A LETTER TO ROSE ('Casa De Amor')

CHAPTER 4 (Dangerous Waters)

These past couple of weeks have been both insane and reassuring for Jacob since he found his mistress' pendant in Rose's possession.

Having been made partner, he finally got access to the archives, where he discovered from its records that both Rose and April appeared in Cantia on the very same day twenty-five years ago.

An important detail Rose failed to mention when she shared her sob story with him the other evening they went on a date.

However, what shocked him the most was the revelation of April's hair the night of the fundraiser after she fell into the fountain and he had rescued her.

Right there in his arms, unconscious, was his mistress' silky peach-blonde hair, which he didn't expect to see in this part of the world; he was dumbstruck and almost paralyzed with confusion.

How did things get so mixed up that a girl with his mistress' features was on the one hand, and another with her pendant was on the other?

So, utterly confused and unwilling to repeat his mistake of assuming anything, he invited Martín to the office for more inquiries.

Only Martín knew the exact time their mistress' daughter was accepted into the Home and if she was the last baby who appeared on the doorstep of Cantia on that same day twenty-five years ago.

"I hid behind the bushes to make sure she was taken in," Martín had stated, scratching his forehead as if confused. "If anyone brought another kid by that night, I would've known, having spent the night in those bushes till dawn."

So, if he didn't see any other baby left behind after their little mistress, that would mean she was the last baby brought in that night, according to the archive records.

However, someone tore off the time stamp on the record for that day, along with the names of the babies recorded on that day. But a new entry was made on a fresh page with April's name first and Rose's second.

If Martín's recounting was accurate, then it's clear that Rose had the pendant because Martín brought her there with it, right?

But Jacob's gut kept rejecting that absolute conclusion. He doubted the genuineness of the information on the record since someone tore out a page, possibly to hide something.

If the case was indeed what was being presented, then why does April look a lot like his mistress? Their resemblance couldn't be more uncanny, and the question haunted him.

So, he confided in Martín again, who advised him to ask around the Home for answers regarding his doubts. One of the older matrons from that day might remember which baby came in first or last.

Jacob took the advice and met the oldest person present when the girls arrived at the Home.

Matron Doris was pleasant when he brought up the topic with her. She even told him about the events on that day and how shocked they were to have just accepted two newborns in one day.

"That was quite an auspicious day since we've never had two babies dropped off on our doorstep the same day before, and both were newly born, too. Their eyes were barely open," she reminisced with a bitter-sweet tone.

"So, they came separately?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh yes. The babies came almost three hours apart but were so alike that it was hard to tell them apart. We only started differentiating them by their hair and eye color after their second month. Of course, there was also the pendant that Rose came with, which I instructed that no one tampered with."

Her explanation sounded almost rehearsed to him, but why would she lie? She cared for the girls all their lives, so what would she gain by lying to him? He wondered.