by Leanne Davis
He leaned towards her, bumping her with his forehead and pressing it into hers. “Now say you still love me and you forgive me and you want to be with me.”
Her eyes were huge and clear as she looked up at him and softly replied, “Well… duh, of course I do.”
He smiled. “Then say you’ll be my wife.”
“Has all this made you a little nuts?”
“Possibly. Nuts about you, for sure.”
“I’ll marry you then. I’ll accept this ring, but I won’t marry you anytime soon. How about next summer? Chloe needs some more time… and I think I do too.”
Ryder’s heart swelled with relief. “Done. I can deal with that. Will you move in with Wyatt and me in the meantime?”
“Yes. Right after I get my driver’s license. That way, I’m not so dependent on you. I just need…”
“To be independent. I get it. After what you’ve gone through to get here, I wouldn’t expect you to give any of that up.”
Dropping his mouth onto hers, their lips met and their kiss was long and sweet. His hands were at her waist and he lifted her up as her arms circled around his neck. She let out a muffled exclamation before the entire diner erupted into cat calls, laughter, whistles, and lots of applause.
His heart nearly exploded with joy. After the long period of bitterness from Ebony’s disappearance and his sadness and disappointment at learning the truth of her demise, his heart gladly filled up with unbridled love and joy and light. All the things he thought he’d lost when Ebony left had returned, although the circumstances surrounding her death still sat heavy on his heart. Chloe was still in his life too, and he’d worry about her and ache for her and commiserate with her like the sister she was to him. He intended to always improve her welfare. And he was glad that Tara not only understood and supported that, but she would have been angry and offended if he didn’t. He admired Tara’s generosity and kindness, knowing she had entered his life with one intention: to make it better, never harder for him.
And he believed he did the same for her in return.
Just then, her entire body stiffened. Worried, Ryder leaned back, glancing into her eyes only to find them focused on something over his shoulder. Her gaze was towards the front door and then her eyes grew huge. Fear seemed to be reflecting out of her eyeballs. Confused, he turned towards the front door, wondering, What the hell now? A stooped, old man wearing sky blue polyester pants, black shoes, a button-down shirt that he had tucked in, and an ancient navy-blue, argyle sweater vest. He was mostly bald and his skin was freckled with old age.
Tara pushed back from Ryder and started blinking her eyes in disbelief. She looked at the old man, then at her brother, who was watching them with a huge grin on his face. He noticed she was staring at him and glanced around before jumping up out of the booth.
He started towards Tara, not the old man. “Oh shit. Tara, I didn’t do this. I swear to God. I was telling you the truth. I never told anyone where you were.”
What the hell was all of this?
Tristan stood in front of Tara as if trying to protect her. Irritated by the interruption of the moment, which was such a huge moment for Ryder and romantic as all hell, Ryder was visibly confused. Why was Tristan standing between them now?
Tara’s gaze finally lifted to his. She started biting her lip, as her nerves were obviously anxious. “He’s our grandfather.”
Grandfather. Ryder gathered the old man was almost a legend in the Tamasy family by the way first Tara and then Tristan described him. They didn’t seem to get that he was now just an old man, someone they could tell to go to hell. Stooped over and ancient were not exactly the characteristics of someone mythical. What could he have done to them? Standing together, gripping each other’s hands, Ryder all but heard their silent monologue as they shared a long look. Be strong.
Ryder rolled his eyes. “What’s the big deal?”
Tara glanced up at him.
Suddenly, Grandfather was standing before them. “Tara? Is that really you?”
Seemed like a reasonable enough question to ask after his granddaughter had been missing for five years.
Tristan, however, went completely rigid. “What the fuck are you doing here? How did you find her?”
“I didn’t find her. I found you. Wondered what the hell kept you up here for so long. Finally figured out this small town wasn’t about work or vacation. I knew then it must have been Tara.”
Tristan’s face grew harsh and stern. “What? You had me under surveillance?”
Grandfather rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, Tristan. I simply employed the same private investigators to keep track of you. They followed Tara for all those years and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Her hands fisted, Tara suddenly straightened up and burst out with, “Bullshit! You… you didn’t want to make sure anyone was okay. If that were the case, you’d have come a long time ago and helped me, or at least tried to help me. Any decent grandfather would have done anything in their power to steer their runaway granddaughter off the streets and not simply keep them on your radar. I call your bullshit, old man. BULL. SHIT. Your only objective is to keep tabs on us, in order to control us. Now? Tristan has gone rogue, just like me. Another factor that you can no longer control and manipulate like we’re pawns in a chess game.”
“But we’re not,” Tristan finally spoke up and Ryder noticed his tight jaw. Tristan needed Tara’s outrage before he found the courage to address the man. It wasn’t an easy or natural thing for Tristan to do, obviously. That was an interesting dynamic.
“No, we’re not,” Tara said, nodding.
Ryder grabbed her hand. “Do you mind introducing me?”
Sighing, Tara said, “This is my grandfather, Ellis Tamasy. Grandfather, this is my fiancé, Ryder Kincaid.”
Grandfather’s eyes sparked with fire as they fully scanned Ryder with aristocratic disdain. “A cop? You? Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Yes, are you surprised I didn’t end up dead in a ditch or strung out with some junkie? Disappointed? I’m sure that’s what you expected. And the reason why you never came after me if you did know where I was. That’s… that’s what makes it so much worse. You knew exactly where I was and what I was doing. Why couldn’t you at least try and help me? Why? Why did you continue to track me? Like wild game you were following to see where I migrated to. Don’t you see? Don’t you get why I had to run away? What’s wrong with you and the rest of our sick family? What is wrong with the Tamasys?”
Grandfather stiffened.
But Tristan added, “I told you I was done with them. I meant it. I would never have dragged you after Tara. She doesn’t deserve it. And neither does Kylie.”
“Oh, that girl…”
“That girl is my girlfriend and my brother did rape her. You chose his side. As far as I’m concerned, we’re done.”
“I’m old, Tristan. Your father can’t run Tamasy Industries, and your brother? Well, he lasted barely a month. He’s gone now. I fired him. I don’t know where he is. I don’t care either. Worthless piece of nothing, just like his father. But not like you.”
“Or Tara,” Tristan added softly.
Tara glanced at Tristan, her eyes filling with tears. Ryder was finally glad Tristan showed up in town. It pleased him just to see the love filling Tara up as she heard her brother defending her.
“Well, sure, okay. Tara too.”
Tristan shook his head. “I should have walked away when you so easily dismissed her disappearance. Barely seventeen. Your granddaughter. My sister. And she’s right, you tracked her like a wildlife specimen. Out of an odd, passing interest. Just to know where she was at all times. Just to keep that control. That’s not love, Grandfather. And what you have to offer us is nothing I need, or my sister. Now, please leave her alone.” He paused. Ryder watched him struggle before he finally added, “And me too. Please, just leave me alone.”
“You have to run Tamasy Industries, Tristan. There�
�s no one else. When I go… Tristan… it’s our legacy. And all I have to leave in the world. I need you. It needs you. Think of all the money. You’d have it all…”
“You still don’t get it, do you? It’s not about money. It should never have been about money.”
“What?” Grandfather’s face was completely puzzled.
“Love. Giving and receiving love to your family members shouldn’t involve money like it did for you and our parents,” Tara answered. Tristan nodded. Oddly, after she set her hand on his shoulder, he seemed to draw more strength from her. He must have had a hard time standing up to the old guy. Maybe he spent too long being squashed under the old tyrant’s thumb, which would explain why he hadn’t come after Tara sooner.
“We don’t want your company, your money, or even your name. Please leave, Grandfather. And don’t follow us anymore.”
Grandfather stared hard at both of them, his eyes growing flat with repressed anger. He turned on his heel and left without another word.
Tara trembled and Ryder swung his arm around her waist. He kissed her forehead. “Are you okay?”
She glanced at Tristan, who smiled, but it was sad and strained. Tristan sighed. “I gave up a lot for that man. But mostly, my moral compass and integrity.”
“But you’ve gotten both of them back. He’ll die someday all alone, Tristan. It’s sad, but it’s what he chose. He didn’t like our parents and he tried to control you by bribing you with all his money and subjecting you to his calculating coldness. It wasn’t love. Not like the kind between a real grandfather and a grandchild. It just seemed like it because Mom and Dad’s version of parental love was even worse. But thank you, Tristan, for defending me and not giving in to him. And most of all, thanks for being here.”
Tristan smiled and suddenly pulled Tara from Ryder’s embrace. “Fuck this pity party. Let’s get a round of champagne for everyone. This entire place is about to toast and celebrate your engagement. That’s something real. That’s what truly matters. Let me just call Kylie and then…” He smiled as he shook Ryder’s hand.
And they did have a celebration. They toasted their love with half the town right there in the café. All the patrons called their friends and soon afterwards, Ryder’s parents came in with Wyatt. He squealed and grinned when they told him the news. Ryder embraced his new life with a light heart. That was how love was supposed to be and feel. He savored knowing what love felt like again.
He lost a wife, and his son lost a mother. It was only then that Ryder understood exactly how it happened. The method that was used startled him and stumbled him up when he thought about it. But he learned to love another. Not to replace Ebony, but perhaps because his love for her was so pure that he could not endure a lifetime without having it again. Letting Ebony go meant he could make more room in his heart for another. He was not scarred or bitter. He glanced up just then, and was startled—no, he was shocked to see Ebony’s face in the window. He stepped back and the entire café went quiet as his vision focused in on her face. She stared at him vacantly with serious but sad eyes. She lifted a hand to the glass and pressed on it, smiling softly as she nodded. Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Then she slowly turned and disappeared into the parking lot.
Tara grabbed Ryder’s hand. She was laughing at something Gary said. Ryder zoned back into the party. The crowd’s noise and chatter filled his ears once more as the happy sights and sounds filled his senses. “Do you think she’ll be okay? Should you go talk to her?”
He glanced over at Tara, who was squeezing his hand, but his understanding felt fuzzy. “Who?” Did she see Ebony too?
“Chloe? You just saw her, right?”
His heart thumped loudly and then began to beat normally. Duh! Chloe. Of course she’d been the one at the window, watching the celebration of his engagement to another woman, who wasn’t Chloe’s sister, inside Chloe’s restaurant. It wasn’t a ghost offering her postmortem permission for Ryder to love and move on from Ebony. Although his heart felt lighter and almost sure, in a little way, that it was.
“Yes, that was Chloe giving us her blessing.” His gaze met Tara’s and she smiled softly. “We will be blessed, Ryder. From this moment forward,” Tara said.
He squeezed her waist as he hugged her next to him. “I think so too, and oddly, it’s mostly because you and Ebony are no longer lost. Does that make any sense?”
Ryder saw another reason why he loved Tara. Her mouth quirked up and there was no offense or outrageous reaction, not even quiet jealousy. Tara nodded and replied, “Of course it does. I had to find myself before I could be with you, and you had to find Ebony again to fully release her from your life. We were both lost. How I was found was just through sheer luck.”
He held her closer to him. Then he let her go and smiled. “What do you say you, me, and Wyatt go home now?”
She closed her eyes, twisting her mouth up into a small, sad, yet happy smile. “Home.” She nodded several times. “Yes, I would adore nothing more than to go home. Be home and stay home. And never again, will I be lost from my home.”
“Never again, Tara. From now on, you’ve been found. You are home.”
###
Dear Reader
I would be so grateful if you took a few moments to leave a review of The Lost Sister. It helps expand an author’s audience, and I really do appreciate the effort.
Read on for Chapter One of The Remaining Sister.
Otherwise, thank you for reading, and I hope you pick up another of my novels to read.
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Following is a preview of some of my other novels.
Sincerely,
Leanne Davis
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Chloe Carrington believed for over three years that her identical twin sister, Ebony, ran away from her husband and son to find a new life. That is, until her dead body is discovered. With no trail, no witnesses, and no clues, discovering the identity of the murderer is a difficult task. Chloe is left grieving once again for a sister who will never return. In her grief, she finds solace in the last person she ever expects to: Chet Willapana. She knows next to nothing about him. Yet he’s the only one who can help her survive the clashing emotions that threaten to destroy her.
Faced with Chloe’s mental devastation, Chet tries to help her in every way he can, although not in the ways Chloe expects. He was quiet about it for years, and now? He’s done pretending. She soon discovers he isn’t anything like she once believed. He might, in fact, be everything she is missing in her life.
But Ebony’s murderer soon makes his presence known once again. For Chet and Chloe, fear, grief, and need forge a strong connection, one that takes both of them by surprise. Events eventually draw Ebony’s killer out, along with their undeniable feelings for each other. But in order to survive, they first have to discover who killed her sister and why. Fearing Chloe’s safety, because she is the only remaining connection to a dead woman, the man who already murdered her sister is now back to finish the job. This time, once and for all.
The Remaining Sister:
Chapter One
“SHE WAS FOUND, CHLOE.” His tone was soft, grim and resigned. The sureness in this statement was emphasized by the hollowness of his voice and the haunted look that sparked from his eyes. He wasn’t just saying that.
Chloe Carrington started shaking her head repeatedly no at her brother-in-law, Ryder Kincaid. As if her neck was stuck on a recorded loop, she could not stop shaking. NO! No. Oh, no! It couldn’t be. But inside, she knew. In that instant, Chloe knew there was only one reason Ryder would be standing there in her restaurant’s kitchen in the middle of the afternoon with that terrible expression on his face.
Ebony. They found
Ebony. Her sister. Her identical twin. Her other half. And Ryder’s eyes were big and solemn and sad. So sad. That meant…
She couldn’t even say the words in her head. She started shaking her finger at him as he advanced towards her. If he touched her, he’d have to hold her, and comfort her, and support her as she fell apart.
He was telling Chloe that her sister was dead. By saying “found,” Chloe knew he was referring to her body. Her mind, heart, and soul, and everything else that made Ebony the woman she was, instantly vanished from the earth.
“No! No! No! Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare say it, Ryder Kincaid. Get out! Get Out! Don’t say it!” She stepped back as if by moving, she could somehow ignore the facts. Maybe it was wrong to begin with. If she denied it, it couldn’t hurt her.
But of course, it already had. Ryder held her shaking body against his, wrapping his arms around her to hold her up. He had to physically support her body weight as she collapsed and went completely limp. Her legs felt like rubber as the grief in her heart saturated her mind and body. Her sister, her beautiful, talented, smiling, energetic, identical twin sister, her other half, was dead.
NO! No, goddamn it! He was wrong. He had to be. She lifted her head to argue and began stuttering as she pleaded with Ryder to take it back because it was a lie. “B-b-but she sent a note! Remember? She told us she had to leave. That she couldn’t continue living here. And couldn’t be a mother or a wife any longer. She told us! It wasn’t right, and she should have stayed here, but don’t you remember? She told us she had to leave!”
His arms supported her body while his hands rubbed between her shoulder blades. He leaned back a little so he could look into her eyes. But Ryder’s image was blurry to Chloe. She sniffed in some snot and another loud sob escaped her lips.
“Apparently, she was murdered. She never left us. Someone made her send us that note. Someone else robbed our savings. It wasn’t her. It was never her!” Ryder’s voice cracked as he said her the last time. He was overcome with grief and misunderstanding as he gripped Chloe harder.