“Grandma’s here.”
I frowned. “Grandma?” I repeated, recalling that Jake had told me his mother had passed away some years back.
“Yes,” Jake nodded. “My mother-in-law is here. Daphne’s mother.”
I felt my body grow cold as I realized what he was saying. Isabelle was here, and she knew exactly who I was. How could this have happened before I could tell Jake? How could I let this have happened?
“Grandma!” Noah called.
A few seconds later, I heard footsteps, and then Isabelle emerged. It had been years since I’d last seen her. She was still the same graceful woman I had met back then. Her hair was only just starting to gray at the edges, and her eyes were still as blue as ever. Her eyes landed on me, and she stopped short as her expression turned from oblivion to shock.
“Kristen?” she said, staring at me as though she had seen a ghost.
The smile on Jake’s face grew subdued as he looked between us. “Wait…do you two know each other?”
I tried to reply, but my throat had gone dry, and I couldn’t form the words. Realization slowly began to dawn on Isabelle’s face, and I saw her gain her composure back.
“This is all very strange,” she said.
“What is strange?” Jake asked, and I could sense he was getting a little on edge.
“When I heard the name Kristen, I did think it was a strange coincidence,” Isabelle said, looking towards me. “And there was the call, too… But I didn’t think about you at all, Kristen.”
“Grandma can we make cookies with Krissy?” he asked, pulling on her hand at the same time that he reached out for me.
Isabelle looked at him distractedly, but Jake stepped in. “Buddy, can you go to your room and organize your toys for a few minutes, please?”
Noah’s face fell immediately. “But… I wanna stay with Grandma and Krissy… I wanna make cookies.”
“Sort out your toys first,” Jake said, as he glanced at my guilt-stricken face. “And then we can start, okay?”
“Okay,” Noah said, sounding impatient.
He headed off to his room, and I stood there, silent and terrified, knowing that the house I had built was about to come tumbling down around me. The moment Noah was gone, Jake turned to me, and the smile had disappeared from his face.
“Why are you so pale?”
I gulped, but I couldn’t find it in me to say anything, so Jake turned to Isabelle, who was now looking supremely uncomfortable.
“Isabelle?”
She looked towards me for a second. “I… I met Kristen years ago,” she said shakily.
And I knew immediately that having realized that Jake didn’t know who I was, she didn’t want to sell me out. I knew this was the moment I needed to stop being a coward. I needed to come clean, no matter how hard it was for me.
“I knew Daphne,” I blurted out.
Jake turned to me slowly. “Excuse me?”
“I… I knew Daphne.”
“How?” Jake asked, as his eyes went wide with disbelief.
“Because we’re related… I’m her half-sister,” I said.
Jake just stared at me for a few moments. “I… I’m sorry… I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“It’s true,” Isabelle said gently. “She is Daphne’s half-sister.”