Until then.
A woman in her late 50s opened the door.
“Hi. We just moved into the house across the street.”
Her expression shifted for half a second before she smiled.
“Just don’t go over there angry.”
“Of course. I’m Nina.”
I held out the pie.
“I thought I’d introduce myself. My daughter keeps noticing someone in your upstairs window.”
Nina’s fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the door.
“My granddaughter lives here.”
I studied Nina’s face. “My daughter is five. We lost her older sister a few months ago, and twice now she’s insisted your granddaughter is her.”
“My granddaughter lives here.”
Nina’s smile disappeared.
“I’m very sorry.”
“I saw her myself last night.”
A young voice called from inside.
“Grandma, who’s at the door?”
Nina turned. “Stay inside for a minute, Maisie.”
“I saw her myself last night.”
But footsteps were already coming down the stairs.
A girl appeared behind her.
The pie slipped from my hands.
The dish shattered against the porch.
“Oh my God, Ava? What the hell is going on here?”
The girl stopped.
A girl appeared behind her.
“I’m Maisie. Not Ava.”
I couldn’t answer.
Up close, she wasn’t Ava. Her face was rounder, but she had the same dark hair and eyes.
Ryan’s eyes.
Maisie pushed her hair behind her ear.
My breath caught.
“I’m Maisie. Not Ava.”
Nina moved beside her.
“Maisie, honey, go upstairs for me.”
Maisie looked between us. “Did I do something?”
“No,” I said immediately.
She hesitated before heading upstairs.
I waited until she was gone.
“Maisie, honey, go upstairs for me.”
Then I faced Nina.
“You looked like you recognized me when you opened the door.”
Nina’s shoulders dropped.
“You must be Aurora.”
My stomach turned cold.
I had never told her my name.
“You must be Aurora.”
“How do you know that?”
Nina looked toward the staircase.
“Ryan didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
She didn’t answer.
Then I noticed a framed photograph on a table behind her.
“Ryan didn’t tell you.”
Ryan stood beside Maisie.
The picture wasn’t old.
I stepped closer to the doorway.
“How long has my husband known your granddaughter?”
“Aurora, you need to speak to Ryan.”
“Did he know Maisie lived here before we bought that house?”
“How long has my husband known your granddaughter?”
Nina’s face answered before her mouth could.
And suddenly I wasn’t wondering why Maisie looked like Ava.
I was wondering why my husband had moved us directly across the street from her.
I ran home.
Ryan was in the kitchen.
He looked at my empty hands.
Nina’s face answered before her mouth could.
“Did they like the pie?”
“Who is Maisie? Who is Maisie to you, Ryan?”
His face lost all color.
I closed the door behind me.
“How long have you known?”
“Since after the accident.”
“Who is Maisie to you, Ryan?”
“Is she your daughter?”
He sat down.
“Yes.”
The room tilted.
“Her mother wrote to me. Maisie had started asking about her father. We did a DNA test.”
I gripped the counter.
“Is she your daughter?”
“Did you know before we moved?”
“Yes.”
“Did you choose this house because she lived across the street?”
Ryan looked down.
“You sent me listings. You told me this neighborhood would help Gabriella. You moved us into your secret!”
“I didn’t know how to tell you, Aurora.”
“How many times have you seen her?”
“Did you know before we moved?”
“Four.”
“We’ve been here less than two weeks.”
“I went over while you were unpacking.”
I stared at him.
“While I was unpacking boxes from Ava’s room? Gabby’s room?”
Ryan’s face crumpled.
“I couldn’t save her.”
“I went over while you were unpacking.”
My anger stopped me cold.
He pressed both hands over his face.
“I hear the crash every night. Then I learned I had another daughter. I looked at her picture, and she had my eyes.”
“You’d already missed 11 years.”
Ryan nodded.
“And somewhere in that decision, you forgot I was your wife.”
“You’d already missed 11 years.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“No. You were protecting yourself from telling me.”
He flinched.
I stepped closer.
“Did Maisie know about Ava?”
“Yes.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Did you show her pictures?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell her about us?”
“That I had a wife and two daughters.”
I stared at him.
“You told Maisie about Ava as if she were still part of our everyday life.”
“I didn’t know how else to talk about her.”
“What did you tell her about us?”
“By telling the truth. Ava was your daughter. She died. Maisie deserved that truth too.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“I wasn’t ready to say it out loud to her.”
“You were ready to move our family three hours away.”
That silenced him.
Then I asked the question I hated myself for asking.
“I wasn’t ready to say it out loud to her.”
“Did you ever look at Maisie and wish she was Ava?”
“No.”
I held his gaze.
He broke first.
“Once.”
I turned away.
“She laughed. It sounded like Ava for a second. I hated myself immediately.”
He broke first.
There had been mornings when Gabriella’s footsteps made me turn toward the hallway because they sounded like Ava’s.
I did not forgive the lie.
“Maisie isn’t Ava.”
“I know.”
“And she isn’t your second chance to save the daughter you couldn’t save.”
I did not forgive the lie.
Ryan began crying.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“For once, that’s something we agree on.”
I took my keys.
“Where are you going?”
“Back across the street.”
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