Page 257 of Summer Heat
“Yeah,” he sighs. “I always thought you were a princess, but I never wanted to tell you that. I wanted you to act like a G.I. Joe with me.”
“I know,” I whisper, nodding my head. “I remember.”
“How’d you get this?” he asks, lifting up the doll.
“I went to your parents’ house.”
His mouth pops open. “How? Did you know who they were?”
“No,” I shake my head. “I think I had some suspicions for a while. Well, sort of...you know my friend, Aimee?” I wait until he nods, but he looks horrified. “She does these things that remind me of you sometimes, but I just figured it was a coincidence. Anyway, she’s...your sister.”
He gasps as if I’ve punched him in the stomach. “What?”
“I know. It’s a lot to take in. Trust me, when I was at her house today, I thought I would leave in a gurney.”
“Does she know?” he asks, still horrified.
“No,” I shake my head rapidly. “I didn’t want to tell her. I wanted to tell you first. I don’t even know how I would tell her.”
He raises his eyebrows and nods. “So my parents think I’m missing?”
“They think you’re dead,” I whisper.
“Oh, God,” he says hoarsely as tears stream down his face. I hold his face to my chest and stroke his hair as he weeps quietly, the same way he’s comforted me so often in the past.
We spend the rest of the night talking about what we remember and looking through my pictures.
“Do you think that’s the same place you took me to that time?” I ask him as we look at a picture of us in the farm.
He looks at me as he contemplates the possibility. “It might be. It’s completely destroyed now, so we would have never linked the two together. Let’s go tomorrow.”
“Okay, if you’re up for it.”
“I just don’t understand why they would put it under my name. And if my parents are alive...I don’t know. This is so confusing.” he says shaking his head slowly.
“I know,” I reply idly twirling a strand of hair around my finger. “Do you want to meet Aimee?”
He lets out a breath and shrugs. “I guess.”
“I can talk to her about it and explained what I remember. I know it’s going to be hard for her to believe, but she’s great and I know you’ll love her.”
“I just don’t understand how I don’t remember. I remember going to the farm. I remember wanting to play with you. I remember that stupid doll you used to bring along with you all the time. how can I not remember my own family?” he says in a wavering voice.
I give him a sad smile and hold him tighter, thankful that as crazy as this is, we have each other to lean on.
“How old is she?” he whispers later on when we’re laying in bed.
“She’s your twin,” I whisper back. He squeezes me tighter and buries his face in my neck.
I feel sunlight on my face and blink my eyes open slowly. I can’t even remember falling asleep last night. I look over and find Cole looking through the pictures again. My heart hurts for him, but there isn’t much I can do, other than help him and Aimee get to know each other again.
“Good morning,” I say huskily.
He turns his face and smiles at me. “Hey, baby.”
“How’d you sleep?”
“Good, actually. I always sleep good when you’re beside me,” he says as he lays down next to me and kisses my forehead. “I’m starting to remember things.”
