“Damn.” Alice lost her grip on the hook. “The what?”
“There’s a myth that if you make a sweater for your significant other, they’ll break up with you within a year.”
Alice laughed. “Have you tested it?”
Valerie shook her head emphatically. “No thanks. I don’t have the guts.” Love was hard enough without adding in curses.
Alice tugged at her yarn. “How have you been finding your time here?”
“It’s a gorgeous place and I’m grateful to have a chance to get to knowthe family,” said Valerie truthfully.
“The family?” Alice frowned but Valerie couldn’t tell if it was because of her or the missed stitch. “Notyourfamily?”
“Right, mine.” Valerie backtracked, regretting this whole conversation. “It’s hard to get used to.”
“It must have been a huge shock.” Alice twisted her yarn around her hook as Valerie watched suspiciously. Was Alice working with more confidence than one would expect from a newbie? Was the lesson a ruse to get Valerie’s guard down?
“It was.”
“What a coincidence that you and Roger had been living in Toronto and never knew about each other.”
“It is.” Was this normal interest or was Alice trying to probe for weakness in her story?
Alice looked at her closely. “It’s odd that you don’t look like Roger at all. I can’t believe he made that connection so many years later. You must be identical to your mother.”
“I thought the same thing,” said Valerie, trying to keep calm.
“I suppose your parents had a closed adoption.”
Valerie’s mind suddenly blanked on the correct answer. “Yes?”
“Did they know Roger or Yvette?”
“No.” That was true. She tried not to fidget with stress.
“Have you applied to get your adoption records?”
“I’m talking to Roger.” She needed to stop the questions. “There’s a lot we’re learning. It’s been hard.”
Alice looked contrite. “I’m sorry. I’m overstepping.”
That seemed real enough but Valerie took the opportunity to redirect the conversation. “Tell me about Peter. Roger mentioned that your husband was the heart of the family.”
“Peter was a lovely man.” Alice’s voice was shadowed with her loss. “He was the one they all turned to when they needed to talk becausehe was such a good listener.”
“Nico does that too,” Valerie said, unable to help herself.
Alice’s sparse eyebrow quirked. “Does he now?”
Valerie tried to recover. “Peter?”
“I miss him. You know he nearly died when he was young?” She waited for Valerie’s nod. “He considered each day after a gift because it was one he almost didn’t have. He promised himself he would never act in a way that would cause regret the next time his number came up.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Alice made a face. “Living with a man who never lied was hard for a mere mortal sometimes, although it had upsides.” She laughed. “When he said I looked good, I knew I lookedgood.”
Being a human Pinocchio would rule Peter out from Valerie’s list, but why talk about Peter’s honesty now? It was possible Alice was trying to put her off the trail.
