I didn’t even notice when the people that live next door moved in. The father and daughter were quiet. Nothing out of the ordinary. But the first time I saw Lily, his daughter, playing with mine, my heart skipped a beat.
Emma and Lily were running around in our yard and laughing like they were best friends. The sun made their golden curls shine, and it also brought out their dimples and upturned noses. They looked like they could be twins. If Emma weren’t a little taller, I might have believed they were the same person.
I could feel Jack walk up next to me. “Hey, Heather? Are you all right? You look like you just saw a ghost.
I smiled at myself. “Just thinking.”
But I suddenly felt a flood of doubt. What were the odds? There was no way to deny how identical they were. I started to wonder if Jack had cheated. Was Lily his child?
That night, I sat down and looked at images of Emma as a baby, expecting to find answers in her beautiful face. Jack walked over to me and asked what I was doing. I hastily closed the album and said, “Just remembering.”
He didn’t push, but the silence between us got worse every day.
I started to really pay attention to them. It felt like a knife digging deeper every time Lily smiled at Jack. He looked uncomfortable and changed the subject every time I brought up the neighbors. I couldn’t take it anymore.
One night, I just asked. “Jack… Is Lily your daughter?
He stopped moving. He said it in a low voice. “What?”
“Don’t lie to me. She looks a much like Emma. And ever since they moved in, you’ve been distant.
He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. “I swear, Heather, I never cheated on you.”
“Then why all the lies?”
He jumped out of bed and said, “I can’t do this right now.”
“Don’t go!”
But he did.
He left before dawn. There was only a note on the nightstand that said, “I left for work early.” We’ll talk later.
I didn’t wait. I told Emma to go play with Lily, and then I went straight to the door of our neighbor.
When I got there, Ryan grinned at me. “Hey, Heather!” There are girls in the back.
As I walked in, I said, “I really came here to talk.” I gazed around the house as he called the women. There were framed images of Ryan’s dark features on the walls. Lily was like the sun in a shadow.
There are no photos of her mom.
I had to go upstairs for some reason. I saw a big image of a blonde woman on the wall. I didn’t like her face.
“Is that Lily’s mom?” I asked when Ryan got there.
He looked shocked and then gently shook his head. “Yes.” That’s Mary.
“Where is she?”
“She passed away last year.”
I gave it some thinking. “Is Jack Lily’s father?”
Ryan was very surprised. “No.” No, God. Didn’t he tell you?
“No. Nothing.”
He grumbled and instructed me to take a seat. “You have a right to know.”
After that, he told me the truth.
He said, “Mary and Jack were brother and sister.” “Mary was his younger sister.”
I couldn’t get any air.
“She had a lot of problems. Her parents didn’t want anything to do with her and acted like she wasn’t there. Jack was the only one who stayed with her. I brought Lily here after she died so she could be with the only family she had left.
I was horrified and silent as the truth hit me. Lily was not the consequence of cheating. She was Jack’s niece. Jack had kept his niece Lily away from the rest of the family because he was so sorry and sad.
Jack’s car pulled into the driveway at that time. I thanked Ryan and ran home.
He was in the kitchen, watching the girls through the window.
He said gently, “Heather.” “I need to talk to you—”
“I know already,” I said. “About Mary.” About Lily.
He nodded, and his eyes were full of tears. “I didn’t know what to say. I failed Mary. I didn’t send her the last letter back. I was ashamed that I thought I could fix things by helping Lily. And I was afraid you would believe the worse.
I held his hand and said softly, “You don’t have to do this by yourself.” “I’m your wife.” If you had trusted me, I would have understood.
He looked at me with both relief and regret at the same time.
We chatted for hours about our sadness, our past, and all the things we hadn’t said. He told me about the sister he couldn’t save, the parents who turned their backs on him, and the niece he was just starting to love.
The house felt different as the girls came in, smiling and with rosy cheeks. Not as heavy. It felt like a load had been taken off.
They still looked like they were twins. But the fact that they were so identical made everyone sure. It made things better.
Two women who didn’t know their convoluted history were tied by love, not blood. I couldn’t hear them laughing anymore.
It helped me.