Chapter 25

25

At eight o'clock on the dot, my doorbell rings.

Brant is prompt—I appreciate that. Grant was so busy with work—it felt like he never got home for dinner on time. So I am grateful that his identical twin brother is more in line with my own sense of timeliness.

When I pull open the front door, Brant is standing before me in the same worn pair of blue jeans and gray T-shirt he was wearing earlier. Grant would never have dressed that way, but even so, Brant looks so incredibly handsome. And he looks achingly like my husband—well, aside from that tiny mole near his right ear.

He's clutching a brown paper bag with the McDonald's logo on it. And in his other hand, he is holding a gift-wrapped box.

"I got you a little present," he says. "I hope you don't mind."

He even figured out that I like presents. He really is very intuitive about me.

Brant drops the brown paper bag on my coffee table, and the two of us sit on the sofa. The smell of fried oil fills the living room, and my stomach growls audibly.

He laughs. "Hungry?"

"Starving." I hold my breath, knowing that Brant is not aware of my secret. But if we are about to become friends—and possibly more—he deserves to know the truth. "I'm actually… I'm eating for two right now."

His eyes widen. "You're pregnant?"

I nod slowly, watching his reaction. "I only found out after Grant died. We were trying for a long time, but…"

How could I have gotten LED and IUD mixed up? Honestly, they should put some sort of warning on the box of LED lights: These lights will not prevent pregnancy.

But Brant doesn't seem upset. Just the opposite. "That's amazing, Alice!"

"It doesn't change things, does it?" I lick my lips. "I mean, the fact that I am pregnant with Grant's baby?"

"Grant and I share the same DNA," he reminds me. "So any baby of his is actually just as closely related to me as my own child."

"So… you don't mind?"

"Of course not! I love kids! I've always…" He stops talking midsentence and instead just smiles at me. "I think it's amazing. I really do."

"I'm so relieved." My shoulders relax, and I return his smile. "And I'm glad this child won't be raised by Grant. She will be raised by two parents who understand that the metric system is far superior to imperial units."

"That's right. Every morning, we will send her to school with two hundred fifty milliliters of milk." Brant tugs on the neck of his T-shirt and makes a face. "Alice, I hate to ask this, but would you mind very much if I changed into one of Grant's outfits? I've been wearing the same set of clothes for the last two weeks, and I'm dying to put on something fresh."

Grant was very protective of his clothing, but I suppose it doesn't matter now. After all, he's dead, so he won't mind. "Go for it."

"Thank you." He wags his finger. "Also, you have to promise me you won't open your present before I get back."

"I can wait." I dip my hand into the McDonald's bag. "As long as I don't have to wait for the french fries."

He laughs. "I would never be so cruel."

I duck into the kitchen to grab a glass of water to go with the food, because you definitely can't eat McDonald's french fries without water. I stuff a bunch of the fries into my mouth, savoring the way they melt on my tongue. There is nothing like the pure, unadulterated pleasure of eating greasy french fries.

"Okay!" a voice calls out from the second floor. "I'm back!"

I tilt my head to look up at the top of the stairwell. Brant is freshly dressed in one of Grant's Armani suits. I suck in a breath as I watch him descend the stairs. As devastatingly handsome as he looks, I wish he had put on something besides one of the suits. In jeans and a T-shirt, Brant resembled Grant very strongly, but now that he is wearing one of those suits, it almost feels like my dead husband has come back to life.

Brant cocks his head to the side. "Are you okay, Alice?"

"Yes," I sputter. "Of course. I just… In that suit, you look so much like…"

His brow crinkles. "Oh… is it making you uncomfortable? Would you like me to change?"

"No…" I manage a smile. I'm being silly. "That's okay. It's fine."

He comes around the side of the couch and sits beside me. He has a boyish smile on his face that reminds me of a child on Christmas Day. He picks up the gift-wrapped box and holds it out to me. "Now it's present time."

I beam at him, pushing aside any remaining anxiety about the suit he's wearing. "Thank you. You are so thoughtful, Brant."

I take the box from him. I shake it, hoping to hear candy rattling around inside. But no. It feels more like something soft. I'm so excited to find out what he got for me. I hope it's a new scarf. And not a warm scarf, but one of those useless silky ones.

I rip through the green wrapping paper and discover a square white box inside. I pause, smiling up at Brant. He winks at me.

"Go ahead," he says. "Open it."

Slowly, I lift the cover off the box. And when I see what's inside, my heart does a backspring followed by a split leap and then transitioning into a handspring on vault.

No. No, it couldn't be.

It's a blue-and-black dress.