Right now she wasn’t in the mood for favors.
She just couldn’t seem to catch a break.
“Good to meet you, too.” More lies, all piling one on top of the other. She wondered how long it would take for the weight of them to topple the pile. With luck, they’d knock her unconscious when they fell. “How can I help you?”
“You know Matilda is due in four weeks, and you also know Hero is a bit of a handful. As you’re going to be walking your grandmother’s dog, I wondered if you’d mind walking Hero, too, while you’re here. You can drop in and see Matilda at the same time. I know she’d be thrilled to see you. She hasn’t had a chance to meet that many people here, so she’d be pleased to see a friend, and you already walk Hero back in Manhattan, so you know all his little quirks.”
Fliss stared at him.
She didn’t know any of that.
All she knew was that she was doomed.
“Sure,” she croaked. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”
Except perhaps sticking her head in a bucket of freezing water and inhaling.
* * *
SETH STROLLED TO the car. “Thanks for your help.”
“You’re welcome.” Chase paused by the car. “Matilda talks about Harriet all the time. The two of them have become friendly.”
“And that’s a problem because…?”
“It’s not a problem. It’s just that—” he turned to look at the house, a frown on his face “—Harriet didn’t seem too enthusiastic at the idea of meeting up with Matilda.”
Seth unlocked the car. “That’s because that wasn’t Harriet. That was Fliss.”
“Excuse me?”
“You were talking to Fliss.”
“So why did she say she was Harriet?”
“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 convin
ce him that he was looking at Fliss.
“She has a phobia about cookies?”