“Did you miss me?”
“Every day,” I say with as much conviction as possible so he knows it’s true. I’m not sure how long Evan’s been home – if that’s even Evan – and I don’t want EJ thinking I’m being replaced because I’m not. I refuse to allow that to happen in his or Ryley’s life.
“What did you do dis time?”
“Well let’s see,” I say as I pretend to ponder his question. The last time I was gone I told him I had to race around in a boat trying to rescue baby ducks that had missed their chance to fly south with their parents. He told me I was the coolest dad ever because I had saved all the babies so their mommies wouldn’t be sad. In EJ’s eyes, I’m a hero and I want to stay that way.
“This time a giant snake escaped from the zoo and I had to go help them find it.”
He gasps and his little mouth drops open. I choke back a sob and paste on a smile just for him. My world is spinning right now and the more I think about what the next hour is going to bring, the faster it goes. My life is about to change and I’m not so confident I’m going to be the victor in any of this.
“Did you catch him?”
I nod more than a few times, hoping to find my voice. “Yeah we did,” I say as my voice breaks at the end. I can’t lose Ryley and EJ. They’re my whole life. And my brother – my best friend – we should be celebrating the fact that he’s home, but we’re not because our lives are colossally screwed up.
“Nate?”
I look toward the familiar voice and smile. My sister, Olivia, is here, which can only mean one thing – she and Ryley are on speaking terms.
“Hey Liv, it’s good to see you. I thought we’d have to take a trip up to Mom’s to see you later in the week.”
Livvie’s face is pensive and her eyes are wandering around the room. She looks like she has something to say, but can’t find the words and the longer she stands there, the more it dawns on me that she’s here because of Evan. She didn’t reconcile with Ryley while I was gone, it’s because Evan came home.
“Did you go see Grandma, EJ?” I ask him because he’s the only one who will give me an honest answer.
He nods. “Eban took us.”
Of course he did, I think as I press my hand to my head so I can massage my temple. The headache that is coming on is going to be fierce and relentless. I’m single-handedly being pushed out of my family and there won’t be a single thing I can do about it.
“Did you know?” she asks her voice barely above a whisper and breaking. I hate that she’s about to cry.
I shake my head. My lips form into a thin line.
“How?”
I look at her questioningly. “How what, Olivia?”
Livvie sits down quietly and EJ leaves me to go sit with her. He’ll never know how much my heart just broke in that moment, but I get it. He doesn’t see her a lot. I live here with him... or at least I think I do. Hell, right now I’m not even sure I’m in any functioning reality.
“How could you not tell me that our brother was alive? How could you do this to Mom?”
“Yeah, Nate, how could you do this to Mom?”
Both of us turn to find Evan standing in the doorway looking as cocky as ever.
“You both are making assumptions that you shouldn’t.”
“You’re twins! You have that freaky twin intuition. How could you not feel him or something?” Livvie pleads with me. I wish I had the answer she was looking for, but I don’t.
“Tink, why don’t you take EJ upstairs?” Evan says, asserting his control over the situation. “We need to have a conversation that EJ probably shouldn’t hear.”
“Can I take him for ice cream?”
“No,” I say.
“Yes,” Evan says at the same time. Liv looks back and forth between the two of us and Evan nods. I’m going to concede this one, but this will be it. I’m EJ’s dad, not him, and Ryley’s my fiancée. If Evan thinks that we’re just going to go back to the way things were, he’s out of his mind... if he’s even who he says he is. For all we know, he’s an imposter. He’s someone who has stolen my brother’s identity and is about to steal my life.
EJ hops down from her lap and pulls her hand into his. They’re out the front door before I can even tell him goodbye.