42097609460

But…
But…
But…
One by one, the answers came as quickly as she could think of
them: the reason she’d never learned Jo’s last name or saw her
drive a car… the reason Jo never invited her over or accepted her
offer to help her paint… how Jo had been able to magically appear
at Katie’s side in jogging clothes…
Katie felt something give way inside her as everything clicked into
place.
Jo, she suddenly realized, had never been there at all.
43
Still feeling as if she were in a dream, Katie stumbled back to her
house. She took a seat in the rocker and stared at Jo’s house,
wondering if she’d gone utterly mad.
She knew that the creation of imaginary friends was common
among children, but she wasn’t a child. And yes, she’d been under
a great deal of stress when she arrived in Southport. Alone and
friendless, on the run and looking over her shoulder, terrified that
Kevin was closing in—who wouldn’t be anxious? But was that
enough to have prompted the creation of an alter ego? Maybe
some psychiatrists would say yes, but she wasn’t so sure.
The problem was that she didn’t want to believe it. She couldn’t
believe it because it had felt so… real. She remembered those
conversations, could still see Jo’s expressions, still hear the sound
of her laughter. Her memories of Jo felt as real as her memories of
Alex did. Of course, he probably wasn’t real, either. Probably