His Sister's Return

by Mary Goldberger

  As the car drove away, the woman sighed and said sadly, “Your life has never been easy, has it, my dear?”

  She heaved another heavy sigh as she let the curtain fall back in place before she walked over to the door and put the ‘closed’ sigh on before she locked it, and headed to her back room turning off all the lights.

  Two blocks away, in an empty alleyway, a woman sat her eyes narrowed in slits as her hands clenched tightly around the steering wheel before she slammed her hand down on the dashboard. “Damn it.”

  She had been close and if hadn’t been for someone warning her, the hazel eyed girl would’ve been dead by now. She screeched as her mind replayed the young woman moving out of the way of the car as it moved toward her.

  “You were lucky this time,” she sneered. “Next time, it will be a different story.”

  She started the car with a nervous jerk turning on the headlights at the last minute before she eased out of the alley and on to the road. As other cars passed her, the lights from those passing cars reflected in her eyes causing many drivers to shiver in fright as she continued on her way.

  Chapter 5

  “Is your friend all right, Trystan?” His aunt asked the following morning as Trystan came down for breakfast.

  “When I checked on her a few minutes ago, she was sleepily soundly,” Trystan told her as he settled down at the table with her. “Only coffee please,” he told the young lady who came out asking what he wanted for breakfast.

  Eva Daniels observed her nephew in front of her and wondered what relationship the two of them had although she didn’t ask him about it.

  “I’m glad that she seems to be feeling better,” she remarked as she sipped her juice.

  “I will know more when she wakes up,” Trystan informed her as the young lady returned with his coffee.

  After he fixed it the way he liked, he said, “I’m sorry for any problems we’ve caused you.”

  Mrs. Daniels shook her head as she told him, “There is no harm done and I have to admit, I’m intrigued by the whole thing.”

  Trystan laughed as her eyes lit with excitement and he shook his head as he said “Only you, Aunt Eva, would like chaos.”

  She only smiled as she finished her breakfast and Trystan drained his coffee cup. They were sitting at the table chatting when his cell phone went off in his pocket, and he answered with a wince, “Hello.”

  “What happened last night, Trystan?” Bea said with disappointment in her voice although her eyes were hard with anger which he couldn’t see. “I waited for you for hours.”

  Trystan ran a hand through his short hair as he told her with a note of regretfulness, “I’m sorry, Bea, but something came up that stopped me from coming back last night.”

  “You could’ve called,” Bea said sharply now, and Trystan eyes narrowed at the sharpness although his voice didn’t reveal his feelings as he said, “I know, and I apologize for that but it was getting too late and I figured you would’ve been in bed by then.”

  Bea bit her lip to stop her scream at what she believed was a lie, but she controlled herself as she asked, “Are you coming back today so we can have dinner?”

  Trystan looked over at his aunt before he said, “No, I think I will stay here another day and come back tomorrow. We can have dinner tomorrow night once I take care of some things that need to be taken care of.”

  Bea heard the smile in his voice, and her eyes lit up with satisfaction as she said in a more intimate tone, “I guess if I must wait then I will.”

  “Thank you,” he said softly, and she took it as a sign that he was missing her unaware that the smile she heard in his voice had been directed at Alina who she was coming down the stairs.

  “I have to go, honey, but I will see you when you return,” she said blowing a kiss in the phone and catching how he laughed lightly before saying, “Okay, see you then.”

  She hung up with a smug smile tapping the phone against her lips before she got up from the couch as the doorbell rang, and she tossed the phone on the bed as she went to answer the door allowing her negligée strap to slip down her shoulders.

  Trystan hit the ‘end’ button as he stood up. “Are you okay, Alina?” He asked walking over to her as she stepped off the last stair.

  “I’m fine,” she told him giving him a smile before she headed over to the table and Trystan stayed close to her until she reached it.

  She sent him a glare over her shoulder as he pulled out a chair for her and he only smiled at her pushing her in when she sat down.

  “I apologize for any inconvenience I caused,” Alina said turning to face his aunt as Trystan retook his own seat.

  “As I told Trystan, I’m rather intrigued by the whole thing although I am very glad that you weren’t hurt, my dear,” Mrs. Daniels said bluntly waiting to see what this young lady would do.

  Trystan groaned as he began, “Aunt Eva…”

  Alina’s laughter cut him off as she leaned forward putting her head in her hand arm propped up by the chair’s arm. “I think you have a wicked streak, ma’am,” she said impishly as she stopped laughing.

  “I think so, too, but don’t tell anyone,” Mrs. Daniels said without hesitation, and Alina shook her head wincing softly at the action.

  “Head still hurt, Alina?” She asked as Alina stilled at the movement.

  “Not as bad, but a slight throbbing when I move a certain way,” Alina admitted easing her head up with a smile.

  Trystan frowned as he said, “Maybe you should’ve stayed in bed longer.”

  Alina only smiled at him as she said, “Staying in bed all day isn’t going to get it to go away so I will deal with as it comes and goes.”

  Trystan opened his mouth to say something when Alina intervened saying firmly, “If it gets worse, I will let you know and I will think about your suggestion. Deal?”

  Mrs. Daniels watched the interchange as her nephew scowled, but said tersely, “I don’t like it, but you’ve got a deal.”

  Alina didn’t say another word as a glass of juice was set in front of her and as the young woman asked her if she wanted something to eat, she admitted that she wasn’t hungry.

  They sat around the table chatting before Trystan excused himself so he could make a phone call to check on his worker and he walked past Alina’s chair placing a hand on her shoulder for a second before he left the room.

  Mrs. Daniels waited until he left before she remarked, “You didn’t bother catching him on his slip earlier.”

  Alina shrugged her shoulders not going to pretend that she didn’t know what Mrs. Daniels was talking about. “If he wanted me to know, then he would’ve explained himself.”

  At Mrs. Daniels disbelieving look, Alina sighed gently and told her honestly, “We really don’t know each other as I’m only a guest in a hotel in Witt. He decided that he needed a companion as Mr. Tyeson asked him to look at the new hotel’s site and they both believe that they owe me an apology for someone sending flowers to my room by mistake.”

  Mrs. Daniels frowned at her words although she only asked, “Flowers by mistake?”

  Alina explained, “For almost a week, I was receiving a vase of flowers with no card or message, and since I had just arrived back in town and hadn’t met anyone yet, I seriously doubted that they were meant for me.”

  Mrs. Daniels mind was preoccupied with the mystery about the flowers and what her nephew was up to that she missed Alina’s words, which Alina was grateful for as she realized what she said.

  “So what happened?” Mrs. Daniels asked sitting forward in her seat.

  “Nothing,” Alina said with a shrug. “After the first vase, which I had no choice but to accept, I returned the others with an explanation that someone had the wrong room number. They finally stopped so I assumed the sender finally realized their mistake and corrected it.”

  “Very interesting,” Mrs. Daniels said a thoughtful look on her face and Alina smiled at it.

  “You love a mystery, don’t
you?” Alina asked after drinking some of her juice.

  Mrs. Daniels looked at her for a moment before she leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, “Do you want to know a secret?”

  Alina looked around before she responded back in the same whisper “I love secrets.”

  Trystan stood in the doorway watching them smiled as his aunt looked around again, and he slid back in the hallway as Alina did the same thing not wanting her to see him.

  “Follow me,” his aunt said shooting a look at the doorway her nephew disappeared before Alina turned toward it.

  She got up from the table and headed out of the room with Alina behind her as she took her to a room that very few people enter.

  She stepped aside allowing Alina to go farther inside the room as she in a sweeping motion stated, “Welcome to my domain.”

  Alina looked around in surprise as she looked at the laptop on the desk surrounded by papers and she started to say, “What…” when suddenly she saw the book. Her gasp filled the room as she rushed over and picked it up thumbing through it before glancing down at the handwritten notes on the desk.

  She looked up with admiration in her eyes as she said, “You are C.S. Sin, the mystery writer.”

  “I take it you have heard of me,” Mrs. Daniels said leaning against the door aware that her nephew was outside leaning on the wall.

  “I love your mysteries,” Alina said in complete honesty. “I love the way you draw your readers in then leave them hanging with ‘what the hell happened’ so they have to continue to find out what happens next. Of course, you always end up leaving me in the dust when it comes to who did what because I always seem to get it wrong no matter how I look at it.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Daniels said stepping away from the door. “I started writing in high school but it never went anywhere so I went to college and go a degree in business.” She shook her head at this before she continued on. “Since I semi-retired a few years ago, I was bored so I started writing again and entered one of my stories in a contest under an assumed name. Imagine my surprise when I won, and not even that, a publishing company called me up. Of course, I could have self-published if I truly wanted to do so, but I have to admit it was so much more worthwhile when someone thought I was good enough to do it for me.”

  “Amazing,” Alina said looking down at the book in her hands. “You have been publishing ever since.”

  “Yes,” she replied walking over to the desk where she put a hand on one of her papers. “Trystan comes whenever he can to give me a hand as he is my sounding board including my part-time editor.”

  “Hey,” Trystan gruffly from the doorway.

  “I was wondering how long you were going to stand outside the door before making your presence known,” Alina said without looking up from the book she held in her hands.

  Trystan shot her a narrowed look before turning to meet the smug smile on his aunt’s face that said plainly to him, ‘she is not as dumb as you think’.

  “Are you working on the next installment for PI Serena,” Alina asked putting the book down on the desk before looking up at Mrs. Daniels.

  She nodded her head as she told her, “I am and I am thinking of throwing in a playmate for her this time maybe even something more serious.”

  Alina tilted her head as she thought about it for a moment before she said slowly, “She deserves to have some kind of emotional adventure since you have written her to be emotionally withdrawn. It will shake up her foundation and even make her a better PI although I have to admit the way you written it so far, she is damn good in my opinion.”

  “Emotional adventure,” Mrs. Daniels murmured a glazed look coming to her eyes as she grabbed a pen and started to write that Trystan smiled stepping forward as his aunt sat down in her chair.

  He touched Alina’s arm lightly drawing her eyes to him and he told her quietly, “You got her brainstorming so let’s leave her to it.”

  Alina nodded her head as she turned bumping into Trystan as he hadn’t moved yet. “Sorry,” she muttered hastily stepping back as a dull flush went up her cheeks.

  Trystan saw the reaction and he hid his chuckle as he placed a hand on her back ushering her out of the room. He glanced back once at his aunt fully engrossed in what she was writing before closing the door softly behind him. He caught up with Alina as she headed for the living room and he said, “Sorry about that, but when the mood strikes her, she forgets about everything else even guests she may have at the time.”

  Alina laughed her eyes sparkling as she told him, “It’s no problem. I can understand where she is coming from.”

  Trystan wondered about that as he hadn’t heard her talk about any work she did, or if she even worked. “Really,” he said in disbelief which Alina caught giving him a quick glance.

  She didn’t bother correcting his assumption of her as she headed for the glass doors that opened up on a patio that reminded her of the patio of the house she looked at. Remembering the house also had her remembering the number that the driver gave her and she reached in her back pocket as Trystan told her, “Aunt Eva’s helper cleaned our clothes after you went to sleep last night.”

  Alina sighed as she said, “I have to thank her.” The slip of paper with the number for that house was probably in the trash or washed in the washing machine and a thoughtful look came to her face as she considered the woman from that shop may know who she could get in touch with for the house.

  “You have a thoughtful look on your face,” Trystan said as he came up behind her before sliding his arms around her waist surprising Alina who immediately struggled for release.

  “Be still,” he commanded, and his hard tone had Alina stilling as she leaned her head back to look at him.

  His face was set in harsh lines and his eyes were narrowed as if he was upset by something so Alina, unsure of how to handle this, just rested back against him.

  “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Sure,” she whispered wondering what was on his mind, or what he wanted from her.

  Trystan settled his chin on her shoulder looking out at his aunt’s garden as his arms tightened around Alina’s waist. He wanted to believe that the woman in his arms was innocent, but he saw her first hand with Samuel on two different occasions and yet, she said she had no intimate relationships in town since she arrived. He sighed as he closed his eyes drawing in the scent of shampoo from her hair as he thought about his sister and the pain in her eyes when she saw Alina and Samuel together that evening. He wouldn’t let Alina hurt his baby sister no matter how conflicting his own feelings were for her.

  “Trystan,” Alina murmured wincing as his arms tightened again around her.

  Trystan felt her wince and he loosened his arms as he told her shortly making a sudden decision, “Since my aunt has gone into writer’s zone, I think we should leave tonight instead of tomorrow.”

  Alina turned to look at him as he stared unseeing over her shoulder before glancing down to meet her eyes and she shivered mentally at the coldness in them before she stepped out of his arms.

  “I believe you are right,” she said without hesitation before excusing herself and heading upstairs to the room she had been given.

  In her room, she shivered as she again felt those eyes like steel looking down at her and she wondered what she did in the space of a few heartbeats to have him looking at her as if he hated her.

  There was a knock on the door and she drew in a deep breath before she opened it relieved when it turned out to be the young woman who worked for Mrs. Daniels.

  “Miss Alina,” the woman said with a smile, “I found this in your jeans when I washed them and I thought it might be important so I hung on to it.”

  She handed the slip of paper with the number on it out and Alina hugged her as she said with happiness, “Thank you so much.”

  The woman smiled as Alina let her go taking the slip and went back downstairs thinking to herself that Alina was a strange woman. Shaking her h
ead, she headed for the kitchen to make supper that could be reheated if Mrs. Eva didn’t eat when it was ready.

  Almost an hour later, Alina and Trystan left the house after saying a ‘goodbye’ to his aunt which was met with an absentminded wave before she went back to her novel.

  Alina didn’t bother to speak because she sensed Trystan wasn’t in the mood for any chatter, and besides she had a lot on her mind starting with the accident. She stared out of the window with unseeing eyes as she thought about the car that tried to hit her. Regardless of what she told the police officer or let Trystan think, she didn’t believe the accident to be a careless driver. The car when she had looked up after the warning was heading straight for her with no hesitation so that told her she was the target. Problem was, she didn’t know who would try to kill her because her mother could care less what happened to her at the moment as she just gotten another divorce and spending the money she got in the settlement freely with her current lover.

  She didn’t have any ex-boyfriends she had to worry about because honestly, men never had been a priority for her so she rarely bothered with them. The longest time she spent with a man was the time she spent with Trystan as she couldn’t count her brother since they haven’t seen each other in over twenty years. Although she had to admit, they did see each other once when she graduated high school and he came with their aunt and uncle. She and Sam did more talking on the phone than anything else that is how she knew about the woman he wanted to marry, Marla. She smiled as she realized she didn’t have a last name for the woman who stole her brother’s heart and she absently thought that she should ask him one day before returning her attention back to her original thought.

  She snuck a glance at Trystan wondering if any of his women friends had followed them and didn’t like that he was spending time with her before she dismissed the thought. There was nothing serious between them even if she admitted that she was attracted to him, which didn’t mean a lot with her limited experience.