Page 91 of We Thought We Were Invincible
Then I thought of the phone conversation I overheard. “If he didn't know about us, then who is sending us money?”
She smiled sadly. “Your mother left quite a bit for you in a trust. I've had to use some of it over the years to pay the bills, but wanted to leave it there for you when you needed it. It's been her taking care of us all along. I was going to tell you all of this after graduation.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?” I asked. “You should've told us before now.”
She hung her head. “I know.”
I climbed to my feet. “I love you Kat, but I don't know if I trust a thing you say right now. You or mom.”
With that, I slammed her door behind me, ran outside and started walking with no set destination in mind.
* * *
I wanderedthe beach for hours, staring out at the calm waters that didn't even have the decency to rise up to meet my mood. What was my mood? I didn't know how to feel, how to act, what to think. It was all too much.
Clenching my fists at my sides, I kicked at the sand, the toe of my shoe flinging it wide. The grains caught in the wind, some blowing back on me but others scattering. How was there wind, but no waves? It didn't make any freaking sense.
My mind tried to grab onto those unimportant threads, but they slipped through, dragging my focus back to the subject I wanted to avoid.
Lowering myself to the sand, I pulled out the news clipping I'd taken from Kat's room. Mom couldn't have been more than a few years older than me and Colby. She looked … different. Her hair was bleached blond, hanging over her shoulders in perfectly styled waves. It was a far cry from the honey pixie cut I'd known her with. Her eyes in the picture were blue instead of amber. It had to be contacts. Was any of it real?
What if it was? That'd mean the woman I'd known was the impostor.
My arms jerked forward, ripping the clipping in half, then ripping it again. I threw the pieces before burying my face in my arms.
Someone bent down to pick up the pieces, defeated eyes looking up to meet mine.
I choked on a sob as my brother sat beside me. We'd both lost mom when we were young, both grown up without a father, but we hadn't gone through it together. Not really. This time it was different. It had to be. I didn't think I could do it on my own.
Colby shoved the pieces of the newly revealed secret in his pocket and sat beside me.
“Kat told you.” It was more of a statement of fact than a question.
“Right when I got home from school,” he said.
“At least we know.”
He slung his arm over my shoulders and I was twelve years old again. “I think I'd rather be kept in the dark.”
“Me too.”
Neither of us wanted to talk about it. Our mom. Our dad. Secrets. So, we didn't say anything more at all.
Since the shooting, we'd known anything could happen. Our lives could be turned upside down. Here we were, living proof of that. And we'd get through it. We always did.
I leaned my head on my twin brother's shoulder, knowing that this secret was going to take me away from everything and everyone I loved.
Maybe mom had known that too. Maybe she just wanted me to be ready.
36
Jamie
I found Callie sitting on my front porch. The parents were in Tallahassee for the week so they weren't around to bother us.
But something was bothering Callie. I could tell. I could always tell.
“Hey there.” I tried to smile, the corners of my lips being pulled down by the weight of secrets. She had mercy on me though as she stood and brought her lips to mine.
