I’m not sure this is the place.”
