The Girl Who Never : A twisted crime

by HC Michaels

  She still missed Bianca with acute pain, but Bianca had her nonna with her now. She’d look after her until it was time one day for her to join them as well. Her little girl was no longer sitting alone on her cloud in the sky.

  And she wasn’t alone either.

  Breaking Through

  The bride caught a glimpse of herself in the limousine window as the driver closed the door behind her.

  Her hairdresser deserved some kind of award. Never before had her curls felt so…tamed. If only she could figure out how to do this herself. She would’ve thought at the age of thirty she’d be able to keep control of something as simple as her hair.

  At least the rest of her life was super organised. There wasn’t an aspect of this wedding she wasn’t across in intimate detail. She’d driven Noah mad in the lead up. It was a miracle he’d decided to go through with it.

  Had he decided to go through with it? Was he here? Maybe he’d chickened out.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Isabel, one of her bridesmaids.

  “Do you think he’s here?” She squinted at the church for a sign of him.

  Isabelle tipped her head back and laughed. “Don’t be silly, of course he’s here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’m his sister. Now get a grip on yourself. Everything’s fine.”

  Her two other bridesmaids climbed out of the limo. They looked beautiful. She was glad she’d let them choose their own dresses. It would’ve been impossible to ask them to wear the same thing. They were all such individuals.

  “Amelia!”

  She turned to see her parents approaching, her mother’s hand tucked comfortably in her father’s arm. A lot of her friends’ parents were divorced, but none of them had remained as amicable as hers. She was proud of them. It couldn’t have been easy at times, but they seemed genuinely happy to be in each other’s company today.

  Her mother had never remarried, but her father had gone on to have two sons with his second wife, Marta, who’d have a fit if she could see this poster-worthy display of divorced couple behaviour. She must be obliviously seated in the church already.

  There was a woman with her parents she didn’t recognise. Amelia couldn’t place her. Was she the violinist? She looked a bit different all dressed up. Maybe she was the florist?

  She was just about to ask, when her mother flashed her a dazzling smile and took her hands.

  “We’re so proud of you,” she said.

  “Thanks, Mum.” Amelia breathed a sigh. She’d been afraid her mother might be having one of her days. Growing up had been an interesting and sometimes challenging process.

  Having a big sister who died before you were born wasn’t easy. Somehow Bianca managed to cast a shadow over her family as if she were standing right there in the room, with the sun shining brightly from behind her.

  It was tough to grow up in a shadow, almost as if the lack of light was trying to stunt her growth. She didn’t let it, though.

  Most days her mother succeeded in pretending everything was fine, but every so often something would happen that would send her running for solace in her bedroom.

  Amelia had lived in fear that her wedding might trigger this kind of reaction. After all, it should be her sister getting married first. She’d been older than her. This was yet another milestone she was reaching before her ghost of a sister had a chance.

  But her mother’s smile told her otherwise. She was happy. It was the kind of happiness that couldn’t be faked. It was shining from behind her eyes.

  “You look beautiful, sweetheart,” said her father, his eyes filling with tears as they often did when he looked at her. He was such a kind soul. Easy in every way her mother was hard.

  “Have you seen Noah?” Amelia asked.

  “Yes, he’s in there, waiting patiently,” her father said. “Now, look who else is here.”

  He put his arm around the woman who’d approached with them.

  “Hi Millie,” the woman said, smiling at her with such warmth it managed to light a familiar spark inside Amelia. She did know this woman. It was…

  “Tessa?”

  “She’s come all the way from London,” said her mother. “We wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “Do you remember me?” asked Tessa, smiling widely.

  “Of course.” She didn’t want to say she’d recognised her from her photos and not from any picture of her she’d had in her mind. She was older now, of course, but still attractive, having kept her slim figure and mane of curly brown hair. But her face was lined with wrinkles, not visible in the photos of her youth.

  It was no wonder. From what she’d been told, Tessa had been attacked in the most horrible way. Her uncle Tino had been a suspect as he’d had an affair with her. Amelia had always found that hard to believe. It was difficult to imagine him as anything but the loving husband and father he was to Aunty Zara and their five daughters. Apparently, he’d been quite the ladies’ man once. The thought of that made her laugh.

  The man who was eventually arrested for Tessa’s attack had been all over the news only last year when he’d been shot and killed while on day release from prison. The assailant had never been captured, despite wide speculation it was a family member of a girl he’d murdered in a swimming pool shortly before he attacked Tessa. Amelia hoped the police weren’t trying too hard to solve that particular crime. It sounded like he’d gotten what he deserved.

  She reached out for Tessa, wishing she could take away some of the pain of what had happened to her. Her parents had told her so much about her beloved nanny who she hadn’t wanted to let out of her sight as a child.

  Her mother had kept in touch with Tessa, who had never married or had children of her own. Instead, she poured all her energy into her job as a rape counsellor, trying to put back together the lives of women in a way she’d never been able to put back her own.

  As Tessa took her into her arms, memories of their time together swept into Amelia’s mind. Not clear memories—she’d been too young to hold onto any of those—but what she’d describe as feeling memories. She remembered being held by Tessa, laughing with her, sleeping on her shoulder, and missing her when she wasn’t there.

  “I do remember you,” Amelia said. “I really do. I loved you.”

  “I love you, still,” said Tessa. “I always dreamt of coming to your wedding one day. I can’t believe I’m actually here.”

  Tessa pulled away and placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “You’ve grown into such a beautiful woman, but I can still see that cheeky girl inside.”

  Amelia smiled. “Thanks, Tessa.”

  “Like I said, I wouldn’t have missed it.”

  “No, I meant thanks for taking care of me when I was little. Mum and Dad have told me about all the things you taught me.”

  Tessa shook her head. “It was the other way around. Anyway, enough for now. Don’t you have a wedding to go to?”

  Amelia laughed. “I do.”

  “Too early for those words,” her father said, trying to keep a serious expression on his face. “I haven’t even walked you up the aisle.”

  “We’ll leave you to it,” her mother said, kissing her on the cheek.

  “I wish Nonno were here,” she said to her mother. Her beloved grandfather had died when she was a teenager and she still missed him every day.

  “He is here,” said her mother, tapping Amelia on the chest. “He’s always here.”

  “Mum?” There was something else she needed to say. Something she’d never said. Today seemed like the day for it.

  “Yes, darling.”

  “I wish Bianca were here too. I always have.”

  Her mother’s eyes brimmed with tears.

  “I know.” Her voice was a whisper. “But today’s your day, sweetheart. She’d want you to be happy.”

  “I am happy. I’m so happy. And I’m getting married!” She turned to her bridesmaids, who let out a collective whoop.

  She looked to
the sky for the briefest of moments to see the sun peek out from behind a cloud. She was certain it was her sister, looking down on her, as much alive today as she’d ever been.

  Life wasn’t always fair. It wasn’t always easy. But today, life was going to be fun.

  THE END

  Want more? Check out The Woman Who Didn’t

  by HC Michaels now

  MORE BY HC MICHAELS

  Some lies can’t be untangled. Some crimes can’t be undone.

  Skye and Theo Manis have the perfect life—wealth, good looks and a happy marriage. But no matter how much their life shimmers on the surface, secrets lurk beneath the murky depths.

  When Skye and Theo’s lives take an imperfect turn, one of them ends up dead and the other charged with murder. But in a world where the lines between reality and fantasy have blurred, figuring out who’s really guilty isn’t a simple task. Nobody can be trusted, least of all the one person who needs their voice heard the most.

  As unimaginable lies are exposed, nothing in life is as it seems. The truth always rises to the surface. All you have to do is wait.

  Fans of Gone Girl, The Woman in the Window, and The Girl on the Train will love by the twists in this thriller by HC Michaels.

  Grab your copy now!

  About the Author

  HC Michaels lives in Melbourne, Australia. When not writing, she teaches public relations at an online university, and lives with her husband and two sons. She enjoys travelling but is thinking twice about going back to Queensland…

  HC Michaels also writes award-winning dystopian and fantasy novels under the name Heidi Catherine.

  You can find out more at www.heidicatherine.com