Page 143 of The Temptation of Truth

“No,” I whisper, and the word feels raw. “No, I’m Mabel. Mabel.”

Her expression shifts with a wave of disappointment. She shakes her head, but she doesn’t look away from me. She doesn’tstop studying my features, and I know what she’s seeing. I know because I saw the same thing the first time my lawyer sent pictures.

Same eyes. Same nose. Same lips. It’s like looking in a mirror, and just like the first time I saw her, she can’t seem to look away.

“No, of course. I’m sorry. I thought you were...I thought you were someone else. You just look...” Her voice cracks, but she forces a smile. “You look familiar. I’m sorry.”

Claire pulses her grip on my hand, and I glance at her. She gives me an encouraging smile and a tiny, subtle nod. I nod back, exhale slowly and try to keep my tears from falling as I look back at my mom.

“Actually...um...are you Gianna Amato?”

Her eyes flash with hope. “I am, yes.”

“I know you’re probably on your way to work, but would you, maybe, want to grab a coffee with me? After?”

“I can do it now. We can do it now. I can call in.”

“Oh, I don’t want you to have to do that,” I say quickly despite the way my heart leaps.

“It’s no problem. Not at all.” She smiles and sniffs as a single tear rolls down her cheek. “I want to. I’ve been...”

She closes her eyes and takes a few grounding, deep breaths as a few more tears escape her lashes, and then she nods again.

“I would love to get coffee with you right now. I live close, if you want. I’m sure I have a shirt you can change into, and I can wash that one. You...you look about my size.”

I look back at Claire and find her crying, too.

“I can grab us new coffees,” she says. “Toffee latte?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, please.”

My mom and I respond at the same time, and then we share a smile.

“And a scone?” I ask, and she nods.

“That would be lovely.”

34

MABEL

TWO YEARS LATER

“How’s the fam?”Sav asks as I make my way through her front door and into her kitchen.

“Good.” I pat Zigs on the head as I rummage through the fridge. “Amelia got first place in the science fair, and Calliope snuck out and got picked up by the cops for toilet papering the neighbors’ houses.”

Sav barks out a laugh. “I love that kid.”

“Yeah, she loves you too, and it’s a problem.”

“Are they going to come visit again?”

I open a yogurt and grab a spoon from her drawer. “I think so. The girls have a break from school soon, so I think they’ll come then.”

I haven’t gone a day without talking to my family since the coffee shop, and it’s been better than I could have imagined. It turns out, my mom and birth father are married. They met at a church camp, conceived me, lost contact with one another, then reconnected after high school. It’s all very heartbreaking and romantic, and it explains why my sisters look exactly like me. We have the exact same DNA.