Page 50 of My Twin Sister

“Of course I am. Everyone in town is wondering who is in my coffin. It would be weirder if I didn’t seem interested to know.”

He sighs and looks at the wall. “Yeah, I guess so. It’s going to stir up a lot of shit.”

“For who? For Frank?”

He nods. “And everyone else involved.”

I shrug. “Not my problem.”

Wyatt narrows his eyes at me. “He already tried to have you killed once, Grace. He can make it your problem.”

He’s right. Of course he is. “I’ll be careful,” I promise. “I’m still waiting for the funeral home to call me back with the time and day.”

I realize they probably should have called me by now. The woman said she’d have to notify the authorities, which almost certainly means Raven PD. Maybe they’ve put a hold on things somehow.

“Please. I don’t think Geny could handle losing you again. Not that she handled it the first time.”

“She seems to have managed just fine.”

“She didn’t. Grace, she was in and out of treatment for years. Please don’t tell her I told you this. She wouldn’t want you to know.”

I sit forward in my seat. “What do you mean treatment?”

Wyatt pushes his hand through his hair, seeming to consider whether he should tell me. “She’d have these ‘episodes.’ That’s what she’d call them. They were mental breakdowns. She’d stop eating, sleeping. She’d lose track of time. Get all paranoid. One time she was so convinced I was cheating on her that she installed a tracker on my phone and followed me around for weeks before I noticed. She attacked one of the female supervisors at the shipping yard. It got dangerous.” He notices my expression and continues. “She goes long stretches without it happening. It only happens now when she’s under a lot of stress.”

“Why didn’t either of you tell me about this sooner? She’s under a lot of stress now. Our dad just died and I just came back—”

“I know that, Grace. I’m keeping an eye on her.”

I sigh and cover my face with my hands. I’ve put her through so much. Too much.

Wyatt stands up. “I should get going.”

I stand up too. I want him to stay, but I know he can’t. I know he wouldn’t. He looks at me, a million unsaid things written on his face.

“I’ll try to smooth things over,” he says. “And to figure out how she knew about Frank.”

I bite my lip. “Be careful. If he was willing to have me killed to keep his secret, he could hurt Geny if he knows she knows.”

“I know. I’ll keep Frank at a distance. I’ll be careful. Promise.”

“Wyatt?”

He turns.

“Take care of my sister, okay?”

He nods once and leaves quickly, avoiding goodbyes. It’s the safest way because there is no denying I still love him. But my feelings don’t matter. He’s married, and though we were both willing to betray each other in our teens, we’ve learned what that kind of selfishness can lead to. I’m still learning the collateral damage my actions caused.

Thirty: Geny

Tina is asleep on the love seat when I walk into the living room. Frank is awake but the TV is loud. There’s a chance he didn’t hear the argument outside. My reckless words. He pauses whatever movie he’s watching when I step further into the room.

He sits up. “How was your night?” He looks behind me and realizes I’m alone. “Where’s Wyatt and your sister?”

“She had a little too much to drink.”

He doesn’t say anything, but looks at me as though he’s thinking what I’m thinking. That Wyatt and Grace are hopelessly in love and now they’re alone together, and I am so stupid and so foolish and so fucked.