“Anyway, there’s plenty of time to take a trip down memory lane. For now, I’m happy to be home and I’m looking forward to your wedding.”
“Me too.” This time when she hugs me she lingers and we sniffle before easing apart.
“It’s good to be home, Sis,” I say, and in that moment, I mean it.
Two
Freya
Brooke is home.
Beautiful, bold Brooke.
Black sheep Brooke.
Badass Brooke.
Big sister Brooke.
I’ve thought of her in so many ways over the last decade. Missing her. Resenting her. Loving her. It’s the love that finally won out. It’s why I invited her to my wedding and to be part of the preparations. I can’t deny she’s part of our family, not any longer.
She’d surprised me by accepting via email. She’d given me her cell number and I could’ve called but I didn’t want our first words to each other after all this time to be via the phone, so I’d waited.
Now she’s here I don’t know how to behave. I acted like an idiot earlier, too standoffish, when all I wanted to do was bundle her into my arms and cling to her for a lifetime. When she’d strolled into the backyard, all long limbs, wide eyes and strawberry blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders, my heart expanded to the point of pain, all the years we’ve wasted crashing over me in a sorrowful wave.
When Brooke left, I’d yearned to pick up the phone and call just so I could hear her voice. The enormity of what she’d been through made me want to hug her tight and not let go. But I blamed her too: for leaving, for our estrangement, but ultimately that was unfair. Brooke had been a victim of circumstance and we’d all dealt with the fallout in our own way.
I’d wished she’d disappear many times when we were growing up, that when it actually happened I’d felt guilty. Lost. Bereft. Wishing things could’ve been different. I’d been angry with her for abandoning me so I removed all trace of her from the house, hiding photos away. Like that could eradicate the memories we’d created. Stupid. Nothing could make me forget my sister.
“You okay?”
Riker lays a hand on my shoulder and it instantly calms me. I place the last of the cutlery on the table and turn, not surprised to see the concern in his blue eyes. He’s intuitive and sweet despite the rugged appearance. Big, brawny, with an unruly beard and hair the color of burnt toffee skimming his shoulders. He’s beautiful and most days I can’t believe he’s mine.
“Yeah, just nervous.”
“I’m sure your sister is feeling the same way, first dinner at home and all that.” His hand shifts from my shoulder to the nook of my neck, where his thumb brushes my skin and sends a shudder of longing through me. “Or are you nervous because she’s meeting me for the first time?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I slide my arms around his waist. “She’ll love you.”
A pang of fear, a fleeting memory of the past, makes me grip him tighter. Brooke always had any guy she wanted. Eleven months older than me, she was always more noticeable, more popular, just more. She and Eli had been the golden couple of our high school. Everyone wanted to be them. Brooke is beautiful in a way I can never be and I hope Riker doesn’t love her too much.
“I hope so,” he says, before pressing his lips to mine. “But you know what your sister thinks of me is irrelevant because I’m marrying you regardless.”
“I can’t wait.” I touch his cheek, marveling that this amazing man is mine. “By the way, it’s only going to be you, me and Brooke for dinner tonight.”
His eyebrows rise. “Why?”
“Because I want to reconnect with my sister, and I want her to get to know you. Time enough for her to catch up with the rest later.” While I do want Brooke to like Riker, a small part of me wants to show him off too and it’ll be easier with just the three of us. “She should be here any second. Can you uncork the wine, please?”
“Sure.” He bends down to kiss me again and I allow myself the luxury of sinking into it.
I’ve never been into public displays of affection but Riker is demonstrative and I don’t care who sees it when we’re out. In fact, I relish the townsfolk of Martino Bay seeing me with him. They don’t talk about the ‘poor Stuart sisters’ any longer. These days, I’m an admired and recognized member of the community: a nurse at the local nursing home, a volunteer for many causes, always willing to help out. Having Brooke back won’t change that.
“I’ll get the wine,” Riker says and pads to the kitchen, his bare feet not making a sound on the oak boards. He’s wearing faded jeans artfully torn at the knees, a black T-shirt and a camel suede vest, looking every inch the artist. He’s as renowned in this town as I am, his metal sculptures sought by many.
That’s how we’d met. He’d been selling his art, trying to build his business, at the local market. The animals he created out of metal had intrigued me, and I’d stopped to admire his work. We’d started chatting and there’d been something about him, something in the way he looked at me. So I’d let him wax lyrical about his art for a while and when he’d asked me out, I’d accepted. We’ve been a couple ever since.
“Something smells good,” Brooke says from behind me and I turn.
Her smile’s tentative as she pats her stomach. “I’m starving.”
She’s surprisingly pale, but she’s showered and changed into a flowing paisley mini kaftan, and with her hair swept into a loose topknot with a few tendrils framing her face she looks like a waif.
For a moment I feel like the clumsy giant I used to be next to her: too tall, too strong, too oafish. Little wonder all the boys used to favor her over me. But then I hear a muttered curse from the kitchen and I’m empowered again. I have Riker. He chose me. I don’t need to feel inferior to Brooke.
However, all that changes when Riker enters the dining room, holding an open bottle of cab sav. Because I see the exact moment he lays eyes on Brooke and his widen in recognition.
I quickly glance at Brooke and she’s wearing the same shell-shocked expression he is.
My fiancé and my sister know each other.
Three
Alice
THEN
“How do I look, Sis?”
Diana twirls in front of me, the full skirt of her satin cocktail dress flaring at the hem, creating a soft swish.
I roll my eyes. “Perfect as usual.”
It wouldn’t matter if she wore a hessian sack, Diana will be the most beautiful girl at the party tonight. I love my sister, I really do, but having mousy-brown hair next to her reddish-blonde, brown eyes compared to her vivid blue, and a stick-thin figure alongside her curves means she gets the attention of all the boys. But it’s more than that. She’s vivacious and sweet, and people are naturally drawn to her, whereas I’m the introvert who fades into the background. Even our mom favors her. Not overtly, but I always get the sense I’m being compared to Diana.
Even though I finished high school a year earlier and can afford better clothes and make-up, I know my eighteen-year-old sister will dazzle tonight.
“You look great too,” Diana says, her envious gaze narrowing slightly as she stares at my little black dress that had cost a week’s wages. “Boring school is done so I can’t wait to find a job and start working too.” She smooths out the skirt of the vintage gown she picked up for twenty bucks online. “I can’t wait to be able to afford better than this.”
“You should be going to college.”
Her nose crinkles. “Don’t you start. I’ve already coerced Mom into letting me have a gap year, now all I have to do is work on Dad.”
“Good luck with that.”
Not only does Diana have the looks in the family, she got the brains too. Our folks didn’t care when I finished school and started doing clerical work at a small accountancy firm because they pinned all their hopes on brilliant, gorgeous Diana bringing pride to the Shomack name as the first to attend college.
She has as much hope of ditching college i
n the coming year as I do of winning a beauty contest between the two of us.
“Anyone I should take particular note of at this party tonight?” Diana winks. “Any special guys in your life, Sis?”
I feel heat flush my cheeks. “I’m weighing up my options.”
She laughs and pats my back. “You mumble some guy’s name I can’t catch in your sleep often enough that I can’t wait to meet your friends.”
The heat intensifies and I elbow her away. “There’s a group of us that like hanging out and I’m only taking you under sufferance.”
Her crimson-glossed lips pout in a way that can convince any guy to do anything. “I’m finally free, Sis. The least you can do the week after I finish high school is take me to a grown-up party.”
I snort. “The fact you call it a grown-up party indicates you are nowhere near ready to come with me, but Mom and Dad made me.”
“Mom and Dad made me,” she mimics in a perfect imitation of my snarky tone and I can’t help but laugh.
“Come on, we’re already fashionably late.”
The drive from our home on the outskirts of Verdant, a town that’s anything but in the Nevada Desert, to Cam’s house takes fifteen minutes. My palms are slick with sweat and I’m grateful for Diana’s endless prattle.
Tonight’s the night.
I’m going to tell Cam how I feel.
“Have you heard a word I’ve said?” Diana snaps her fingers in my face as I park. “I’ve never seen you so spaced out. This guy must be something.”
“Shut up,” I snap, getting out of the car and slamming the door. “And once we’re in there, you’re on your own.”
“I can take care of myself.” Diana slips the black wrap off and squares her shoulders. She fills out the midnight blue satin fifties-style dress better than any film siren from the same era. “Don’t worry about me.”
I won’t. I have more important things to worry about, like how to get Cam alone and tell him everything.
I sat behind Cameron Stuart in every class since second grade and have crushed on him since then. He’s quiet and studious and has always exuded a peace that attracted me, considering my tumultuous home life. It isn’t that my parents don’t care about Di and me, it’s just they’re so absorbed in each other their kids come a distant second.
As we grow older, Diana and I hate their overt displays of affection as much as the size of our tiny house with the paper-thin walls that allow us to hear too much. Unfortunately, their passion isn’t only reserved for the bedroom and they indulge in rip-roaring fights that terrify me. Little wonder Cam’s calmness draws me in.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t left Verdant for college either, despite his grades. Instead, he works at his family’s business, a wind farm that produces power. Because there aren’t many of us who didn’t escape Verdant, we hang out together a fair bit and lately I’ve seen something in his eyes, a glint of interest I hope means he’s finally noticed me. It’s given me the courage to make a move. I’m sick of waiting—and being the oldest virgin in Verdant. At this rate Diana will have sex before I do.
She’s halfway up the path to Cam’s door before she realizes I’m not following. She pauses and glances over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “Al?”
“Coming,” I mutter, wishing I had half my sister’s confidence.
I’ve been to Cam’s place a few times, with a group of the old high school crew. We order pizza, drink beers, watch the latest show streaming. Low-key, friendly, but it hadn’t been until the last gathering when we’d all swum in the low-frills rectangular pool out the back that I’d had any indication he might like me. He’d been friendlier than usual and it gave me hope.
I definitely have to say something tonight.
As we near the house, a contemporary two-story that would look more at home in Las Vegas, I hear voices and laughter coming from the back of the house and the booming bass of a dance track that echoes through my chest.
Diana does an excited little jig. “I’m really looking forward to this.”
I would be too if my guts weren’t twisted into pretzels at the thought of my impending reveal to Cam so I fake a smile and follow the stone path around the back. I’m already too tall so opt for low kitten heels while Diana’s stilettos make a loud clacking alongside me. I always feel like a gangly giant next to her petite curves.
As we round the back corner of the house, my heart sinks. Cam hadn’t mentioned this is a pool party and the sight of several girls in bikinis splashing daintily in the shallows adds to my nerves.
“You didn’t tell me we were swimming,” Diana hisses under her breath, her gaze scouring the crowd of guys gathered near the pool. “I’m overdressed.”
Diana looks stunning and knows it. Besides, there are several women in dresses gathered near a buffet table so we’re not completely out of place. Cam had told me to dress up so that’s what I’d done. Screw everybody else.
“Want me to introduce you to a few people?”
Diana waves me away. “I’ll be fine, you go have fun.”
I intend to but I haven’t spotted Cam yet and my rampant nerves aren’t settling. “Don’t drink, okay?”
Diana rolls her eyes. “Yes, Mom,” she drawls, and I know my warning will have little effect. Di has always done exactly what she wants without fear of consequences. I envy her bravado.
“Behave.” I nudge her before drifting away, scouring the crowd for Cam.
But before I can do a real reconnaissance, someone snags my arm. “Quick, Alice, I need your help.”
It’s Dave, Cam’s best friend. I can’t stand him because he’s sleazy but I pretend to like him for Cam’s sake.
I subtly shrug out of his grip. “What’s up?”
“Mandy’s throwing up. She says it’s food poisoning but…” He shifts side to side, his face puce. “Do you think you could suss her out?” I don’t understand the fear in his eyes until things slide into place: he’s terrified she may be pregnant. I shouldn’t get involved. It’s none of my business and I don’t even like him, but what if he complains to Cam that I didn’t help when he asked?
So I force a smile. “Sure, where is she?”
“Upstairs bathroom.” He squeezes my arm in gratitude and I grit my teeth against the urge to shake him off. “Thanks, Al, I owe you one.”
Not a bad thing if he can put in a good word for me with Cam, so I head upstairs to find puking Mandy. She’s in a spare bedroom, lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her face an unsettling greyish color.
“Hey, Mandy, you okay?”
Listless, her gaze drifts toward me. “Don’t tell Dave, but I popped an E from one of the guys out there.”
I bite back a laugh. I reckon Dave will be relieved.
“As long as you’re okay?”
“I’ve been better.” She presses a hand to her mouth for several moments, as if staving off another vomit, before lowering it. “I thought that stuff was meant to make you feel like partying, not puking.”
I wouldn’t know. I’d never touch drugs. “Want me to send Dave up? He’s worried about you.”
She shakes her head and winces. “I need to sleep this off. Tell him I’ll be down when I can.”
“Okay.” I cross the bedroom to the en suite, fill a glass with water, before placing it beside her on the bedside table. “I’ll pop in to check on you later.”
She manages a wan smile. “Thanks, Alice, you’re the best.”
I don’t get praised often so I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself as I head downstairs. At least checking on Mandy has served to take my mind off my upcoming revelation to Cam. I’ll let Dave know his girlfriend is fine before finding Cam.
I head for the back door and scan the crowd. Dave’s on the far side of the pool now, completely unconcerned about Mandy considering his head is bent close to a redhead in a skimpy black bikini. So I do a slow sweep of the crowd in search of Cam. He’s tall, about six-one, with blond hair easily bleached by the Nevada sun, so
should be easy to spot.
He is. I see him in the shadows to my right, behind the bar.
With his arm around Diana.
Four
Brooke
I swear time stands still when I lay eyes on Riker again.
I’m swept back to that fateful night eleven years ago when everything changed, when my life as I knew it ended. He played a major role, not that he was aware of it.
I’ve deliberately blocked everything about that night from my memory because it’s ruined my life. But seeing Riker again… I remember the smell of his skin, a hint of sweat blended with a light citrus body wash. I remember the wildness that swept over me when we entered the secluded shed. I remember not caring about the wrongness of being with him when it felt so right.
It had been a fleeting interlude with Riker passing through town. I never expected to see him again and I’d been glad considering the fallout from that hellish night.
So what the hell is Riker doing here now?
I school my face into a mask, hoping to hide my recognition, but it’s too late. Freya is staring at me with narrow-eyed suspicion.
“Do you two know each other?”
Freya sounds wary and I’m speechless, unable to come up with a response that won’t end the fragile rebuilding of our sibling bond before it’s begun. Thankfully, Riker recovers quicker than me; he smiles, a wide, easy grin that catapults me back to the night I thought I was the only girl in the world he reserved those smiles for.
“Sort of,” he says, and I force a laugh, adding, “We met at a party as kids years ago.”
“Yeah, a lifetime ago.” Riker’s steely blue-eyed stare bores into me, imploring me to understand, before he blinks and refocuses on Freya. “We barely spoke.”
The lie slides easily from his lips and I wonder why he covers for me, until he places the wine on the table and moves around it to slide an arm around Freya’s waist.
My Sister's Husband Page 2