Holiday In The Hamptons

“Because that’s what she wants me to think.”

“But—wait a minute. You’re saying she’s pretending to be her twin?” Chase stared at him, bemused. “Why? What possible reason could she have for doing that?”

“Me. I’m the reason. She’s avoiding me.”

“Avoiding—?” Chase shook his head. “But you’re here anyway.”

“Let me put this another way—she’s avoiding having to have a conversation with me as herself.”

“I’ve deciphered tax returns less complicated than this. You were married! Why would she think she can fool you?”

“We haven’t seen each other in ten years. She probably thought I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. That I wouldn’t know.”

But he knew. He knew her. Every detail.

“How long did it take you to work it out?”

“About ninety seconds. I mentioned cookies, and she panicked.” It had been fleeting, but he’d seen it. It had been enough to convince him that he was looking at Fliss.

“She has a phobia about cookies?”

“No, but she is a terrible cook. They had to call the fire department after one of her attempts.”

His friend grinned. “Does her grandmother realize?”

“I would imagine so. She’s a pretty smart woman.”

“So are you going to tell Fliss you know?”

“No. I’m going to let her carry on being ‘Harriet’ until she decides to tell me the truth.”

“Why?”

Lulu rolled onto her back hopefully, and Seth crouched down to rub her belly. “First, because if we keep up the pretense then she has no reason to avoid me.”

“None of this makes sense. If she was avoiding you, why would she be here in the first place?”

“She knew I was in Manhattan and didn’t realize it was temporary. She came here to reduce the chances of running into me.” And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Was it a good thing or a bad thing? It was good that she was unsettled enough by his presence to go to those lengths. Not so good that she was so afraid of facing him she was prepared to conceal her identity.

Chase unlocked the car. “You have one hell of an effect on women, Carlyle. Next you’ll be telling me she pushed Grandma down the stairs to give herself a reason to come here.”

Seth laughed. “No, but I suspect she grabbed that excuse like a drowning man might grab a life preserver.”

“So if Grandma is the life preserver, what does that make you? The big bad crocodile waiting in the water to eat her alive?” Chase paused by the car. “And tell me what the ‘second’ is.”