She squints one eye at me as if the sun has created a halo around my head. “There’s more, but we’ll start with the guy responsible.”
All this time, I thought my mom was too wrapped up in chains by her own circumstances to take any interest in my life, and here she is reading me like I’m an open book.
I suck in a deep shaky breath. “Guys, plural.”
Pedro doesn’t react.
My mom rubs my hand. “You have feelings for them both?”
How the fuck is she doing this, poking straight through to the raw heart of the problem like she’s the counselor? My mom is a mobile hair stylist. I would never trust anyone else to cut my hair. But years of listening to clients spilling the beans about their private lives while she snips off their split ends has obviously provided her with the kind of experience you don’t learn from a textbook.
“Yes.” It’s a strange, strangled sound thick with emotion.
Now that I’m here and slicing my chest open to examine the contents, I realize that I already knew Cash and Bash were two different people. I just needed someone to point out the obvious.
They’re identical twins. Easy mistake to make. But the signs were there; I was simply too besotted and blinkered to recognize them.
And now…?
Now, I don’t know what to think or how to feel or what to do about any of it.
Cash was excited to see me in the Rinse. Bash less so. But they both handle situations differently; it doesn’t take rocket science to figure that out. I believed Cash when he said that neither of them knew about the other, but how could I possibly choose between them? If the choice was ever mine to begin with.
Pedro places two cups of coffee on the table, picks up his laptop, and leaves us alone.
I sip the steaming liquid before I realize that I should minimize my caffeine consumption because it isn’t good for the baby.Babies.
“You want to tell me about them?” Mom asks.
I swallow hard, my pulse racing. Here goes.
“They’re twins. Identical. I didn’t realize until… Until today.”
Frown lines appear between Mom’s eyebrows. I get the same lines whenever I’m concentrating, George once pointed out to me.
“You thought they were both the same person?” Mom asks. “This isn’t some kind of sick game they’re playing, is it? Because if it is, I’ll hunt them down and?—”
“No, Mom. It was a misunderstanding.” I suck my top lip in to stop more sobs from escaping. “I’ve not been dating them.”
The frown lines deepen. “What then?”
“Long story.”
“I’ve got all day, Rem.”
She’s right. I came here for a reason; I can’t now give her half the story and leave.
“One of them was my boss at the casino. There was an accident, I got drinks spilled on me, and he took me up to his apartment to get me some fresh clothes. At least, I thought it was him.”
“But it was his twin.”
I nod and instinctively touch the teardrop around my neck. “I lost Dan’s pendant. When I went back to get it…”
“You met the other twin.” Mom rubs her temples. “And now you’re in too deep and you don’t know what to do about it.”
“In too deep?”
“Rem…” Mom smiles. “I recognize love when I see it. Here.” She stands up and pulls a small mirror from her purse on the kitchen counter. “What do you see?”
