Page 16 of Play Action Pass

“Okay.”

“Thank you, Mallory.”

The call disconnected. Emmie leaped from bed, and after the world’s fastest shower, she dressed in the first clothes she could find, jeans and a t-shirt. Her mother would pitch a fit if she had seen Emmie wearing them, so she mentally flipped the bird at her mom.

Eight minutes later, she pulled up in front of the ice cream parlor. A CLOSED sign rested on the door, but it opened immediately, as if Mallory watched for her arrival. Emmiestepped inside the cool interior and Mallory closed it and locked it behind her. Her dark hair was styled in a blunt cut that framed and complemented her delicate features. Wide brown eyes were a little swollen and red, revealing a night spent crying.

“Thank you for reaching out,” Emmie said. “I’m Emmie, by the way.”

She held out her hand, and Mallory shook it. “You look like him.”

“We’re twins.” Emmie sucked in a deep breath. “He was about ten minutes older than me.”

“I knew he had a sister, but I didn’t know…” Mallory cleared her throat. “I mean, he didn’t really talk all that much about his family.”

“I’m not surprised,” Emmie said. “Our parents weren’t cut out to be the nurturing types.”

They stood in front of each other awkwardly before Mallory gestured to a nearby table.

“Would you like some ice cream? I’d offer coffee but I don’t have any.”

Emmie shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

They sat across from each other, and Emmie linked her fingers together to rest on her lap.

“Jacoby always ordered salted caramel ribbon. Just like you.”

“It was our favorite,” Emmie replied. “Can I ask how you met him?”

“I was on vacation in New York City,” Mallory said, smiling a bit dreamily as her memory drifted back in time. “I was doing one of those boat tours around the Statue of Liberty and had just gotten off the bus when I knocked this guy down. He looked up and I looked down, and that was it. I just knew this was the man I was going to marry.”

Emmie’s heart hurt. It was torture listening to thehappiness in her tone.

“He spent the entire weekend with me, and when I had to come back home, he followed. Stayed a couple of weeks before he had to leave.” She wiped a tear off her cheek. “He said he was coming back to be with me, but I never saw him again. I thought … I thought he changed his mind.”

That explained where he’d been for that missing time right before his death.

“Did you know who he was?”

Mallory shook her head. “He never talked about his background, except to say he had a sister and didn’t talk to his parents. Truthfully, none of that mattered to me. With money, without money. I fell in love with the man, not the name.”

“I’m glad he found you,” Emmie whispered. “That he had love.”

“When you said he died, it was a complete shock,” Mallory continued, chin wobbling. “I went from thinking he didn’t want me, to finding out he was no longer in this world. And I wish I’d been able to say goodbye.”

Emmie reached over the table to lay her hand on Mallory’s. “I think he was planning to move here. For you. A lot of his stuff had been packed in boxes.”

Her words unleashed Mallory’s sorrow. Tears poured from her eyes, and she couldn’t hold back the sobs. Emmie rose and moved around the table to kneel and hug her as the torrent of emotions unleashed.

“Shh,” she said. “I’m so thankful he had you.”

For a long moment, they hugged each other. Emmie would always miss and mourn her brother, and although she may not be ready to lay him to rest, perhaps that was a disservice to his memory. Maybe the only way to move past the heartbreak was to truly let him go.

“In his journal, he talked about how much he loved thistown,” she said. Mallory pulled back, blinking at her. “For the past year I’ve stared at his urn, asking why he was taken from me. We came out of the womb together, so how do I go through life missing my other half?”

“H-how did he die?”

“He drowned. Took some anxiety medicine that caused him to fall asleep in a hot tub.” Emmie rubbed her forehead, frowning. “What an utterly stupid way to die, and I was so mad at him. Mad at myself because I should’ve felt something, you know? Aren’t twins supposed to know each other’s feelings? I couldn’t understand why I didn’t feel him dying.”

---