Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
First, though, he had to see Grayson. He couldn’t wait any longer.
He dried his shower-damp hair and opened Jason’s wardrobe. His gaze skated past all the suits and clinging tops and settled on the suitcase he’d stuffed in there.
A pair of comfy jeans and his comfier flannel hoodie later, he headed into a crisp morning and followed blazing lampposts to Over The Raindough. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass window, and he squared his shoulders and nodded at himself. The red and black checkered flannel, the worn-in jeans, the sneakers. Perfect. He totally exuded himself.
He knocked on the door and his chest pounded as a form moved behind the fogged glass. The door opened, sucking in air over him, and revealed . . .
Sage. In an apron and hair net, flour dusted along her cheek. She smiled brightly. “You’re here early. Come in.”
Carl went in, breathing in the scent of baking bread, and scanned the kitchen. “Is Grayson not working?”
Sage “ahhhed” as she rounded the counter and began making coffee. “You’re here to see him.” Her smile twitched. “Poppy really had no chance.”
She sure was sharp.
“He won’t be in today,” she continued. “Not sure when he’ll be back, to be honest.”
Carl snapped his gaze to hers.
She slid a coffee over to him. “He said he had somewhere he needed to be, and left last night after saying goodbye.”
Carl’s breath caught and electricity jolted through him over and over. Grayson had somewhere he needed to be. . . . You haven’t got those feelings out of your system, have you? What if I don’t want you to?
Carl yanked out his phone and tried to call. Couldn’t get through. Maybe his phone was on airplane mode. Or drained of battery after the legs to Tasmania and up to Earnest Point.
Had they passed one another in an airport without knowing?
“Are you all right?” Sage asked, eying Carl restlessly pacing the length of the counter.
Carl laughed, heavy and deep. “Grayson makes me ridiculously happy.”
“You joined the admiration club?”
More laughter. “Became king of it.”
“You’re not worried he’ll turn you down? Break your heart?”
“He was the one who fixed it for me. If he wants to break it, only he is allowed.”
“Why are you so happy he left?”
Carl stopped pacing and focused on Sage, who was watching him curiously, trying to put it all together. But she was missing a few key pieces of information. Information Carl well and truly owed her. He perched on a stool and nervously cupped his coffee. “I’m happy because I know where he went.”
“Where?”
“A small town in Tasmania.”
“He’s in Oz?”
Another wave of elation shook Carl, and he nodded.
“Why’s he there?”
Carl let out a stomach-tightening breath and looked Sage in the eye. “He’s there because that’s where I live.”
“You live . . . I thought you lived round the corner?” Sage’s frown had Carl gulping a massive load of guilt.
“My twin, Jason, lives around the corner.”
“Jason—” Sage dropped her coffee and it spilled in a puddle between them. “You’re not Jason Lyall?”
Carl bowed his head. “I’m his twin. His evil twin. I took his identity and fooled you all.”
Sage was quiet. Carl’s stomach churned.
“I’m sorry.”
Sage laughed, trying to sound upbeat, but Carl felt the hollowness, the hurt. “I was too silly to figure it out, huh?”
He shook his head. “I don’t like you thinking of yourself as silly, Sage. I hated anyone who suggested that. It punched me in the gut every time. It was why I pretended to be Jason in the first place. To stick it to those damn mums.”
Sage stared.
Carl pushed on. “They criticise you, make fun of you, and I understood what that felt like, because I’ve experienced the same, and I . . . I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted you to know famous Jason. I wanted to pretend I could be someone like him.”
Carl slammed his eyes shut. “You and I may not be university educated, or know all the big historical events, we may struggle to solve riddles, but we’re colourful and curious. We’re kind. That’s what the people who love us value most.”
He opened his eyes to Sage blinking rapidly. She swiped at her eye. “Gah, I should be upset at you right now. But I’m only upset. This is it, exactly. I often feel so much less than others; the typical blonde. Head full of straw. Those careless words have a way of drowning my spirits, but I shouldn’t care. I won’t. Kindness is most important, and that’s . . . that’s why I forgive you, Evil Twin of Jason Lyall. You lied, but it stemmed from pain and the kindness to want to help.”
Carl swallowed thickly. “My name’s Carl Birch. I run a convenience store in a small town in Tasmania.”
Sage reached over. “Nice to meet you, Carl.”