Back to Me without you (Sibling Love Book 1)

by Christie Mack

  After the death of their parents, Abby, Steven and Jessica had decided as a family to sell their childhood home. Abby lived in New York; Steven worked long hours as a firefighter, and Jessica juggled classes at university as well as working part-time at a clothing store. On top of their individual social lives, they could not afford the expenses to maintain the house they grew up in. At the time of their parent’s passing, neither Steven nor Jessica had wanted to live alone. Before their parents died, they were still living with mum and dad. So they opted to buy something big enough to share with an extra room for Abby when she came home. They’d decided on a three-bedroom townhouse. It had all the comforts of home, including Steven and Jessica, but it would never feel like home to Abby.

  Abby squinted at the computer screen, then rubbed her tired eyes and sighed. Deadlines were looming for her next release. She had suffered a terrible case of writer’s block in the beginning of writing the manuscript but was finally beginning to overcome it enough to get words added on to her total word count. She couldn’t afford to get behind now. She hoped Jessica’s upcoming wedding and all the planning that would be happening wouldn’t set her back. Abby dreaded having to tell her editor that she wasn’t going to reach her deadline. She would need to knuckle down and write as many words as she could while she was in Sydney.

  Her writing hour was over when she heard her sister bounce through the front door. Jessica had a way of arriving somewhere in typical Jessica fashion. She knew how to make noise wherever she went.

  Yep, Jessica is home, Abby thought as she closed down her laptop and got ready to greet her younger sister.

  “Abby!” Jessica called out from downstairs and started making her way up the stairs just as Abby was coming down. They met halfway, slipping into an embrace in the middle of the stairwell.

  “Abby!” Jessica repeated.

  “Jess!” Even though they talked over Skype and Facebook, seeing her younger sister in the flesh triumphed over any form of technology.

  Jessica smelled of flowers and candy—it was her trademark fragrance. Abby couldn’t help but lower her nose to Jessica’s hair, which made Jessica giggle.

  “Okay Abby, are you smelling my hair? You’re still my crazy big sister.”

  “No, I’m your crazy big sister who missed you a whole lot,” Abby corrected, pointing her finger at her as they pulled out of their embrace. “By the way, your hair still smells the same as it did when I last saw you.”

  “I missed you, too,” Jessica said. “I’m so glad that you’re here. And of course, it smells the same. I only use one shampoo and conditioner. It makes my hair soft and shiny.”

  Abby made a mental note to get the name of her sister’s shampoo for herself. She wanted to smell like Jessica. It would be like bottling her up so she could feel like she had a piece of her sister with her wherever she was.

  “Of course, I’m here. I’m not going to miss my baby sister’s wedding. It’s a special time for our family,” Abby said as they descended the stairs together, their arms linked with each other. “I want to know all the details about this fiancé of yours. What is he like? When do I get to meet him?” Abby accentuated “fiancé” like she still couldn’t believe her sister was old enough to get engaged.

  It felt like yesterday when Jessica was Abby’s shadow. As a little girl, Jessica wanted to follow in her big sister’s shoes, and now here she was going to be married.

  When they were down the stairs, Abby and Jessica joined Steven in the living room. He lay sprawled out on the lounge in front of the wide screen television screen watching Australian rugby league.

  “Is this what you do when you’re not working? Gee, no wonder you’re not in a relationship or can’t find a girlfriend,” Abby said, sitting down on the other lounge.

  Steven rolled his eyes at his sister but didn’t look away from the television. “Hey! You’re one to talk, Miss-I-don’t-need-a-man-to-be-happy. I don’t see a ring on your finger or see you in a relationship. Besides, I’m not in a relationship by choice. In my profession, I don’t want to tie myself down to one woman. I work long and draining hours. What woman is going to be able to handle being with a guy who puts their life on the line every single day? That life isn’t for me. At the end of the day, I’m not ready to come home to a wife and kid. I’m having insignificant sex with women who want what I want.”

  “Oh, that’s right! You like your carefree life, but have you been thinking about your future? What if the time comes when you do meet someone you could see yourself committing to completely? Don’t you think she would get used to your job as a firefighter if she wanted to be with you and loved you?”

  Steven shrugged his shoulders. He brought his bottle of beer to his lips, taking a long slow sip. Abby knew he loved nothing more than to kick back after a long day and night at work with a bottle of beer and sport on TV. It was his favourite way to unwind after fighting fires all day.

  “If that happens, I’ll deal with it then. Meanwhile, finding my one true love and settling down is the least of my problems. I’m not thinking about it right now. Besides, instead of asking me when I’m going to settle down, ask yourself. You’re single, too. I guess you and I aren’t so different, Abby. Now if you don’t mind, you didn’t fly all the way over here to tell me about my lack of love life. I’m just trying to watch the football. This is exactly what I do to chill out after work. If you’re going to continue to interrupt the atmosphere I’ve got going on here, then let me know, and I’ll go to the pub.”

  Jessica shrugged off her big brother’s griping. She crossed to the other side of the room, giving Abby a glass of white wine and then taking her place on the lounge beside Steven. With her two hands wrapped around the bowl of the glass, Abby sipped at her drink. “Well c’mon girl, you never did show me that ring of yours. You did get a ring didn’t you?”

  Jessica beamed, showcasing the sparkly ring sitting on the ring finger of her left hand. While Abby was cynical about her sister’s engagement, she could see Jessica was happy.

  “Wow!” Abby said in awe of the piece of jewellery sitting on her sister’s finger. Upon close inspection, Abby realised it had to be at least a couple of carats. Expensive. Which made Abby wonder what it was that Jessica’s fiancé did for a job. Whatever it was, he was being paid big dollars, or his family came from a lot of money.

  “It’s beautiful, Jess.”

  Jessica admired her ring, turning her hand over to stare at it before she clutched it to her chest. “I know, isn’t it just so pretty? I can’t stop looking at it. I think I was just as surprised as you when Justin slipped the ring on my finger.”

  “So when do I get to meet this fiancé of yours?” Abby asked.

  “Tomorrow at lunch. Is that okay?”

  Abby tilted her head to the side, biting her inner lip. “I guess so. So I’m not seeing him tonight? I suppose I just figured that with your wedding being a quick one, you’d want to make quick introductions.”

  Jessica shook her head. “No, Justin and I thought we’d spend some time with our families tonight. His parents arrived yesterday. His brother came today, so he thought he should catch up with them first, just like I wanted to spend time with my family.”

  “That’s great, but I do wish you’d maybe take your conversation away from the TV. I am trying to watch this game,” Steven groused as he used the remote control to turn the volume up on the television.

  Abby crossed her legs. “What is so important about this game?”

  Jessica rolled her eyes as she sipped at her wine. “Oh, please don’t get him started on football. He will never shut up about it.”

  Steven narrowed his eyes. “I am not that bad, but when people ask about it, I am also not going to lie and say I don’t like it.”

  “And this is what took place when you met Justin for the first time. He asked about Australian football, and you couldn’t shut up about it. It went on and on, and in the end, you and Justin were bonding over football. I was completely
forgotten that night,” Jessica said, making a point to her brother.

  Abby went silent as she watched the back and forth banter between her siblings. This is what she missed when she was living so far away. She wouldn’t give up living in the Big Apple for anything, but it was the little things that she craved, even as silly as the playful bickering with her siblings.

  It was moments like these that she cherished from her childhood.

  Abby, Steven and Jessica were always close. Their parents had raised them always to be there for each other no matter what happened. Death always has a way of bonding those left behind, but in the struggle of losing both mum and dad, grief had pulled them together a lot stronger than most sibling bonds.

  “Is this what takes place between the two of you all the time?” Abby asked her siblings.

  Jessica and Steven looked over at Abby with curious eyes.

  “No,” Steven was the first to say. “She’s not here most of the time. It’s usually just me to enjoy my sport alone.”

  “Well, I am twenty-one years old. I’m young. I’m supposed to be going out and having fun. How else am I going to meet people? After all, it’s how I met and became engaged in the first place. I’m not like you two. I know you don’t have a problem with being single, but I don’t want to be alone forever.”

  “So you’ve met Jess’s fiancé? What do you think of him?” Abby asked, directing her question to Steven.

  Jess also turned inquisitive eyes toward her brother. “Yes, Steven, what did you think about my fiancé? You didn’t even let me have a proper answer when I asked you.” She pondered a moment, then lifted a hand in the air. “Wait—I don’t want to know what you think. If you don’t like him, then I’ll be sad. I just want the two most important people in my life to love the other important person in my life as much as I do. Well, maybe not love but you have to at least like him for my sake.” Jessica stood up then and walked towards the kitchen. “I’m thinking pizza for dinner. What do you say?”

  “Sounds good,” Abby said.

  “You know you don’t need to ask me twice. If there’s no cooking involved, I’m happy,” Steven added.

  “Good, then that’s settled. I’ll call our favourite place now. Do we all want our usual?” Their “usuals” were pepperoni for Steven, cheese for Abby and vegetarian for Jessica.

  Jessica had become a vegetarian at the age of seventeen. She decided she no longer wanted to eat meat because of the guy she was dating at the time. Even after they broke up, it was just something she grew accustomed to being and was now considered it as part of her lifestyle.

  “Okay, I’ll order it. And while I go, feel free to tell Abby what you think of Justin, Steven. I’m sure that I can pry it out of her later. We are sisters, after all.”

  “What? So because I’m a guy, I’m the odd one out of the family. Is what I say not sacred anymore?”

  Jessica waved him off. “Oh, what you say was never sacred, not even to mum and dad. Secrets don’t stay a secret for long in our family. You should know that by now.”

  Abby watched her younger sister waltz into the kitchen before she turned to Steven with a grin on her face.

  “What?” Steven asked her when he looked over at her and caught her looking right back at him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you met Jess’s fiancé?”

  “You know me. It’s not my style to kiss and tell. I’ve never been one for gossip and other people’s business—”

  “But you’ll tell me anyway because you care about her enough to tell me your opinion.”

  Steven pressed the mute button on the television. His game wasn’t going to get watched tonight. “You do realise that you’re only older than me by one year, right?”

  Abby nodded. “I know, but I am still older than you so I can tell you what do.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Steven said. He raked his hand through his brown hair. His hair was almost the same colour as Abby’s except that she had dipped the ends of her hair with light blonde highlights. “You’re older than me. I’ve heard this my entire life. You can give it a rest now. You sound like a broken record.”

  Steven drew his bottle of beer to his lips, taking a mouthful and then wiping away the wetness with the palm of his hand. “I don’t know. He looks like an okay bloke. A decent guy for our sister to be with. I think Jess picked well.”

  “So you like him?”

  “I guess so, yeah. We bonded over football. He likes his sport. I think we’re going to get along well, and it’s obvious that he’s in love with our sister, so he gets major points for that. Considering the size of that rock sitting on her finger, I get the impression that his family has money. Jessica told me he’s studying to be a lawyer. So he’s not making money from that yet.”

  Abby was speechless. She didn’t realise her brother paid as close attention to details as she did. “I didn’t think you’d noticed the size of her engagement ring.”

  “I’m not blind. And even if I was, I’m pretty sure I would pick up on the size with a simple handshake. His family is most likely wealthy to be able to afford a ring like that. I guess they haven’t had to struggle like our family did growing up.”

  They hadn’t exactly been poor growing up. Their parents both worked to support their family of five. While they ensured their children never went without anything, they weren’t wealthy, either. They earned every dollar through hard work.

  Steven and Abby’s conversation stopped when Jessica came bouncing into the room with a smile plastered on her face. “I ordered the pizza,” she said as she sat down beside her big brother. Steven showed a sly expression on his face. He knew what was coming next as Jessica leant one arm against Steven’s shoulder.

  “Steven…” Jessica began.

  “What now?”

  “So can you pay for the pizzas? As a part-time university student working in retail, I don’t make a lot of money and the money that I do have, I’m trying to save for my wedding. Besides, we can’t make Abby pay. She’s just back from America.” She looked at Abby. “Have you converted your money into Australian dollars yet?”

  Abby laughed. “Well, you’re right about that, Jess. I completely spaced on converting my money. I guess I’ve had more pressing matters on my mind. But maybe I’m glad that I haven’t done it yet if it means Steven is paying for dinner.”

  Steven rolled his eyes. He fished into his jeans pocket anyway, retrieving his wallet and handing Jessica just enough money to cover the pizza. “Is that enough?”

  Jessica held the fifty-dollar note into the air like she was examining it for fraudulent purposes.

  “It isn’t fake,” Steven clarified. “I don’t handle fake money. I do go to work. That’s where I get my money from.”

  “I know, but you can never be too trustworthy. You’re in luck; it all looks good to me. And yes, that will be enough for dinner, but I could just ask for more if you’re willing to hand over cash to me.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s not happening,” Steven muttered. “Times like these makes me wish mum and dad had another son besides just me. At least then I would have an ally when the two of you choose to torture me.”

  Jessica nudged her brother with her elbow. “Aw, what’s the matter? Don’t you like being the only male in our family? You should feel lucky. I’m the baby of the family. I had to contend with the likes of you two. Mum and dad saved me for last. I don’t know whether I should be happy knowing that when I came along, you were both already born.”

  Abby covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a cackle. Sometimes her siblings cracked her up.

  She wasn’t thrilled to be coming home for her sister’s wedding. She thought Jessica was rushing into getting married. But Abby was glad to be home and surrounded by those she missed an awful lot when she was living in America.

  Jessica motioned for Abby to join her on the lounge beside her. All three of them were now squashed together on one couch with Jessica in the middle.

  “Do you rememb
er when we went on that road trip to Melbourne?” Jessica asked.

  “Oh, how could I forget,” Abby added. “Steven had just started driving then. He thought he was doing so well until he insisted we had enough petrol to make it all the way to Melbourne without stopping one final time. One hundred kilometres later, we became stranded waiting for you and dad to return from your trek to the service station. Wherever that was. You took your time coming back to us. We were beginning to think you were never coming back. I think mum and dad were cursing you the entire trip to and from Melbourne.”

  Abby and Jessica laughed, while Steven wore a frown on his face.

  “Well, how was I supposed to know how long it was going to take to reach Melbourne? I hadn’t ever been there before. What’s more, I had only just started driving. Mum and dad did not need to agree with me. And it’s not funny, nor is it a cherished childhood memory I would like to remember, but you keep talking about it. You never let me live it down.”

  “Because it’s hilarious. It’s the funniest thing you’ve ever done,” Jessica said, pointing her finger at Steven.

  “I just think you like to tease me,” Steven countered.

  “Well, that too,” Jessica said with a twinkle in her eye. Then she pulled her knees to her chest and breathed in a slow, deep breath. Abby and Steven noticed that something was troubling her.

  Abby placed one hand on Jessica’s knee. “What’s up?” Jessica tucked one strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. “We’re your siblings. You know you can tell us anything, and we won’t judge you because we can’t. We’ll be there for you no matter what. Are you having second thoughts about getting married? It is okay if you are. You can push back the wedding if you want to take it slow. No one will judge you. And I’ll still be here. You’re my sister. I’m not going to miss your wedding day.”

  “Well, maybe she won’t judge you,” Steven stated, “but I can speak for myself, and I know I will. I happen to be your older brother, after all. I can also kick anyone’s ass for you if you want me to. That’s what I’m perfect for.” Steven made a Kung Fu style motion with his hands.