Chapter 65

I leaned away and searched his face. “You thought I wouldn’t notice ‘cause you moved real slow, right? Yeah…It started with you setting up your workshop all the way at the back of the loft, so even when you’re home, you’re out of view. And then, there’s the family dinners, when you disappear around dinner time, hoping maybe we’ll forget you’re in the house. Our friends, not calling any of them anymore.” A sick feeling washed over me. “And of course, now there’s Myles. Your double, as you call him. What—you thought that I’d wake up one morning and think he was you?” I understood now. Perfectly. “Is he…you’re going-away present?”

He covered his face with his hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Jesus, Derek, don’t do this to yourself. You’re not to blame.”

He looked at me, tears dancing in his eyes. “I think I orchestrated this whole thing with Myles because I wanted him. I’m such a bloody idiot. I was so blind. Blind to my own desires. But most of all, blind to his.”