Forget to Remember

thoughts rushed into her head. “You said my parents didn’t believe Michael attacked me.”
    “Apparently, it was the case of them always trying to protect the weaker child. You were the strong one. Michael couldn’t do any wrong in their eyes. He couldn’t have attacked you.”
    “Did they find the knife?”
    “Not as far as I know. When you got out of hospital, you realized you couldn’t live in the same house with him. He was crazy enough that he might try to track you down if you stayed in the States. So, you came to England and changed your name.”
    “Why would my own grandmother reject me?”
    “Does she have dementia?”
    “She’s as sharp as a brand new razor blade.”
    “Then I guess you’ll have to ask her.”
    “Paul—Mr. Vigiano—the attorney for my parents’ estate said I came over here to write a novel.”
    “That may have been what you said, but you never mentioned it to me. I suspect it was just a cover story you told people because you couldn’t say you were afraid of your brother.”
    “So I’m not a budding Hemingway.”
    “No, but you’re a damn good mathematician. What are you going to do now?”
    “Wonder why I can’t speak French since I had a French boyfriend.”
    They laughed together.
    “Actually, I think I’ll go back and ask my grandmother why she rejected me.”
    “That’s my Aiko—or Cynthia—or Carol, or whatever you want to be.”
    Carol laughed again, a little hysterically. “I’m all of the above. There’s an old movie called The Three Faces of Eve , about a woman with multiple personality disorder. I’m the modern version.”

    CHAPTER 30
    Carol—for she still thought of herself as Carol—didn’t tell anybody except Janet about her plans. She didn’t tell Paul; she knew he’d be happy she was Cynthia because it would make him rich, but she didn’t want him confronting Mrs. Horton. She wanted do that herself. She didn’t tell Rigo or Frances because she was afraid of an information leak.
    She had recovered part of her recent past, thanks to Janet, although she still didn’t remember any of it except for Michael’s aftershave and the knife attack. Janet had showed her the picture album of their hike through Scotland and England. The girl with Janet was her, all right. There was no doubt in her mind. Even though she couldn’t remember the details, she now believed she’d done the hike. It must have been a great adventure.
    Janet also showed her photos of Aiko with teachers and students at the school. She could picture herself as a teacher. What she couldn’t fill in was what had happened to her when she went back to North Carolina after her parents and brother were killed in the plane crash. She hadn’t talked to Paul, or he would have mentioned it. Had she gone to the memorial service? Probably not or Paul would have seen her. Had she even talked to Mrs. Horton? The woman was still Mrs. Horton to Carol. She wouldn’t be Grandma until she accepted Carol as her granddaughter.
    Carol said a tearful good-bye to Janet on Tuesday morning. She took the train back to London and stayed at the Balmoral Tuesday night. She rode the Heathrow Express to the airport Wednesday morning and caught a noon American Airlines flight to Raleigh/Durham Airport. It landed late in the afternoon. She wanted to get a good night’s sleep before talking to Mrs. Horton, so she rented a car and took a room at an economy motel.
    ***
    Wednesday morning was warm, tending toward hot, somewhat different than the weather in England. Carol dressed in summery clothes and ate breakfast at a diner near the motel. Her plan to get a good night’s sleep had backfired to some extent, because she’d spent part of the night rehearsing what she was going to say to Mrs. Horton and the balance having restless dreams.
    As she drove along the unpaved road that led to the farm, she pictured the scene. Audrey would open the door. Was she in on the deception? Probably not. She had only been with Mrs. Horton for a year. The chances were she’d never seen Cynthia, only Carol. Unless she’d seen Cynthia when she went back after the plane crash.
    Carol drove up to the garage and parked. She got out of the car and Butch came bounding up, treating her like a long lost friend. She was glad to see him too. He hadn’t deserted her. She walked along the sidewalk that fronted the house. The garden was still in bloom. She remembered some of the flowers Mrs. Horton had introduced her to: mums,