Chapter 4

I caught the man's hand almost on instinct.

Irvin stared at me. "What's wrong? We've been apart three years. Haven't you missed me at all?"

"Or is it that you still doubt me?"

His eyes burned into mine, and a chill crawled up my spine.

In the dim glow of the night-light, his face, for one blurred instant, looked to me like a demon's.

"I don't doubt you. I'm just a little tired. Another time."

He watched me in silence, and just when the string inside me was about to snap, he let go of my hand.

"Get some sleep."

He turned his back to me and lay on his side, his breathing slow and even.

I glanced over and saw that he had curled up without thinking.

In the old days, whenever the two of us had a cold spell between us, he always slept like that too, curled with his back to me.

By the next day we'd both have cooled off, and we'd talk out whatever we'd argued over and clear up the misunderstanding.

Now the man lying beside me matched Irvin in every last detail.

And that was exactly what made it more terrifying.

It proved this person knew Irvin inside and out, and I hardly dared let myself wonder where the real Irvin was now, or whether he was even still alive.

If James and Myra had accepted him, if I didn't go looking, would the real Irvin simply vanish for good?

That night I made up my mind. I could not abandon him.

The next day I stopped testing Irvin at every turn, and being around him grew as easy as it had once been.

Now and then he'd stare at me and drift off, and I knew he was gauging whether I truly believed him.

Three days later I went to see Wallace Sanchez, another traveler who'd finished his missions.

He heard out everything I'd been through and said, "I have a way to let you know for certain whether that man is Irvin or not."

After a long talk, my hands were nearly shaking the whole way home.

But the moment I pushed open the door, I froze where I stood.

The house was loud and crowded, packed with people. Nearly every one of the Black relatives had come.

When they saw me, the room went quiet for a beat, and then Irvin's hot-tempered aunt let out a cold laugh.

"Look at the hour. So you finally decided to come home."

Her barbed words stopped me in my tracks.

The next second Myra said, her face hard,

"Manny, have you been having an affair?"

"I have not!" The denial came out of me almost before I could think.

Myra glared at me. "Still saying no! If there's nothing, then why did you turn my son away last night?"

"Maud Swanson, don't you forget my son saved your life!"

The relatives chimed in one after another.

"That's right, we've all heard. Irvin ran himself ragged for three years for your sake, and now that he's finally back, all you do is keep saying he's changed."

"Isn't this just what happens when a couple's apart too long, the feelings go cold? But if it weren't for you, Irvin wouldn't have had to be gone three years in the first place."

"This is exactly why a woman shouldn't be out working and socializing. Get out there and her heart runs wild. Irvin left her plenty of money, so why on earth is she off holding down a job?"

The Black relatives talked over one another, each one adding a line.

My gaze settled on Irvin.

"Is this what you want?"

My voice was cold, my eyes fixed hard on the man on the sofa.

He looked up at me, wearing a wronged expression. "You were the one who stopped believing me. You kept saying I'd changed."

"But my mom and dad both say I haven't. You're the only one who's stayed wary of me, on guard."

"Manny, I gave up so much for you, and this is how you treat me. You really disappoint me."

His words had barely landed

when Myra backed him up. "Exactly. What mother can't recognize her own son? I told you it's Irvin, that Irvin hasn't changed, and still you won't believe it."

She looked at me with hate, as if I were the enemy tearing her family apart.

Most of these relatives had no idea of the truth, so a few of the man's words were enough to stir them up.

"Shameless slut, and she still wants to pin the blame on Irvin."

"I said as much. What woman can stand three years of being alone? These past few years she's probably cheated on him with plenty of men."

"Everyone, get your phones out, film her! Tomorrow we'll put it online and make her famous!"

They had me cornered at the door, each remark uglier than the last.

And Myra, who knew the whole truth, still turned a blind eye to every one of those doubts.

Irvin took the opening. "Maud Swanson, let's get divorced."

His eyes were full of triumph, as if he were certain that once he divorced me, he could step fully into Irvin's place.

I looked at him and spoke slowly. "A divorce is fine. But I have something for you first."

With that, I took out the thing I'd been guarding so carefully all this time.

The instant he saw what was in my hand, the man's face changed.