Page 25 of I Would Die for You

“So, what did you and”—I stumble on the word—“Auntie, talk about?” I ask as I bathe her, paying particular attention to anything that looks out of place on her milky-white skin. There’s a small bruise on her upper arm that I can’t remember seeing last night, but that was back in another lifetime, when I wouldn’t have thought to notice.

“I dunno,” she says, shrugging as if it isn’t important.

“Well, did she explain why you hadn’t met her before?” I ask.

Hannah looks thoughtful for a moment. “She said that you all fell out…”

I quell the rising panic that’s souring my mouth. “Did she saywhy?”

“I dunno, something to do with her boyfriend,” she says, scooping the bath foam into her hands and blowing the bubbles into the air. She laughs when some land on the tip of my nose. Normally I would too.

“It was probably Daddy being overprotective of her,” I say, inventing a sibling that has never existed. “They’ve always had a love-hate relationship.”

“Well, maybe you should all try harder from now on,” says Hannah, showing a degree of maturity I hadn’t allowed for. “Because she seems really nice.”

My jaw tenses and my throat tightens at the prospect of my daughteractuallylikingthis stranger who has turned our world upside down. Yet I force myself to be grateful that the woman didn’t do anything to make Hannahdislikeher. It’s by far the lesser of the two evils.

“What did she do that was so nice?” I ask, hoping my line of questioning will encourage her to open up without realizing she’s being interrogated.

Hannah looks at me, sizing up whether she should say what she’s about to say. “I’m going to the air show with her,” she finally confesses. I suck in a breath, not just because she knows I can’t take her this year, but because of the insinuation that this woman is intending to stick around.

“I told her you were going to be out of town and she promised to take me instead,” she goes on, looking worried she might have upset me, even though I’m doing my utmost to force a smile.

“We’ll have to see,” I say, already mentally canceling my trip to the sea turtle convention in Michigan. I’m not taking any chances.

“Please, Mommy,” she begs. “We had a really good time.”

“You seem to be quite taken with her,” I say, gritting my teeth.

Hannah smiles. “I think she’s pretty.”

“That doesn’t make her a nice person,” I snap, before I have a chance to stop myself. She looks surprised, not used to my uncharacteristic outburst. “Sorry, baby… I’m just tired. Tell me what makes her pretty.” I wait for her to describe the woman who came to my door.

“Well, I like her hair,” she says. “I want to grow mine long like hers.”

I balk. Zoe didn’t have long hair—but it’s an easy mistake to make, I figure. “It’s a nice color too, huh?”

Hannah nods thoughtfully. “Can people change their hair color?”

I nod. “To any color they want.”

“Well, one day, when I’m a grown-up, I’m going to make mine brown like hers.”

A shiver runs through me as I dare to imagine that we’re talking about two different people. But that’s impossible. Hannah must have gotten herself confused.

“Is she OK?” asks Brad, once I eventually stop watching her sleep and come downstairs.

“She thinks it’s all one big adventure,” I say tearfully.

He opens his arms and I gratefully fall into them. “We’ll find out who did this,” he says, with steadfast resolve.

“I just don’t understand…” I cry.

He pulls me in even tighter and kisses the top of my head. “Don’t beat yourself up—you’re not to blame.”

An incensed ball of anger fills my chest as I push away from him, nostrils flaring. “I never thought I was,” I snap.

“I didn’t mean…” he starts.

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