While I should’ve been bothered by that, I wasn’t, because I knew that Ty’s intentions were genuine and came from a good place. “I’ll never understand how my sister managed to get such good men in her life. I mean, Ty knew what kind of person she was, yet he stuck around. And I know you said that she was different with you, but I still don’t know how she pulled that off.”
“She fooled me into believing that she was someone else. Actually, she fooled me into believing that she was you.” He must’ve found my wide eyes and dropped jaw comical, because he laughed beneath his breath through smiling lips. “Yeah, I think my reaction wasn’t too different from yours when all the puzzle pieces started coming together for me.”
“Back up…how did she make you think she was me? I don’t understand.”
“Did you ever have a neighbor named Lexi when you were a kid?”
That was a name I hadn’t heard in a while. “Her mom lived across the street from me when I was in high school; she was really little, though. What does she have to do with this?”
“Did you teach her how to read?”
Even though I was still confused, I decided to follow him down the rabbit trail anyway. “Uh, yeah. Her mom, Betsy, was dyslexic and worried that Lexi would struggle in school because she couldn’t teach her how to read. So I’d go over there a few times a week during the summer before she started kindergarten and helped her learn.”
“Tiff told me that story…except in her version, she was the one who spent time across the street helping that little girl. I have no idea how many other stories she’s told me that were actually you, but I’d bet that nothing of what she told me about her childhood was true. I have a feeling that she took all the credit for your good deeds to make me think she was different than what everyone had said about her.”
I couldn’t speak. All this time, Tiffany had accused me of wanting to be her, of being jealous of her, yet she was the one pretending to be me all along. She must’ve known that Adam never would’ve given her the time of day if he knew who she really was, so she had to lie, and the best way to lie is to tell slight variations of the truth.
“Anyway, I really wanted to give you this…” He pulled a black ring box out of his pocket.
The second he opened it and held it out in front of me, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Nestled inside the box was a massive diamond ring. It was familiar, considering I’d worn one identical to it for a month and a half, but the way this one sparked despite the gloomy skies above proved that this was not the fake one. This was the real deal.
“Th-that’s, uh…that’s really sweet of you, Adam, but, um…” I shook my head, hoping it would knock my words back into place. “You’re a great guy, but… I mean, I know that Tiff made you fall in love with a version of me disguised as herself, but that doesn’t mean anything. You know that, right?”
The more I talked, the broader his smile grew. “I’m not proposing to you, Tasha.”
He knew that I had misread the situation and assumed that he was asking me to marry him, yet he let me continue to make a fool of myself. I had a feeling that had we met under different circumstances, we could’ve been great friends.
“I am giving it to you to do with it as you please. Sell it, pawn it, save it, I don’t care. Get whatever you can from it. I hate what your sister has done to you—as well as everyone else who has been hurt by her. I’ll be fine; the woman whose husband was sleeping with Tiff, she’ll be fine, too. We both still have jobs and money in the bank. You deserve to have that kind of security as well. So please, accept this as compensation for all the hell your sister has put you through over your entire life.”
“I have a feeling that this ring would more than pay off her debts to me. It’s too much, Adam.” It felt weird to accept Tiff’s engagement ring from her ex-fiancé.
“Well, if you won’t take it, then it’s just going to sit in a drawer and collect dust.”
“Why don’t you get your money back?”
“I don’t need it. Trust me. I want you to have it.”
Well, I certainly wasn’t about to turn him down a second time. “Thank you. Honestly, I can’t express how grateful I am for everything you’ve done.”
With a smile full of secrets, he said, “I think you’ll find a way.” And then he walked away, crossing the parking lot toward his car.
Everything felt like a dream, like I was living in a cloud and nothing was real. The haze followed me all the way home, and by the time I stepped out of my car to head inside the apartment, my chest was heavy, as if something was pressing against my ribcage. It didn’t feel like anxiety, though I wasn’t sure what else it could’ve been.
It wasn’t until I stuck my key into the door that I understood what it was.
“Tasha…”
22
Jacoby
I’d never been more nervous in my entire life.
“Tasha.” I’d meant to say her name louder, stronger, possibly with more confidence, except that wasn’t how it came out. Instead, it was almost a whisper, as if her name was a prayer in the wind.
However, it succeeded at catching her attention.
She stilled and slowly turned toward me, but I couldn’t tell how she felt about seeing me in front of her. Her expression was too difficult to read. Her knitted brows expressed disbelief; her parted lips alluded to possible longing, and the dramatic way her chest heaved with her every breath conveyed fear—as
