Love Is Blind

“But you’re dead.”

“Actually, the last I checked, I was very much alive.”

I was about to argue when Jacob Winters interrupted me, “Abbie, this is Jace, Alex’s twin.”

I just stared at them, a blank look on my face, “Twin? Alex never told me he had a twin.”

“Alex didn’t know about me,” Jace informed me.

“Oh, and I’m sure you knew about him the entire time, right?” I was being rude and I knew it. I just didn’t care at the moment.

Jace nodded.

To Jacob I asked, “How long is he here for?”

“He’s moving in with me.”

I rolled my eyes, “So, I suppose you want me to show him around?”

Jacob nodded, “I would appreciate it.”

Jace interjected, “I am still here, you know?”

“I am aware.”

“What’s your problem? I haven’t done anything to you.”

“What’s my problem? My best friend and boyfriend is dead. Dead. The worst part of that is, it’s all my fault. Then, at his funeral, his twin appears out of nowhere. Someone, I didn’t even know existed. Do you have any idea how much it hurts me to just look at you?”

Jace just looked at me.

“Go ahead, say it.”

“Say what?”

“Whatever snide remark you are thinking.”

“Honestly, Abbie, I’m not thinking anything resembling a snide remark.”

And with that, Jace hugged me.

“What was that for?” I asked after he stepped back.

“I don’t know. I felt like it needed to be done. And I’m sorry about Alex. I know you’ve probably heard that a lot and that it doesn’t mean much coming from me, but I know it must be hard on you. It’s not easy losing someone you care about.”

“Thank you, Jace,” I knew I was going to cry and that was as many words as I could get out before the tears came. I finally managed, “Excuse me,” in between sobs.

I quickly ducked into the women’s restroom to try and collect myself. Grabbing a few tissues, I hastily wiped away my tears before they managed to smear my makeup. With my breathing still fairly erratic, I decided to sit near the wall until it slowed to a more even pace.

A knock at the door a few minutes later interrupted my thoughts.

“Who is it?” I asked whilst struggling to my feet.

“It’s Jace. Are you okay? You ran off pretty fast.”

“I think so. Well, for now, at the very least.”

“Is it alright if I come in?”

“There isn’t anyone else in here, so I suppose it will be okay. If anyone comes in, you’ll have to go outside though.”

“Okay, I kind of figured that,” Jace told me as he pushed the door open.

Looking at Jace standing in front of me brought fresh tears to my eyes. I sunk to the floor, burying my face in my hands.

I felt a slight movement of the air as Jace sat down next to me. He began rubbing my back which startled me. I didn’t expect much compassion from him.

“Abbie, it’s going to be okay. Come here.”

I looked up, gazing at him through wet eyelashes, astonishment clearly written on my face. And yet, he just sat there, holding his arms out, waiting for me to crawl into them.

Grabbing a hold of my hand, he gently pulled me towards him.

And we sat there. I was tucked into him, my face buried in his chest, crying. All the while he held me, gently rubbing my back or stroking my hair.

After about an hour, I had fallen asleep. Jace carefully picked me up and carried me out of the restroom.

Upon finding Jacob, Jace whispered, “She’s asleep.”

“Follow me, I’ll show you where she parked. You can drive her home. It’s the monstrosity next to mine.”

Jacob grabbed the keys out of my purse and unlocked the doors.

Noticing the vehicle lighting up, Jace nearly dropped me, “Wow! Is that really her car?”

Jacob nodded, “Her family is quite wealthy. I’m almost scared to look at the amount on the check she wrote out earlier. She mentioned 20,000 when I told her not to give me any money.”

Jace’s jaw dropped.

“To her, 20,000 is chump change. She bought Alex a car for his birthday. He had a nicer vehicle than I did. She always offered to buy me one, but I refused. You can drive his car to school, if it’s okay with Abbie. The title is in her name.”

Jace was bending over to put me in the car when I stirred in his arms. My eyes fluttered open and my breath caught. The sunlight managed to shine on Jace in a way that I appeared to be held by an angel.

I couldn’t stop myself from reaching up to touch his cheek, “You’re beautiful, Jace.”

A smile played at his lips, “Thanks.”

I thought I saw a light blush color his cheeks, but I wasn’t completely sure.

“You can put me down now. I can stand up by myself.”

Jace set me down and stuttered on his hasty apology, “I-I’m sorry.”

A small giggle escaped my lips, “It’s okay.” I pulled out my cell phone, looking at the digital clock. “I’m late. I’m sorry, but I have to get back to school.”

“Abbie, I’m sure your teachers would understand if you wanted to take the rest of the day off. I could call the school and tell them that you were too distraught after the funeral to go back.”

Looking back and forth between them, I knew Jacob was right, “I’d probably just start bawling again when I passed the mural I painted of him last year anyway.”

Taking out his phone, I heard him enter the digits to the school.

Not needing to hear the conversation, I walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door, sliding into the seat. With the passenger door still open from when they tried to put me in, Jace climbed in next to me.

“I think Jacob plans to be here for a while. Do you think you could drop me off at his place if you plan on going home?”

I nodded and started the car. Waving goodbye to Jacob, we pulled out of the parking lot.

The drive home was silent. I was too embarrassed by what had just happened to speak. I saw Jace open his mouth as if he was going to say something, before changing his mind and closing it again.

Pulling into my driveway, I noticed a look of pure shock come over his face.

“I thought he was kidding about that,” Jace said, obviously to himself.

“Kidding about what?” I asked him curiously.

“It’s nothing,” he paused several seconds before continuing, “Your house is huge.”

I grinned in spite of myself, “I know. It’s a bit too big actually. Only me and my mom live here.”

“What about your dad?”

“My dad? He’s too busy with work to actually be here. He travels a lot for the company he works for. Even when he’s on “vacation” from traveling, he doesn’t stay at home. He gets a room at one of the fancy hotels downtown. He says he gets more work done that way. I think he just doesn’t want to see us. I also think that he thinks it’s okay to never be here because he gives us a lot of money. I’d rather be poor and see him everyday than this. I have more money than I know what to do with, but I don’t have a family. Not really, anyway. I’m sorry. Did you want to see the house or did you just want to go over to Dad’s?”

“Did you just call him dad?”

I blushed, “Yeah, I did. Jacob Winters has always been like a father to me, especially since mine was never around. And with Alex, he was going to be my father-in-law once we turned eighteen. We already had the date picked out and with how rich my family is, all the vendors were very accommodating. Pretty soon, I’ll need to call him to cancel. I can’t really marry a dead person.”

Jace hugged me again, “I’m sorry. I’d love to see your house, Abbie.”

Following me inside, I gave him the grand tour. We passed through the front entry, the lounge, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the study, Dad’s office, that he no longer used, and the library on the first floor. Going upstairs, I pointed out my mother’s master bedroom, the two guest bedrooms, each with their own private bath, my room, and finally I stopped in front of the last door in the hall.

“This was Alex’s room. It was originally another guest room, but he was here so much, I gave him the room next to mine. Mother called a contractor and had it changed to how he wanted it. It also connects to my room. After mother fell asleep, I would sneak over and curl up in bed with him. She said she knew when I did. But in the mornings she said we looked so happy and peaceful that she would pretend she didn’t know.”

Looking at the walls, I scampered down the hall, “Ah. Here it is. My mother took a picture of us one morning. Come here.”

Jace started walking towards me looking up at the pictures hanging on the walls. He was about five feet from me when he stopped, staring up at a picture in a medium sized frame.
Barely distinguishable, I heard Jace whisper, “Wow!”

“What are you looking at?” I asked walking over to him. Following his gaze, my eyes fell upon a familiar sight.

The picture was taken about six months ago. I had been sitting in the backyard, staring across the lawn. Not really looking at anything, but everything at the same time.
Unaware of it at the time, my mother had seen me from the large bay windows in the library. She grabbed the camera and snuck out the front door, so the sound wouldn’t disturb me. As quietly as she could, she walked across the yard, just out of my sight. She raised the camera to her eyes and just as she snapped the picture, I turned toward her, hearing the crackling of a leaf beneath her foot.

“It’s beautiful, Abbie.”

Looking down at my feet, I muttered, “Thanks. Now, come here and look at this.” I stood in front of the picture and waited for Jace to walk over.

I was focusing on the picture, pointing out some of Alex’s favorite things when I felt his hand brush my hair out of my face.

We stood there, looking at each other until my mother came out of her bedroom, “Hello there, Alex. Good to see you,” she took another step towards us when is registered, “How are you here? You’re dead.”

“Mother, this is Jace. Apparently, Alex had a twin he didn’t know about. He’s moving in next door.”