The Fragile Line: The Complete Series Box Set: Parts One, Two, & Three

by Kobishop, Alicia

  For the first time in my life, I have nobody to focus on but myself. I can’t hide from myself anymore. I’ve decided to take some time, a change of scenery, to reflect on the choices I’ve made. I’ll try my best to learn from my mistakes and move forward into a better future, one that I hope includes you; but I will never try to force it on you.

  For now, I have decided to sell the house. Of course, you’ll get half the money. As for me, I’m going to use my share to spend a few months in Europe. I’ve always wanted to have a grand adventure and now is as good a time as any.

  I’ve enclosed Mom’s pearl necklace, the one she wore on her wedding day. Do you remember it? It’s the one that I placed around your neck for your first high school dance. I hope that it will not only make you think of Mom, but also remind you of happy times you and I had.

  I am so very sorry. For everything. I hope you can forgive me someday for the pain and heartache I’ve caused. I love you, Chloe. I will always love you. Forever and ever.

  XOXO,

  Brynn

  I tilted the envelope over and the necklace slid into the palm of my hand. As Brynn had promised, it was the necklace that Dad gave Mom to wear on their wedding day. I bowed my head, squeezing my eyes shut as I cradled the pearls against my chest with both hands. I took a shaky, deep breath, attempting to calm the wave of emotion that threatened to overwhelm me. When I grasped the delicate clasp, I turned it over, looking for the engraved words that I knew would be there. And there they were, our father’s words to our mother:

  Forever My Love

  “FML,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes and dripping onto the letter, smearing the ink. I’m not sure how long I sat there holding my mother’s necklace, reading my sister’s letter, and reading my father’s words through misty eyes…over and over again. When I finally went to bed and drifted off to sleep, I did so with the kind of peace in my heart that I hadn’t felt in years.

  CHAPTER Fifteen

  ~Chloe~

  I stepped from the car, squinting against the morning sun, my heart thrumming in a staccato rhythm that I could feel right down to my trembling fingertips. I closed the car door and smoothed my palms down over my jeans, grateful for the slight chill in the crisp morning air.

  My childhood home looked much the same, with only minor changes to remind me of the years that had passed since I had last been here. A new front porch swing here, new hanging plants there.

  This house had featured in my most precious childhood memories, but as I made my way up the front steps I could only think of the last birthday I had celebrated in this house. How innocent I had been that night, happily oblivious as my relationship went up in flames faster than I could blow out the candles on my cake.

  Brynn still had the same welcome mat—now tattered and frayed—that I remembered from years ago. At the sight of a tangible link to my past, nostalgia stirred within my heart and, surprisingly, calmed my nerves. Instead of pushing the memories away as I had become so good at doing, I let them in. But this time, only the good ones.

  I took a deep breath, rang the doorbell, and waited. A moment later Brynn opened the door in a slouchy gray t-shirt and plaid pajama pants, her ice-blue eyes widening at the sight of me.

  “Chloe,” she whispered haltingly from behind the screen door, white-knuckling the door knob as she awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Um—hi. Wow, you’re here. Please, come in.”

  The spring breeze gently lifted the ends of her cherry red hair as she pushed open the screen door. I hadn’t planned on going inside—didn’t know if I’d be ready for it—but as I glanced past her into the foyer, I noticed the boxes lined up against the wall. She wasn’t kidding about selling the house. It looked like she’d be moving soon. This might be my only chance to see it one last time.

  I stepped into the foyer, just soaking it all in as she closed the front door behind us. Despite the front porch looking nearly the same, everything inside the house seemed to have changed. The walls had been painted different colors, and the old carpet and vinyl flooring had been replaced with wood throughout. In the living room, the wall separating the kitchen from the living room had been partially torn down, leaving a breakfast bar lined with stools in its place.

  “We tried to make it our own,” Brynn explained. “Ryan wanted us to move somewhere else, no surprise there. But I—I just couldn’t do it. So, we did what we could to make this place our own. I just couldn’t give it up.” In a barely audible voice, she whispered, “I’m so sorry you had to.”

  I nodded, appreciating her apology. “Have you sold it yet?”

  “No, but the paperwork is all ready to go. The realtor is just waiting for me to give him the green light. I didn’t feel right putting it on the market without letting you know first. I’ve been meaning to call you for the last few days…I just hadn’t worked up the nerve yet. The house is yours if you want it, Chloe. It’s just as much yours as it is mine. I’m moving out either way, but I won’t sell it if you don’t want me to.”

  “Oh,” I said, surprised that she had thought of me. “Really?”

  “Of course.”

  I had no idea what to say to that. The thought of moving back here had never been an option before. Having the choice was…nice.

  “I know everything looks different,” she said, breaking our uncomfortable silence. “But there’s one room that hasn’t changed. C’mon. Follow me.”

  I trailed behind her as we walked up the stairs. Just like this house, my sister felt comfortably familiar and strangely foreign, all at once. Yet despite what happened between us, and regardless of the time we had spent apart, I still felt grateful for her. Thankful for the sacrifices she made for me.

  I still loved my sister.

  When she stopped in front of the door to my old bedroom, I frowned, curious and maybe a little melancholy as I imagined what she had done to update the room. Was it a guest room now? A personal gym? For all I knew, she had taken up arts and crafts and gone all Martha Stewart in there. I was preparing to flash a brave smile, bracing for whatever might be behind that door, when she pushed it open and turned toward me, gesturing for me to enter. With more than a little trepidation, I stepped inside and flipped on the light switch.

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered, my trembling hands hovering over my mouth.

  Each of the four walls was painted a different color: black, hot pink, white, and turquoise. The bedding—comforter, bed skirt, pillow and sheets—perfectly matched the walls. The black furniture—a desk, bookshelf, and dresser—rested against each wall while a blue beanbag sat in the corner.

  It was exactly how I remembered it. Nothing had changed. Memories flooded my mind as my gaze shifted from photos of me and my friends, to posters of my favorite rock bands, to the books I had collected. Even Sunshine, the stuffed animal—a yellow lab—that had slept with me almost every night of my childhood and been my constant companion in the weeks and months after our parents died, was curled up on my pillow.

  Trying to keep it together, I turned to Brynn. “Uh—I know this is going to sound weird. But—would you mind giving me a minute in here? It’s just been a long time and—”

  “Absolutely,” she replied softly. “And it’s not weird at all. Take all the time you need, Chlo. I’ll be downstairs packing.”

  After she closed the door, I walked over to the bed, lifting Sunshine into my arms and squeezing her to my chest, remembering when she had been a lifeline to a young girl who had felt so lost and alone without her parents. Dropping down onto the beanbag, I looked around the room as I had done so many times before. Most of the books in the bookcase next to me had been read in this beanbag. I closed my eyes and reached for a random book just as I often had as a child, and wondered which one my hand would gravitate toward. I grinned when I opened my eyes and saw the tattered copy of Flowers in the Attic, a book that I was probably way too young for when I read it.

  After paging through it and reading a few passages, I placed it
back on the shelf and walked over to the corkboard on the wall where most of my personal photos were displayed. I had lost touch with the friends in those pictures—the people I had felt so close to only a few years ago. As I stared at each photo, I remembered where each one was taken, the relationship I had with each friend, and what we had been doing when the camera captured the image.

  That young blonde girl in the photos was a completely different person than who I was now, and the moments were from a different life—a life that had felt comfortable then, but which held no appeal now.

  Just then, it occurred to me that it didn’t need to. For the past few years, I had been grieving what I’d lost and wishing my life could be the way it used to be, but deep down I always knew it never could. I hadn’t known how to handle that knowledge and move forward, so I didn’t. Instead, I had become stuck in a rut, and had turned to incredibly destructive behavior as a way of coping. I told myself that I simply couldn’t move on, that the emotional scars were too deep, but subconsciously…I hadn’t wanted to.

  But I was ready now.

  Because even though the road to the present day had a few potholes—okay, let’s be real, the road had craters the size of football fields—I had somehow found happiness. Sure, I still had work to do to get to where I wanted to be—to become who I want to be—but my life was full now. Rich. Colorful. And I was excited to see where this new life would take me.

  I took a photo from the middle of the board, the one of Mom, Dad, Brynn and me. It was one of those classic tourist photos of us at the Grand Canyon, all smiles—our last family vacation, as it turned out—and tucked it in my back pocket. With Sunshine safely tucked against my side, I opened the door, turned off the light, and stepped into the hall. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and studied the shadowed space one last time, whispering the single word that lifted a lifetime of grief from my heart.

  “Goodbye.”

  ~~~

  I found Brynn in the kitchen, taking dishes out of the cupboards and wrapping them in towels before placing them in boxes.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, Chlo,” she replied as she placed a ceramic bowl on the counter and looked at me with a mixture of hope and concern, and then tenderness when she noticed Sunshine tucked under my arm. “Look, everything in that room is yours. You should keep it, just tell me where to send it and I’ll make sure it gets there.”

  I shook my head, “That’s okay. You can keep it. Or get rid of it—it doesn’t matter.”

  She tilted her head in confusion.

  I sighed, “What I mean is…I’ve got everything I need. I didn’t come here for my things. I came here because I got your letter, and I wanted to give you this.”

  I reached into my coat and pulled out the menu that Ryan had intended to give her the night I ruined his proposal.

  She cautiously took it from my hands, staring at the title on the cover—Lifetime of Happiness Menu—for several seconds before closing her eyes and softly asking, “What is this?”

  She didn’t wait for me to answer, just opened it and read the first line aloud.

  I never knew what love was until I met you, Brynn.

  She looked up at me, her misty eyes pleading with me for an explanation.

  “Your waitress was supposed to give that to you the night you and Ryan were in the private suite at Luciano’s. Unfortunately, your waitress let you down.”

  Her eyes glossed over as she began to grasp the enormity of what I was telling her.

  “He was going to ask you to marry him, Brynn,” I continued. “And I ruined it. I’m so, so sorry.”

  A tear slid down her cheek as she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

  “You were right when you said in your letter that you hurt me,” I took a deep breath for strength. “It did hurt. For a long time. But I came here today to tell you that if my forgiveness is what you need, then you’ve got it.”

  She still couldn’t speak. So, I did what came naturally: I hugged my big sister. And as I held her, I whispered into her hair, “I forgive you, Brynn. Ryan loves you and you love him, and I don’t want to be the one to stop you from being together.”

  She sobbed into my shoulder, her body trembling as she released the pain she had held in for so long. We stayed like that for a while, two sisters crying on each other’s shoulders just like we used to, gently rocking back and forth. Eventually, I pulled away and took her by the shoulders, meeting her watery gaze with my own. I wanted to make sure she heard what I had to say.

  “You. Deserve. Happiness. Do you hear me? It’s okay to be happy, Brynn. It’s okay to love Ryan and it’s okay to let him love you. Stop worrying about me, okay? I’m not your responsibility anymore, and I want only good things for the two of you. I get it now, believe me. All I want is for you to just. Be. Happy.”

  Through her tears, she nodded, letting me know that she heard me. Letting me know that she understood. With one last hug, the final barrier fell away.

  “I love you, sis.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~Chloe~

  Three Months Later

  This dress was probably a bit much for a simple trip to the airport. Then again, there wasn’t much fabric to it and that made it kinda perfect. I stood by the Security gate, smoothing my free hand down the front of the black halter top sundress with butterfly polka dots that I had paired with black patent leather heels. In my other hand, I held a homemade sign like the ones chauffeurs use for their VIP passengers. My sign was attracting some attention and more than a few knowing grins from passing travelers.

  As I eyed the casually dressed people around me, most of whom were in sweats, I wondered if I should have dressed down. But in the next instant Matt was walking toward me. He had a duffel bag over one shoulder and was frowning down at his cell phone. The sight of him curled my toes and my insecurities disappeared. He didn’t see me at first so I had a moment to just enjoy all the pretty that was Matt Langston.

  He really was gorgeous—tall, and just as ripped as ever. His long, brisk strides ate up the distance between us. He slipped his phone into his back pocket and scanned the terminal looking for me. When he spotted me and my silly sign, he abruptly stopped, ignoring the irritated looks he was getting for disrupting the busy flow of pedestrian traffic.

  A slow, sexy grin curved his lips as his gaze slid over me, shamelessly lingering on all his favorite curves. Yes, Matt Langston very much approved of my curves; it’s amazing what peace of mind and Carrie’s healthy cooking can do for a woman.

  A few women practically tripped over their own feet, ogling him. But he only had eyes for me as he approached me with a predatory stride that bordered on swagger.

  He didn’t look so bad either in his jeans and black t-shirt. God, this man did things to me. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.

  When he finally reached me, however, we didn’t claw at each other like animals. He didn’t lift me into his arms and I didn’t throw myself at him. But there was a lot going on.

  We just stared at each other, grinning like fools. Our wait was finally over. Our time apart had come to an end.

  Our future started now.

  He dropped his bag to the floor and took my sign.

  “Forever My Love. Well, I like the sound of that,” he said as he laid the sign aside. He looked me up and down, humming low in his throat as he brushed my hair behind my ear, letting his fingertips trail down my jaw.

  “You’re killing me in that dress, Pink.” Taking the freshly colored ends of my hair in his fingers, he clarified, “Or should I say…Blue?”

  I placed my hands on his waist, bringing him closer. “You like?”

  “Oh, I definitely like,” he murmured. “But then, I’d like anything on you.”

  Our bodies were pressed together now, his fingers combing through my hair, my palms moving slowly up and down his back. He slid his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace, his muscles rippling under my fingertips. My cheek rested
on his chest, the sound of his heartbeat in my ear bringing me so much peace and warmth that I just wanted to stay there forever.

  “I fucking missed you, Chloe,” he said as he kissed the top of my head.

  “I missed you too,” I echoed, looking up at him, not bothering to hide the hunger that surely shone in my eyes.

  He leaned down and I stood on my toes, our lips meeting in the middle. The busy airport terminal faded away and it was just the two of us – not exactly lost in each other, but instead finding serenity, love, and acceptance in each other; bringing out the best parts of each other so that we could thrive…together.

  He smiled against my lips, “Mmmm, I hope you’re ready. I’ll never get enough of you. You know that, right?”

  “Better not,” I replied as I beamed up at him. He slung the duffel strap over his shoulder and took my hand, bringing it to his lips as we turned to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone standing close to us. Someone who was…staring at us?

  “Brynn? What are you doing here?”

  “Uh—sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.” She took a few steps toward us. “I thought it was you, but I wasn’t sure. Hence, the staring.” Turning to Matt, she asked, “Wow, has anyone ever told you that you look like that guy from that car show?”

  “I get that a lot,” he smiled politely, extending his hand. “I’m Matt.”

  “Brynn,” she replied, shaking it. “Chloe’s sister.”

  Matt raised his brows in surprise and gave me a protective look that said, Are you okay with this?

  I answered him with a nod and he visibly relaxed. Reaching down for the handle of his duffel bag, he placed his hand on the small of my back, his thumb stroking back and forth. “You know, I could use a coffee.” Pointing to the coffee shop on the other side of the atrium, he asked, “You want anything, baby?”