Page 97 of The Identicals
He biked again at night, after dark. He fixed himself a simple supper at ten or eleven and slept fitfully, dreaming of Harper.
His neighbor two doors down was an executive with Coca-Cola from Atlanta named Dick Davenport (Reed wondered whether this was a made-up name) who stopped by to ask if Reed would mind picking up his newspaper while he was away; he had daily delivery of theVineyard Gazette. Reed didn’t love agreeing to a regular obligation, but no sooner did Dick Davenport ask than Reed realized Dick must have mistaken him for Carter, so Reed felt he had to say yes. He then took to reading theGazetteevery day—and this was how Reed discovered that Brendan Donegal had died.
Reed’s heart broke for Harper. Brendan had been Harper’s friend; he was a person she had steadfastly visited on Chappy twice a week, no excuses. The obituary in the paper detailed Brendan’s early life on the Vineyard and his surfing successes—major competitions won, endorsements. Then it described the accident on South Beach, drugs the likely culprit. He convalesced from the accident with his mother, in her home on East Beach. And a couple of days earlier, he had suffered an “accidental” pharmaceuticals overdose.
Reed feels certain that wherever Harper has been hiding, she has heard the news of Brendan’s death and will return to the Vineyard, even though the newspaper explicitly mentions that there isno service planned. Reed awakens the day after he reads the obituary and feels Harper drawing closer to the island. She’s on the ferry. She’s with Fish. She’s wearing her white denim shorts and Billy’s light-blue golf shirt; her hair, which normally hangs heavy and long, is in a ponytail, a concession to the heat.
Reed has half a mind to drive to the Vineyard Haven ferry dock to pick her up. But then he realizes he has completely abandoned all reason. He isn’t picking up Harper’s aura or her energy. Reed is a scientist. He doesn’t have a mystical bone in his body. He only pictures Harper in the white shorts and blue shirt because that was the last outfit he saw her in. It was a day or two after Billy’s reception. Reed had chanced a drive past Harper’s duplex because he had been powerless against his desire to see her and talk with her in person about what happened. He had sent her a text message asking her not to contact him, which was curt and cruel. He wanted to remedy that. But when he was on approach, he saw Harper coming out of the house. She climbed into the Bronco and drove off in haste. She was going to meet someone, Reed had thought. Probably Drew Truman. Reed had carried on to the hospital.
And as for him envisioning Harper with Fish, well, that was a given. If Harper returned to the island, she would have Fish with her.
But still, the feeling lingers—insistent, pervasive. Harper is coming home.
It’s no real surprise, then, when Reed hears the knock on his front door. It’s ten past eight at night; the sun has descended past the tree line on Sheep Crossing. It’s dusk, but not dark.
Reed tries not to anticipate. It might be the goofy neighbor or a Jehovah’s Witness, although the hour is a little late for both.
He opens the door, and there she is. She is not as he imagined her. She’s wearing jeans shorts and a Hot Tin Roof T-shirt, neither of which he’s seen before. There is something off about her face that he can’t quite pinpoint. But then again, he thinks, he isn’t the same, either. He must look like a different person to her as well.
“Harper?” he says.
She goes to him.
TABITHA
He kisses her, long and deep. It’s a skillful kiss, she thinks, but she feels nothing except a sharp stab of longing for Franklin. Chemistry between two people is a slippery, elusive thing. Love is not transferable.
Still, she participates. The thrill here is in the deceit. She tries to imagine what Harper would do, and decides to run her hands through the doctor’s hair. Yes, this appears to be right. The doctor kisses her more deeply, pulls her closer. Tabitha feels him stiffening against her leg, and she hesitates. Kissing is one thing, but how far is she willing to go? When she knocked on the door, she had assumed: all the way. Anything less would be shy of revenge.
The doctor’s hand travels up the inside of Tabitha’s shirt. He is clearly fooled, even though Tabitha is, as Eleanor so kindly pointed out, heavier than Harper, a little thicker in the midsection. The doctor reaches up to unfasten her bra.
Whoa. She pulls away, casts her eyes down.
“Hey,” the doctor says. “I love you, Harper. You need to know that. I love you.”
Tabitha nods as tears fill her eyes. The doctor loves Harper, and no doubt Harper loves the doctor. But because of this, Tabitha is doomed to be alone.
“I love you, too,” she whispers to the floor.
She allows the doctor to lead her by the hand to the back bedroom. With each step, she considers turning around. She had intended to betray Harper, but with each passing moment, she becomes more aware that she’s betraying Franklin. If he could see her right nowwith his brother-in-law,he would… what? Tabitha is also betraying the doctor, which bothers her as well, though less. The doctor is hardly an innocent in all this.
As the doctor shuts the door behind them, Tabitha reluctantly sits on the bed. The doctor lifts her shirt up over her head, removes her bra, gently encourages her to lie back. He starts kissing her stomach.
It’s then Tabitha realizes that the person she is ultimately betraying is herself.
“Stop,” she says.
The doctor, obedient, looks up. He sees something in her face—or he doesn’t see something.
“Harper?” he says.
“No,” she says. “I’m not Harper.”
AINSLEY
She is summoned to her grandmother’s house after she gets home from work. Getting to the boutique and seeing Caylee that morning had been a relief; it felt like she had been away forever. Something had happened with Harper, although Ainsley wasn’t sure what. She had been fine after seeing Mrs. Donegal, but when Harper picked up Ainsley in Vineyard Haven, she was trembling, teary, weird.
Adults remain a mystery to Ainsley.
