Chapter 3
Maggie had never been so glad to see anyone. Just the sight of Josh striding through the crowd lifted a weight from her shoulders.
An Island Tours tee hugged his athletic frame and a pair of khaki shorts completed his outfit. The wind ruffled his wavy dark
hair as he made a beeline toward her.
She met him by the arcade door, Zoey in tow, and grabbed him in a heartfelt hug. “He looked just like him,” she said into
his ear. “Just like him.”
“Where’d you last see him?”
“Heading up the main walkway toward the boardwalk. I lost him where it splits off. We’ve already been around the whole place.
He just disappeared.”
He gave her a squeeze before he pulled back and tugged one of Zoey’s braids. “How’s my girl? Having fun at the carnival?”
“I rode the carousel and the spinny ride and the red-car ride—that was my favorite. And I ate a funnel cake with Mommy and
it made her tummy hurt after the spinny ride.”
“Is that so.”
“It’s past my bedtime and we’re out of tickets so we can’t ride any more rides. I don’t wanna ride the big wheel, though,
’cause it goes too high. Did you find your friend?”
Josh sent Maggie a questioning glance. “I told her we were looking for someone you know.”
His gaze toggled back to Zoey. “Not yet, Cupcake. We’ll keep searching, though, all right?” He took her hand and they started
down the walkway.
“He’s wearing a white ball cap and he’s tall.” Maggie gave him a pointed stare. “I didn’t imagine him, Josh.”
He squeezed her hand. “Okay, honey. Let’s keep searching. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
They scanned the area, staying close as they navigated the crowd. It took almost an hour to cover the two blocks of walkways.
They searched every ride, every souvenir store. They checked Tully’s Pizza, Scoops, and the Seascore Arcade.
Now they nearly reached the end of the boardwalk fronting the carnival, and Ethan’s look-alike was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m tired,” Zoey whined. It was way past her bedtime and she’d been a trouper.
Josh scooped her up. “We’re almost done, sweetheart.”
Zoey’s arms noodled around his neck as she sagged against his shoulder.
The crowd was thin on the boardwalk, and Maggie could easily see the man wasn’t up ahead. Her stomach filled with lead even
as her steps slowed. “He must’ve left.” She glanced down at Zoey, whose eyes were already closed. “I should get her home and
to bed.”
“I’ll come over so we can talk.”
“All right.”
Maggie poured two glasses of lemonade in the kitchen while Josh put Zoey to bed in the room Brad and Becky had fixed up for her. They’d purchased the cottage two years ago, and now that Zoey was old enough, she occasionally spent the night. Maggie was so lonely when she was gone, but it was important that Zoey had time with her grandparents. They loved her so much and she was the only piece of Ethan they had left.
Maggie returned the pitcher to the stainless-steel refrigerator. The home, an original ranch, was built on stilts and offered
free (at least for her) beach views and sunrises. Her in-laws had spent nearly a year renovating the place, and Maggie loved
the cheerful décor they’d chosen. Lots of white, accented with coastal colors: blue subway tiles, aqua throw pillows, sea-green
rugs. The overall effect was calming and happy.
Maggie could use a little of both right now.
As she moved into the living room, the floor creaked on the other side of the house. Zoey had been asleep before they made
it to the car. Her eyelids hadn’t so much as fluttered as Josh carried her in.
Josh. It had been sweet of him to rush right over when she called. But that was Josh. She’d always been able to count on him.
And after tonight he probably thought she was crazy. Maybe she was. A few years ago her therapist, Miss Allison, had assured
her that seeing a lost loved one in a crowd wasn’t unusual.
But August 7 would mark five years since Ethan’s passing. Surely she hadn’t conjured up his twin after all this time. She’d
come such a long way from that pathetic puddle on her kitchen floor. She was stronger now. She’d come here to spend the summer,
to spread her husband’s ashes, to get on with her life—not to resurrect the past.
But she had to make sense of this. She had to believe she hadn’t simply imagined Ethan’s face. She’d gotten a good, if quick, glimpse of the man. She reviewed that moment in her mind for the dozenth time, and once again her memory presented Ethan’s look-alike. Maybe a younger version of him, now that she thought about it.
Josh entered the room and sank beside her on the sofa. “She’s out like a light.”
“She was tuckered. It’s been a long day.”
He took a sip of lemonade and settled against the sofa back, his eyes trained on her.
She shifted under his steady appraisal. The funnel cake she’d eaten earlier sat in her stomach like an anchor, and her nerves
were shot from an emotional roller coaster she hadn’t purchased tickets for.
With that long, quiet perusal Josh was no doubt seeing much deeper than the surface. She glowered at him. “I wasn’t imagining
it.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“He looked just like Ethan.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you? Because the way you’re staring at me right now says otherwise.”
“I’m just concerned about you. I don’t like seeing you so shaken.”
“Well, how am I supposed to feel when I spy my dead husband and then he completely disappears?” Again. Tears sprang up and she didn’t want to cry. Tears felt helpless. She wanted to be mad. Mad felt like control and darn it,
she wanted some control.
He faced her, setting one arm across the sofa back. His hand dropped onto her shoulder. “Let’s talk about this. Tell me about
when you first saw him.”
More of the anger faded as she fell into his denim-blue eyes. Josh wasn’t her enemy. He was the furthest thing from that. “Zoey was on the kiddie-car ride and I was trying to take a picture of her. Just as she glanced up, he walked into the frame. I did a double take. It was Ethan. His high cheekbones, his deep-set eyes, his chiseled jawline. He was thinner, maybe... more like how he was built when he was younger before he filled in some. And maybe younger-looking in the face too, but it happened so fast.”
“They say everyone has a twin. Maybe you just saw Ethan’s?”
“Right here in Seabrook? Where he grew up? What are the chances of that?”
Josh was quiet for a beat. “Not very good, I guess. He had a hat on, you said?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t see his hair. But his face...” She turned her eyes to Josh as a tear slipped down her cheek. “It was
Ethan . I wasn’t imagining it. I don’t believe in ghosts, and I can’t explain it, but it was Ethan.” After a moment she ripped her
gaze away and raked her hands through her hair, squeezing until her scalp stung. She was entertaining a crazy thought. “I
know that’s not possible.”
“Hey.” He thumbed away the tear. “I know this is unsettling, but you’re gonna be all right. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“How? He’s gone and we have no clue where he went.”
“You saw him at the carnival—maybe he’ll come back. We can search tomorrow night and the next and the next if you—” His brow
furrowed. “Wait. You said you spotted him when you were taking photos of Zoey. Is it possible you caught him in a picture?”
She couldn’t remember if she’d taken that shot. She’d been so rattled. She reached for her phone. Josh leaned close as she
opened the photo app and tapped on the last picture she’d taken.
She gasped. There he was. Ethan.
It was a profile view and a woman partially blocked him. But Maggie’s phone was set for Live photos, so she opened the feature and dragged her thumb across the bottom of the screen until the woman passed and Ethan’s twin turned toward the camera. For the second time tonight the image stole her breath. Set off a jackhammer in her chest.
Her gaze shot to Josh, who stared at the screen as if he’d just seen a ghost.
***
A shiver passed through Josh. He grabbed the phone and pulled it closer. He could hardly believe his eyes. The photo was a
little blurry. But it was Ethan. There were his bright blue eyes, set deep beneath the slashes of dark brows. His aristocratic nose, high cheekbones,
square jaw.
“You weren’t kidding. He’s a dead ringer.” Appropriate choice of words since his brother was, in fact, dead . And dead men didn’t go walking around the town carnival. Josh peered at the photo. “He’s thinner than Ethan.”
“People can lose weight.”
Not dead people. He didn’t have the heart—or even the conviction—to say it aloud. Because they’d never actually seen his destroyed body. And
suddenly that little detail opened up a cavern of doubt. Josh homed in on the man in the picture, permitting the impossible
thought to emerge from the shadows of his brain.
Still. There had to be some other explanation.
Maggie gave her head a shake. “I know it can’t be true. He’s gone. It’s not possible he’s still alive.”
“There has to be a rational explanation. Maybe he’s a long-lost cousin or something.”
Her attention returned to the man on the screen. “He seems younger. Younger than he looked even at thirty-two. But he’d be thirty-seven now. This guy can’t be that old.”
“I agree.” But Maggie was right—if they’d seen the guy in Wichita or Tampa or Houston, maybe they could write it off as a
fluke.
But he was here in Seabrook.
For a while they studied the photo, noting every similarity. Zoomed in until his face was hazy, trying to find a hint to his
identity.
After a few minutes Maggie sagged against the couch. “I know it can’t be Ethan. But I need answers. I can’t live with not
knowing.”
“Me either. We’ll go back tomorrow night and look again.”
“What are the chances he’d return to the carnival?”
“Probably small, but it’s all we’ve got. We can show his picture around. Maybe someone will recognize him.”
“Good idea.” She took the phone and woke it up. Ethan’s twin stared back at them. “We’re going to Erin’s tomorrow to swim
and hang out. What should I say?”
His family had been through so much. It would be cruel to get their hopes up when they had no answers. Cruel enough that it
was happening to Maggie and him. Because it was impossible to extinguish that tiny possibility. That impossible glimmer of
hope. “Why don’t we keep this between us for now—until we have some answers.”
She nodded slowly. “No sense upsetting everyone.” Maggie returned her attention to the photo for a long quiet minute. The
phone trembled in her hands. She turned tear-filled eyes up at him. “It can’t be him, right?”
It was hard to reconcile the facts. Tonight she’d seen Ethan’s double. And yet almost five years ago, a uniformed officer
and a chaplain had delivered news of his death. Both of these were true.
If Josh was reeling, he could only imagine how she was feeling. Maggie, who’d clawed her way back from the pit of grief to single-handedly raise her daughter. He took the phone from her hands, set it aside, and opened his arms to her. “Come here.”
She came eagerly, settling against his chest, clutching his shirt in her fist. He palmed the back of her head, relishing the
weight of her against him. The slight rise and fall of her shoulders. The sweet scent of her shampoo. He could hold her like
this forever. Two hours ago he’d hoped to do just that. But everything had changed now.
Even so, he’d give anything if the impossible could be true. If his brother had somehow come back from the dead, he’d find
it in his heart to let Maggie go once again.
“Thank you for coming tonight,” she said softly. “For not thinking I’m crazy.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Anytime, honey. It’ll be all right. I don’t have any answers for you, but there’s
one person who does, and we’ll just have to find him.”