"You're right. It wasn't easy to hear that the person who ran out on me and claimed to have no family could be kind and generous to a stranger struggling with their passion. Where was she when I was struggling? Where was she when I needed a mother?" I gave a helpless shrug. "It's confusing."

"I can see that. It's difficult for me to understand how the woman I knew could have left her children without a word and pretended to be dead. It has to be impossible for you to wrap your head around it."

"Impossible is an understatement. It's why I have to get to the bottom of it."

"Your sister doesn't feel the same way."

"No. Dani is angry. And she doesn't like it when she's not in control of a situation. It stresses her out, and I don't want her to be stressed. She's had some difficulties the past few years trying to have a baby, and she's four months pregnant now. The last thing I want is for this situation to affect her health or her child. I was relieved when she wanted to leave."

"It sounds like she made the right decision."

"But she believes I made the wrong decision, which isn't unusual. She always thinks she knows better than me. Do you have any siblings?"

"I don't. And I can't imagine having an identical twin, although I noticed a few small differences between you."

"Like the fact that her hair is short, and mine is long."

"Yes, but I was thinking more about the freckle under your left eye. Hers is on the right."

"We're mirror twins. I can't believe you noticed that so quickly. She's also right-handed; I'm left-handed."

"That's interesting." His gaze studied my face with an intensity that I found uncomfortable as well as inexplicably exciting. "Did you ever wear your hair exactly the same? Did you dress the same? Pretend to be the other sister?"

"Yes, yes, and yes. Mostly after my mom died. She wanted people to see us as individuals, so she used to put us in different outfits. She wanted us to pursue our own interests. Once she was gone, that changed. My dad hired a nanny to take care of us. When she took us shopping, she just bought two of everything. That's when we started playing tricks on people, especially my father. He had trouble telling us apart, which seemed weird, because my mother always knew who we were."

"Maybe she was more connected to you because of the mother-daughter bond."

"Probably. She was very loving. She was always hugging us, kissing us, snuggling in bed with us. My dad was much more hands-off. He loved us. He provided for us. But I can't remember having deep conversations with him. Not ever. That's weird, isn't it?"

Kade shrugged. "Everyone is different. Why do you think he isn't calling you back? Is that unusual?"