Page 31 of The Stranger in the Mirror

His face clouds over. “You need to insist on a DNA test. That surrogate business sounds fishy to me. You have to get proof.”

My head is spinning. “Please, Gabriel. Let me figure this all out.”

“I can’t lose you, Addy. I just can’t.” He pulls me into his arms, and we stay that way, feeling the beating of each other’s hearts. I can’t lose you either, I think, but I know it’s too late. He’s already lost.

− 29 −

Julian

The elation Julian felt when he’d found Cassandra had completely evaporated by the time he left the gallery. She hadn’t recognized him, nor remembered Valentina—she had no recollection of her life before her existence as Addison whatever-her-last-name-was. As he traveled back to the hotel, he tried to tamp down his anxiety. He couldn’t believe that she’d started an entirely new life in just two years. He’d put his own life on hold while he searched and waited, but when he thought about it, he realized how foolish it had been of him to assume that time would stand still for her as it had for him. All he could do now was go home and gather the evidence to show her and the people around her that she belonged with him.

When Julian reached the hotel, he strode quickly through the quiet lobby to the elevators. The first thing he did when he got to his room was to open a scotch from the minibar and drink it in one long gulp. Then he opened his laptop and booked the earliest available flight to Boston for the next day. He needed as much time as possible at home to take care of everything. He’d make arrangements for Valentina, and have his assistant reschedule all of the coming week’s patients. After that he’d gather anything that might help prove to Cassandra that he was telling the truth.

There was a split second when he considered bringing Valentina back with him to Philadelphia, but he quickly dispensed with that idea. It would be reckless to reveal anything to theirlittle girl until he was sure Cassandra was coming home. Valentina had been hurt enough in her young life. No, it was a time for careful planning, not a time to act rashly. He would ask their nanny, a woman he trusted implicitly, to take the child to her house for a few days, until he deemed it the right time for Cassandra and Valentina to reunite. On Sunday he would drive back to Philadelphia and meet with Cassandra. If all went according to plan, he’d drive back to Boston with her on Monday.

Julian closed the laptop and grabbed another scotch from the minibar. He sat in the dark and replayed the scene in the back room of the gallery that night. The older woman had taken gracious but firm control of the situation, and he’d realized immediately that she was someone to be reckoned with. Somewhere in her late fifties or early sixties, he estimated, she possessed a natural elegance and beauty. He thought he’d heard one of them call her Blythe. The fiancé’s mother. Gabriel. It was clear that Gabriel was in love with Cassandra, from the possessive way he’d put his hand on her arm and the horror on his face when Julian announced who he was. The question was, did Cassandra love Gabriel? He sat still with that thought, letting his feelings sink in. It angered him; there was no question. He hadn’t so much as looked at another woman since Cassandra went missing. His primary concern had been for their daughter, and so he’d put all of his love and time into Valentina. It had been enough for him while he waited.

He knew he had to put any jealousy or judgment aside if this was going to work. He would have to be gentle with Cassandra and give her time. Patience, he repeated to himself. This was going to be hard for Cassandra too. It was not a time to be selfish and dwell on his own feelings. No, this needed to be a very careful reentry into their married life. If he pushed her too quickly or made a wrong move out of impatience, it could very possibly endin disaster. Slow and steady was the way forward. First, she had to feel safe and even comfortable with him. That was the reason he’d decided they would drive the five hours to Boston together rather than fly back. He knew that many people felt more comfortable talking in a car, where there was a relaxed informality—the lack of eye contact lowered inhibitions, making it easier to speak honestly.

Julian rested his chin on his steepled fingers. He felt some optimism, the first in a long time. Yes, he knew Cassandra would be torn about leaving the life she’d built, and he might have to deal with the anger that he’d seen in Gabriel. It also hadn’t taken Julian long to recognize the deep bond Cassandra shared with the man and woman—their names eluded him—who’d taken her in. But he was confident of his ability to overcome any obstacles all of this might present. Time would take care of the emotional toll for her and the people in her life at parting.

The thing that nagged at him, though, was how much to tell Cassandra about her past. She’d made such great progress with therapy and putting the horror behind her. He’d have to take it slowly, assess her state of mind, the extent of her fragility. He assumed she was off her meds, since she had no memory of who she was. It was a miracle that she’d been doing so well without them. He didn’t want to alarm her by telling her right away that she’d been on a potent combination of antidepressants and antianxiety drugs, but it was imperative that she get back on her protocol, especially once she came home. He couldn’t risk her doing anything to hurt Valentina. One day at a time, he told himself. He’d figure it out one day at a time.

− 30 −

Blythe

The atmosphere in the room bordered on funereal, Blythe thought as she carried in the tray with four coffee mugs. Ted sat at one end of the sofa facing the fireplace, and Gabriel had taken a seat at the other end. Hailey, in sweatpants and an oversize turtleneck sweater, was curled up in an armchair with her bare feet tucked underneath her. She looked like she had just lost her best friend, which in a way she had. Hailey and Addison had grown almost as close as sisters, and that had worried Blythe. But of course the whole situation had worried her. Now that she had been proved right, though, she didn’t find any sense of satisfaction in it, just loss.

Gabriel was the only one who had seen Addison since the scene the night before at the gallery. Blythe understood that Addison needed time to try to come to terms with everything before confronting Gabriel’s whole family, but her main concern right now was her son. He was a wreck, alternating between misery, anger, pessimism, and hope.

“What’s the latest you’ve heard, son?” Ted asked.

Blythe put down the tray and sat, looking from her husband to her son. They’d always been close. From the time Gabriel was small, Ted had played ball with him and taught him tennis, and when he was older, some of their favorite times had been fly-fishing trips to Penns Creek. They’d even learned to tie their own flies. She knew not all father-son relationships were as good, especially when they worked together like Gabriel and Ted did.

“He’s gone back to Boston. Supposedly he’s going to bring back proof for her.”

“Supposedly?” Blythe said.

Gabriel sat with an ankle crossed over his knee, his foot bouncing with agitation. “Who knows if it’s even true, Mom? He could be making it all up.”

“But there were photographs of her with a child,” Blythe said.

“With a child she supposedly had via surrogate? What a load of crap. Besides, photographs can be altered. You know that as well as I do. It doesn’t prove anything.”

“No, it doesn’t prove anything, but it does raise questions. The woman in those photos was definitely Addison. What motive could that man possibly have to lie?” Blythe tried to keep her tone neutral. It was patently clear that Gabriel was unwilling to give one shred of credence to Julian Hunter’s story. When they’d gotten home last night and Blythe had gone online to search for Julian, she found that he was a respected doctor in Boston with an impressive background—an MD from Stanford, after which he’d moved to Boston for his residency. And despite the difficult and painful situation in which Julian had clearly found himself, he’d seemed gentle and understanding with Addison. Blythe had noted his tasteful attire, his polished good looks, his kind demeanor. In fact, she had found him quite likable, and all of this together made her feel that he was telling the truth. The one thing that had struck her as odd was that she could find no news articles about him, nothing mentioning a missing wife. Blythe had always been one to cross everytand dot everyi, however. Before she’d gone to bed, she’d texted his name to Jim Fallow on the off chance that there was more to Dr. Julian Hunter than met the eye.

Now, Blythe waited to hear what Gabriel had to say, but he was silent, crossing and uncrossing his legs and drumming his fingerson the arm of the sofa. She had no illusions about how this was going to end up. Gabriel would continue to stay in his world of denial until it was impossible not to confront the truth, and that worried her more than anything. Her son was in pain, and she couldn’t bear the thought that he would hurt for a long time to come.

“I think your mother has a point, Gabriel,” Ted said. “Why would this man lie about Addison? What would he have to gain by doing that?”

“I don’t know. All I know is we shouldn’t jump to conclusions until there is undeniable proof. And so far, we haven’t seen it. And that bullshit about Addy having cosmetic surgery and being thirty-seven. There’s no way.”

Hailey uncurled her legs from under her and sat up straight. “I’ve been thinking about something else. Maybe this guyistelling the truth, and they’re married. But what if she was unhappy? Or afraid of him? Maybe she deliberately ran away. He could even be the reason she tried to kill herself.”

That possibility had occurred to Blythe, too, and the prospect worried her deeply. She knew how quickly Gabriel would take on the role of superhero and protector. If Julian Hunter were violent, her son could be in danger. She knew it was selfish of her to think first of her son, when Addison could also be a target, but she was his mother first.

Gabriel leaned forward, planting both feet firmly on the floor. “Yeah, that makes total sense. We all knew she was running away from something. It had to be him. What other explanation could there be?” He was suddenly animated, as if he’d been thrown a lifeline.

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