Chapter 12
The next day at work, Mary typed Liz’s name into Google’s search bar. Before she hit the return key, Darbi’s warning ran through her mind. While Mary was living in this alternate universe, she had to trust her cousin. She hadn’t believed what Darbi had said about having her wisdom teeth removed, and look what had happened. Mary would follow Darbi’s advice to a T. Everything here was too unpredictable not to, and she didn’t want anything bad to happen while she was here because of something she’d done. She tapped on the backspace button until all the letters in Liz’s name disappeared.
“I’m waiting on you.” Carl’s grumpy voice came from behind her. They were heading to a nursing home in Burlington to cover the 105th birthday party of one of the residents. Mary loved covering feel-good stories like that, but she wondered if they would be enough to get her the promotion she needed to return to her other life as a success. She’d have to volunteer to cover harder news, no matter how much she disliked it, just like she’d had to last time.
In the news van, she tuned the radio to Oldies 103.3 and sang along to “Careless Whisper,” by Wham! In her new body, she enjoyed listening to songs from her high school and college days because they reminded her of a time when anything was possible, and, being twenty-four again, she felt that way now.
Carl glanced over at her. “This is what you listen to? Would have figured you more for a Taylor Swift or Beyoncé fan.”
Mary’s face reddened. Twenty-somethings didn’t like music like this. Kendra hadn’t even known who George Michael was on that sad Christmas Day he passed away. Mary had played “Freedom,” and Kendra had scrunched her nose, unimpressed. Music was yet another thing Mary and her daughter didn’t bond over.
The brake lights of the car in front of them came on. “Watch out!” Mary yelled.
“Relax, I’m nowhere near them,” Carl said.
He was, though. He was riding their bumper. She would have preferred to drive, didn’t like riding with other people, except Dean. He always left at least a car’s length of space between them and the car they were behind, making her feel safe. Without him behind the wheel, she felt vulnerable.
Mary had a blast covering the old man’s birthday party. It aired at the end of the six o’clock news, a happy story to leave viewers in a good mood. She drove home feeling exhilarated and watched the story again on the station’s website. She briefly considered forwarding the URL to Dean’s email with a message that said Told you I was good at this but decided against it, thinking again of Darbi’s warning.
Often on Friday nights, Dean and Mary ordered takeout and watched a movie together. He always let her choose which one, but she rarely picked the rom-coms she loved because when she did, he spent the night looking at his iPad, or he’d fall asleep within the first twenty minutes. Alone in her apartment tonight, she queued up Bridget Jones’s Diary and watched it guilt-free while munching on microwave popcorn, which wasn’t nearly as good as the old-fashioned stuff Dean popped on the stovetop and drowned in butter.
The next day, Saturday, she woke up from a deep sleep to the sound of incessant barking. Her eyes popped open. For a second, she lay there groggy and disoriented, trying to remember where she was.
“Hush, Frank,” a voice called out, and the barking stopped.
Mary’s mouth fell open as the events of the last three days came crashing back. Lying alone in her bed, she broke out laughing. She really was twenty-four again, working at a news station. How did she get so lucky? She felt a tad guilty for enjoying her new life without Dean and Kendra but then realized if she were back home, she wouldn’t be spending time with them anyway. Kendra was in England, and no doubt Dean was playing in a golf tournament this weekend. They wouldn’t even miss her while she was here vying for the promotion.
She jumped out of bed, eager to start the day, thinking she’d go for a walk. Just as she was finishing dressing, the doorbell rang. Darbi stood on the landing, hunched over at the waist, gasping for air and holding a bag that smelled like onions.
“Those damn stairs will be the death of me.”
Mary remembered how walking the hill along Broad Street on the Hudson section of the rail trail always left the fifty-something version of herself winded and was glad she had a twenty-something’s stamina to deal with the climb leading to her apartment. Poor Darbi, having to deal with the staircase at her age. “Come in and sit down.”
“Jacqui’s working at the store. I have to be there by noon to help with the register. Figured this is the only chance we’ll have to talk for a few days.” She dragged herself into the kitchen and collapsed into the nearest chair. As she waited for her breathing to slow, her eyes wandered around Mary’s new home, and the corners of her mouth ticked downward. “Your house in Hudson was palatial compared to this.”
Like a long-forgotten movie, memories of the first time Dean had visited the Framingham apartment played through Mary’s mind.
“I’ve putted on greens that are bigger than this place,” he’d said.
Her shoulders had stiffened, and she’d told herself to relax. He was joking and hadn’t meant to hurt her pride. “Just wait until you see my next place. It’s going to be magnificent.” The confident tone she’d spoken with sent its own message: I’ll show you . She’d firmly believed she would be enormously successful, living in either a bungalow in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean or a penthouse in Manhattan with views of Central Park. Maybe she’d be bicoastal, own both homes.
Dean had pulled her in for a hug. “I hope your next place is my next place too,” he’d whispered.
The idea of living with him had thrilled her. She hadn’t known it at the time, but his suggestion had poked the tiniest of holes in the boat she was sailing to chase her dreams, because she was starting to care about him more than her career ambitions. Over the next few months, he’d poke bigger holes with his sweetness, and the boat would take on too much water to stay afloat and reach its destination.
She’d realized she loved him during their first argument. Mary had told Dean she was leaving, because she didn’t want to fight with him. He’d wrapped his arms around her waist. “We’re not fighting. We’re trying to clear up a misunderstanding.”
She’d started to cry because his response was so reasonable. She and her previous boyfriend had had ugly shouting matches as they tried to work out differences.
Later, when she’d told Dean that was the moment she knew she’d loved him, he’d cocked his head. “If I’d known that’s what it took to get you to fall for me, I would have picked a fight much sooner.”
The sound of the paper bag crinkling pulled Mary from the memory. Darbi slid out a bagel wrapped in parchment paper.
“Technically, it’s my first apartment. Of course it’s small,” Mary said.
“Someday you’ll be a famous anchor, and they’ll feature your mansion on HGTV.”
“I wonder where we’ll live when I go back?”
Darbi’s movement became twitchy. “I’m surprised to hear you talk about going back. I thought you were enjoying being young.” She knocked the bag off the table, and an envelope spilled out.
Mary reached down. “Is this one of Uncle Cillian’s letters?” She held up the envelope.
Darbi shook her head. “I swiped it from your neighbor’s mailbox. Looks like a credit card offer.”
“You stole his mail?”
“I was only going to look at it. Find out his name, but he saw me standing on his stoop. Asked what I was doing there. I dropped the mail in the bag before he saw it so he wouldn’t know I was snooping. It was awkward, so I offered him a bagel. Yours.”
Mary stared down at the name typed across the front of the envelope and read it aloud. “Mr. Brady Zecco.” She closed her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t remember them sleeping together. Even thinking about it made her feel icky. “Nothing’s coming up.” Phew.
“At least you know his name now.” Darbi busied herself unwrapping the bagel. The pungent odor of onions wafted through the room.
“You’re supposed to tell me why Liz isn’t the anchor of CBS Evening News ,” Mary said.
“I have no idea.” Darbi averted her eyes, turning her head and staring out the door.
Mary sighed. She knew her cousin was lying. “You told me you would explain.” She sounded like a petulant teenager.
“Don’t you use that tone with me.” Darbi pointed a finger at Mary. “Remember, I’m your elder now.”
Mary rolled her eyes.
“I told you before. I don’t have all the answers.” Darbi stood and went to the refrigerator.
The fact that her cousin was uncomfortable sitting across from her and couldn’t look her in the eyes reinforced Mary’s belief that Darbi was lying, but why?
Darbi pulled a Diet Coke from the refrigerator and snapped the can open. “Erasing thirty years of your life may have had unintended consequences.”
“What do you mean?”
Darbi took a gulp of soda. “Think about all the interactions you had with people during those years. Those interactions never happened. None of them.”
None of them. Mary’s stomach dropped with the reminder that she was living in a world without Kendra. She shot up from the table and filled a glass with cold water. What if, in addition to becoming a famous anchor, she made other changes to her real life by being here?
Darbi watched Mary drink, her face emotionless. “Something you did helped Liz get that job at CBS.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Mary and Liz had competed against one another.
Darbi shrugged. “The only thing that should be different in Liz’s life is that she doesn’t know you.”
Mary and Liz began their careers at Channel 77 on the same day in early September, two newbies being assigned the stories no one else wanted. At first, they’d been friends, good friends, collaborating on projects and enjoying each other’s company outside of work. The news director even referred to them as the Bobbsey Twins.
“Maybe she learned from you,” Darbi said. “Or maybe you inspired her without knowing it.”
Perhaps that was true. After a few months, they’d started to compete against each other for better stories and to fill in behind the anchor desk. First the competition was friendly, but soon they’d stopped confiding in one another. Before too long, they no longer trusted one another. As Mary’s distrust grew, she became more determined to beat Liz and worked harder. Maybe Liz had done the same for the same reasons.
Sitting in the kitchen with Darbi now, Mary realized that she and her archnemesis Liz Collins had been good for each other. How about that? Her unease returned as she took the thought one step further. Would she be able to succeed without Liz pushing her?