“Excuse me!” I called.
The woman stopped but didn’t turn around immediately.
She hesitated just long enough to make my heart race.
When she finally faced me, I felt the air leave my lungs.
She looked older than Joanna would have looked now.
Her hair was shorter and dyed a darker shade, and a faint scar ran along the side of her jaw.
But her eyes…
They were my sister’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I said, struggling to find the words. “This is going to sound strange… but your birthmark…”
Instinctively, she pulled her beach cover-up lower.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
She started walking again.
Then Lily caught up beside me.
The little girl looked directly at the woman.
“Your eyes look like mine.”
The woman froze.
Slowly, she looked down at Lily.
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
“What… did you say your name is?”
“Lily.”
The towel slipped from the woman’s hand.
She covered her mouth as though she couldn’t breathe.
I stepped closer.
“My sister’s name was Joanna.”
The woman closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, tears were streaming down her face.
“My name is… Anna now.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
She looked around the crowded boardwalk.
“Not here.”
We walked to a quiet bench overlooking the water.
For several minutes, none of us spoke.
Finally, she whispered,
“I remember the fire.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“The smoke spread so fast.”
She looked at Lily.
“I got her outside.”
“You… what?”
“I carried her through a bedroom window.”
She began to cry.
“I went back inside because my father-in-law was trapped.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“The floor collapsed.”
“I don’t remember much after that.”
She touched the scar on her face.
