“I gotta get out of here. You…you take care of it. Tell her whatever you want. I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”
“Ryan—”
“I need a few minutes, Mitch,” he snapped. He couldn’t stand looking into her blank eyes again, knowing she wasn’t remembering him or what they’d shared. He couldn’t deal with the pain. Pain he thought he’d gotten through long ago. Pain that was now sucking him under all over again.
He opened the back door and left before Mitch could stop him.
Kate studied the photos on the mantel while Ryan Harrison and Mitch Mathews spoke quietly in the other room. The face in the pictures looked like her, albeit a slightly different her. A river of unease rushed through her veins as she looked from photo to photo. The Harrisons on what looked to be a hiking trip. Annie Harrison in a hospital bed, holding a newborn. A wedding photo of Ryan and Annie on the day they were married, both dressed to the nines and grinning from ear to ear.
Her chest tightened, and her skin grew hot. If it was her in the photos, she didn’t remember any of the events. But the odd roll of her stomach told her that didn’t mean it wasn’t her either.
She looked quickly away from the photos, not wanting to go there yet, and scanned the room. Nothing about this house was familiar either. Not the furnishings or the pictures on the walls, though she did like the job Ryan Harrison’s decorator had done. Leather couches, plush pillows, chunky wood tables and trendy lamps she might have picked out herself if given the chance.
Her stomach rolled again at that thought, and she turned to find Julia Harrison staring at her with suspicious eyes. The girl had refused to utter a single word the whole time Ryan and Mitch were in the other room. Kate’s nerves kicked in. Staring down Ryan Harrison was one thing. Staring down his daughter when she very clearly wanted Kate gone was another.
She didn’t need this. She had enough problems in her life right now—moving to a new city, getting Reed adjusted to life without his father, trying to figure out what the hell had happened to her. And now, add to all that a man who could possibly be her real husband and a daughter who looked at her like she was the anti-Christ?
It couldn’t possibly get any worse, could it?
Mitch came back into the room, shot her a weak smile. Relief rushed through Kate like sweet wine when she saw him. As Julia slipped out of the room without a word, guilt rushed through Kate’s veins. It couldn’t be easy for the girl to see someone who looked so much like her mother. Kate hadn’t considered the girl’s feelings in all this when she’d decided to come by here today. She’d been so intent on finding answers, she hadn’t thought of anyone but herself.
Mitch watched her leave, then turned to face Kate. Heartache showed clearly in his features. And that guilt expanded ten-fold as she stared at him. This was so much harder for all of them than she’d anticipated.
Mitch blew out a breath. “We, ah, we think maybe there are enough similarities to warrant some tests. DNA tests to either prove or disprove the whole thing.”
She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. Was it relief or regret? At this point, she wasn’t sure. “Yeah, that’s what I was hoping. I can have my lawyer set it up. It should be easy, just a blood sample from you, her brother, and possibly her daughter.” As she glanced around, her unease grew by leaps and bounds. Ryan Harrison obviously wasn’t coming back out to talk to her. “I should go.”
“Okay.” Mitch raked a hand through his hair. “I, ah, I’ll walk you out.”
He led her out of the house and back down the street to her car. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt comfortable with him, even if he’d been the one to leave her that nasty gram at her office. Funny…a few hours ago he’d been her biggest enemy. Now he seemed to be her only ally.
Which was ludicrous because she knew nothing about this man.
He was quiet as they walked, his hands shoved deep in the front pockets of his jeans, his eyes on the ground in front of him, and as they headed toward her car his words from earlier echoed in her mind. Annie’s brother… Jake had told her she was an only child. That her parents had died years ago. She’d believed him. She’d believed so many things that now could very well be wrong. What else had he lied about?
She pushed that thought aside. Told herself she’d deal with it later. Right now, she had to stay focused on the moment or she’d break down.
When they stopped near her Explorer, she turned toward Mitch and looked into his eyes. Green eyes, she noticed now, that were eerily familiar. Like his niece’s—Julia’s—eyes. Like her eyes. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.”
She probably should let it go, but she was curious. “You seem like a really nice guy. So nice considering all this and what you must be feeling that I’m having trouble figuring out which guy you really are. The pompous jerk who left me that note this morning, or the supportive brother-in-law you seem to be this afternoon?”
He chuckled and looked down at his feet.
“What?”
“Nothing. That’s just something my sister would have asked me.”
“Oh.” The implication of those words hung in the air between them. He thought she was his sister. She could see it in those emerald eyes. Did she want that? Panic spread through her chest. She didn’t know what she wanted. Was seriously starting to doubt whether coming here had been a smart idea or not. God, why hadn’t she just waited like Simone had told her to do?
She ran a hand over her hair. They stood in silence for several seconds, then her curiosity finally got the best of her. “So which is it?”
“Both, I guess.”
“I see.” But she didn’t. Not really. She didn’t see anything. Doubted she ever would. And that fact left her feeling more lost than anything.
She drew in a deep breath that did nothing to ease the ache in her chest and glanced back toward the house. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“He’s been through a lot. You have to understand, when Annie died, it changed him. They had something special, something most people don’t find in a whole lifetime of looking.”
“I find that hard to believe. I’ve read a lot about him, and nothing I’ve ever seen leads me to believe he’s a caring individual.”
“Don’t believe everything you read.” Something in his voice warned her to be careful about her choice of words. But that voice softened when he added, “Seeing you today, well, it’s something I think he’s dreamt about for years. I just don’t think he ever expected Annie not to remember him. It’s like losing her all over again.”
“I’m not Annie,” she said quietly.
“No. Not yet. At least, not that we know for sure.”
There it was. Spoken aloud she didn’t know what to think. What to feel. What to do for that matter. “He thinks I am.”
“He knew her really well. They were together for ten years.”
Guilt tightened the already snug feeling in her torso. “I didn’t come here to hurt anyone. I hope you know that. I just need answers. You don’t know what it’s like to go through life not knowing who you are. A person without a past, well,” she shook her head, “it’s an anomaly.”
“And scary, I bet.”
“Yes, very,” she whispered as he stared into her eyes. And though she fought it, she couldn’t deny the jolt of déjà vu that coursed through her when she looked at him. “I’m just looking for answers, one way or the other.”