Chapter 39
I can’t quite remember what I was doing, but I’m sprawled across an icy-cold, flint-hard pavement, my face in a freezing puddle, my foot entangled in my bike.
Of course. D-Day. The Plan.
I move slowly, seeing if anything hurts. My face and wrist are both sore, but other than that, all seems as it should be.
“You okay?” a woman asks, although she doesn’t offer to help me.
I look up. “I’m good, thanks. Just came off my bike.” I remove my foot from the bike frame and clamber up, adjusting my crooked helmet.
“Cool.” The woman gives me a wan smile and walks away.
I prop the bike against the nearest wall. Then look at it properly, a weird excitement buzzing through me.
This is not my bike.
The expensive red bike I’ve been riding around, Daredevil, which Rob bought me after Electra died, is now a gray cruiser I don’t recognize.
I check my clothing in the orange glow of the streetlight. Thick black ski gloves. Puffy winter coat. Scruffy boots. This is not what I was wearing a few minutes ago.
The Plan.
It worked.
It freakin’ WORKED!
I lock the bike at a nearby stand and walk into a café across the street, almost unable to contain my excitement.
Standing in line, I realize my purse is the old, black, tasseled one I loved from years ago.
Paying for my London Fog with money from a wallet I don’t recognize, I sit at the counter and tip out the contents of the purse, searching for a phone.
It drops down with a thud on the bar, the same model in the same green case I had in my old life, before my world changed.
Entering my usual password, I go straight to the text messages.
The most recent one is from Suzie. That makes sense, if I’m truly back in a world where I’m not married to Rob.
We’re probably going out for my birthday.
But that’s not what I’m looking for, so I flick past without reading it.
I scroll farther down, and there it is.
David.
Glad you got home safe, Bosie, and Happy Birthday! It was amazing having you here Down Under with us. Anna, Daisy and I all miss you already, we’ll work something out for next year I promise! Luv ya XD
It’s from earlier today.
My brother is alive, and he texted me this morning, apparently from Australia.
I’m home. I’m really home.
I text him back immediately.
Miss you too, D. But I’ll see you soon. I’m sure of it. Love ya billions. J xo
My heart full, I delve into recent emails and find one from the mysterious Anna, whom my brother referenced, with no text in the email, only a link to a Dropbox file. The subject line reads “Wedding Photos!!!”
Clicking on the link with trepidation, I find a folder full of the most stunning wedding photos I’ve ever seen — aside from mine and Rob’s at the Brooklyn Plant House, perhaps.
A cream-colored house with a large green lawn and a blue bay beyond.
My brother, alive and well, in a suit, getting married to a gorgeous red-headed woman.
A baby girl, dressed up with a daisy headband, photographed in his arms and in my mother’s.
My sister and her family, laughing on the lawn.
And me, my old self — regular Josie, with shoulder-length dark blonde hair, and a bit of extra weight — in a poppy dress, looking wistful.
The phone dings. It makes me start.
Suzie: You OK??? It’s 6.37 and I know you planned your dumb switch-back crash for 20 mins ago. I’m so worried about you. I’ve got a table at the Standard, but I’m getting side-eye from hostess. Are you still coming? Are you still even the same Josie?! Are you alive?? Call or text me RIGHT NOW!!
I laugh. It had never occurred to me that Other Josie would tell Suzie the truth about it all, including today’s plan. But then, I guess Other Josie had nobody else to talk to about it. Not like me and Rob.
I type a reply, smiling.
OMFG she told you?!! Hahaha, no, I’m not same Josie :’D Our plan worked!!! It actually worked! We crashed, switched back, for real! I’m fine, not hurt. Getting cab, be there by 7. Hold that table! It’s me!
Finishing my tea, I grab my items from the counter and head outside. I’m almost giddy. This morning I said goodbye to a great love; now, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
I’m back in a world where my brother is alive. Not only alive, but apparently married, and a father. I laugh again as I go out into the cold night and hail a taxi.
“Standard Hotel, please,” I tell the driver. “It’s my birthday. I’ve got some celebrating to do.”