Josh was quiet for a beat. “Not very good, I guess. He had a hat on, you said?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t see his hair. But his face...” She turned her eyes to Josh as a tear slipped down her cheek. “It wasEthan. I wasn’t imagining it. I don’t believe in ghosts, and I can’t explain it, but it was Ethan.” After a moment she ripped her gaze away and raked her hands through her hair, squeezing until her scalp stung. She was entertaining a crazy thought. “I know that’s not possible.”
“Hey.” He thumbed away the tear. “I know this is unsettling, but you’re gonna be all right. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“How? He’s gone and we have no clue where he went.”
“You saw him at the carnival—maybe he’ll come back. We can search tomorrow night and the next and the next if you—” His brow furrowed. “Wait. You said you spotted him when you were taking photos of Zoey. Is it possible you caught him in a picture?”
She couldn’t remember if she’d taken that shot. She’d been so rattled. She reached for her phone. Josh leaned close as she opened the photo app and tapped on the last picture she’d taken.
She gasped. There he was.Ethan.
It was a profile view and a woman partially blocked him. But Maggie’s phone was set for Live photos, so she opened the featureand dragged her thumb across the bottom of the screen until the woman passed and Ethan’s twin turned toward the camera. For the second time tonight the image stole her breath. Set off a jackhammer in her chest.
Her gaze shot to Josh, who stared at the screen as if he’d just seen a ghost.
***
A shiver passed through Josh. He grabbed the phone and pulled it closer. He could hardly believe his eyes. The photo was a little blurry. But itwasEthan. There were his bright blue eyes, set deep beneath the slashes of dark brows. His aristocratic nose, high cheekbones, square jaw.
“You weren’t kidding. He’s a dead ringer.” Appropriate choice of words since his brother was, in fact,dead. And dead men didn’t go walking around the town carnival. Josh peered at the photo. “He’s thinner than Ethan.”
“People can lose weight.”
Not dead people.He didn’t have the heart—or even the conviction—to say it aloud. Because they’d never actually seen his destroyed body. And suddenly that little detail opened up a cavern of doubt. Josh homed in on the man in the picture, permitting the impossible thought to emerge from the shadows of his brain.
Still. There had to be some other explanation.
Maggie gave her head a shake. “I know it can’t be true. He’s gone. It’s not possible he’s still alive.”
“There has to be a rational explanation. Maybe he’s a long-lost cousin or something.”
Her attention returned to the man on the screen. “He seemsyounger. Younger than he looked even at thirty-two. But he’d be thirty-seven now. This guy can’t be that old.”
“I agree.” But Maggie was right—if they’d seen the guy in Wichita or Tampa or Houston, maybe they could write it off as a fluke.
But he washerein Seabrook.
For a while they studied the photo, noting every similarity. Zoomed in until his face was hazy, trying to find a hint to his identity.
After a few minutes Maggie sagged against the couch. “I know it can’t be Ethan. But I need answers. I can’t live with not knowing.”
“Me either. We’ll go back tomorrow night and look again.”
“What are the chances he’d return to the carnival?”
“Probably small, but it’s all we’ve got. We can show his picture around. Maybe someone will recognize him.”
“Good idea.” She took the phone and woke it up. Ethan’s twin stared back at them. “We’re going to Erin’s tomorrow to swim and hang out. What should I say?”
His family had been through so much. It would be cruel to get their hopes up when they had no answers. Cruel enough that it was happening to Maggie and him. Because it was impossible to extinguish that tiny possibility. That impossible glimmer of hope. “Why don’t we keep this between us for now—until we have some answers.”
She nodded slowly. “No sense upsetting everyone.” Maggie returned her attention to the photo for a long quiet minute. The phone trembled in her hands. She turned tear-filled eyes up at him. “It can’t be him, right?”
It was hard to reconcile the facts. Tonight she’d seen Ethan’s double. And yet almost five years ago, a uniformed officer and a chaplain had delivered news of his death. Both of these were true.
If Josh was reeling, he could only imagine how she was feeling. Maggie, who’d clawed her way back from the pit of grief to single-handedly raise her daughter. He took the phone from her hands, set it aside, and opened his arms to her. “Come here.”
