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“Listen, it would be three days at the most. You fly into Malaga, take a smaller plane to Santa Maria de Fe and then drive to Mariposa to spend the day with Granda. He won’t be able to tell the difference once we get your hair fixed. We actually look very much alike—you’d be quite pretty if you bothered to fix yourself up. And remember, he hasn’t seen me for five years, and he’s nearly blind and deaf. You can say goodbye to him, bid a proper farewell to Mariposa. You were never able to, when your crazy-ass mother dragged you away that summer. This will give you some closure.”
Bella knew just what to say, of course. She’d always understood what people really wanted, deep down. “Ian and Marcus aren’t half blind and deaf,” I said. “You were going to marry Marcus—you slept with him. He’d know the difference.”
“We’re talking about Marcus, darling. He’s not much into questioning the status quo. But he won’t even be there, and neither will that snake in the grass Ian. Marcus isn’t coming in till next week, and Ian two days later, and who knows if the girls will make it at all. You’ll have plenty of time to get in and out before they show up. Not that you couldn’t fool them too—you’ve got my voice and mannerisms down pat, and remember, they haven’t seen me in years. But it won’t even come up. You fly in, spend a day at Mariposa, and then head back to Malaga. After that, you can go anywhere you want—the flight back is open-ended, and of course I’ll give you my charge card and one for the street tills...”
“Street tills?”
“ATMs,” she corrected. “You’ll need cash. You get a brand new wardrobe—I’ve been shopping for days. You get a European vacation, cost free, a reunion with your grandfather, no strings, no hassles. You don’t even have to spend the night at Mariposa. Just an afternoon with a dying man, and you’re free. How can you even consider saying no?”
“Because it’s ridiculous,” I said, ignoring the surge of longing in my heart. “Not to mention a felony, travelling on a fake passport. This isn’t like when we were children and played games on the rest of them, and it sure the hell isn’t some stupid Lindsey Lohan movie.”
“Lindsey Lohan?” Bella’s beautiful brow wrinkled. “What’s she got to do with anything?”
“Hayley Mills,” I corrected. She still looked blank, and I realized that while I’d been holed up in New Hampshire, devouring old movies, she’d been out in the real world, living. “An old movie called The Parent Trap, where two twin sisters take each other’s place.”
“But why...? Never mind. This will work. Your life is a mess, Podge. You have no home, no job, you’re completely at loose ends. And did I happen to mention I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars if you do this?”
I’d felt the first tingles of temptation, but her words made me feel sick inside. She was trying to bribe me, pay me, like I was one of the outsiders....
Which I was, I reminded myself, ready to kick her out of my house in affronted pride. And then I saw the fear, real fear in her bright green eyes.
She read my reaction, of course. Bella was always good at that. “I’m sorry, Podge. I know that you’d do it for free, not because I bribed you. But I’ve got the money, and surely you could find a use for it. I bet you have hellacious college loans,” she added with a grin.
Ten thousand dollars wouldn’t even put a dent in them. It would, however, tide me over until I found a decent place and a new job. But there were some things I simply couldn’t do.
“Tell me about this trouble you’re in,” I said. “Are you really in danger? Shouldn’t you go to the police?”
“The police can’t help me. It’s complicated, and the less you know, the better off you’ll be. Suffice it to say I owe someone something, and I need time to get it to him. Which I can do; I just need to concentrate on that, not on wasting my time with deathbed visits.”
I blinked. “Don’t you want to say goodbye to Granda? He adores you.”
She shrugged. “I don’t like death. I’d rather remember him as I last saw him. You’ll say goodbye for me and do it far better than I would. Won’t you, Podge?”
“No.”
A dark look crossed her face for a brief moment, then vanished. Bella wasn’t used to being denied anything, but there was no way I was going through with such a hare-brained idea. These sorts of things might happen in movies, but in real life, it would be impossible.
Bella straightened her back, fixing her steely gaze on me. “Look, Kitty, you’re not in a position to say no. You have no apartment, no job, no prospects, and you’ve been dreaming about Mariposa ever since you left it.”
“I have not!” I denied it, but it was a lie.
“I’m offering you a way out of your troubles, time to figure out what you want to do next, and in the meantime you can make your peace with Granda.”
“Not if he thinks I’m you. And what makes you think I have troubles?”
“You’re sitting in an empty apartment full of boxes and you told me your funding ran out. I call that trouble. And Granda won’t think anything. I told you, he’s really dying this time—he probably won’t recognize anyone anymore. I only need a few days, Kitty. Just to get some people off my back. I’ve never asked you for anything before, I’ve always been your biggest supporter with Granda, trying to get him to invite you back, but he’s a stubborn old bastard. You owe me this much.”
I stared at her. I’d had too much wine, and too many days of uncertainty over the basic necessities of life.
And Lord, how I missed Mariposa, and Granda. I couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving without giving me a chance to see him once more.
If I went, was there any chance in the world I could pull it off? Marcus and Ian wouldn’t be there—they’d be the most likely ones to see through me. And the cousins, Mary Alice and Valerie, wouldn’t know me either, and besides, they weren’t anywhere around. It would just be me and Granda, for one short day, and then I’d be free, ready to take on the new chapter to my life in New Hampshire.
I tried one more protest. “I can’t do something so crazy...”
“You can. Stop being such a wuss, Podge. I’m offering you everything you’ve ever wanted, and all you have to do is say goodbye to Granda for me. You can’t say no.”
She had me, and she knew it. As insane as the idea was, I knew I was caving. I was taking her clothes and her passport and going back to Mariposa, one last time, to say goodbye to everything, including the grandfather who’d banished me. I would forgive him, and maybe I could finally let go of the thrall that Mariposa had always held.
