Stopping at a little space tucked between the trees, Mrs Calvert pushed open an old wrought iron gate and Gran’s backyard opened in front of them. Usually over-bloomed with flowers, the snow had settled on their dead stems and along the stone path leading up to the small house that resembled a little red brick cottage from a fairy tale story book. Sitting on the back porch attached to the sunroom was her little sister looking like a tiny lost doll. Abby was hardly dressed, wearing a bright neon pink sweater, the hood pulled over her brown roots to the blonde ombre ends. She was hunched over holding her head in her hands with her elbows resting on her multicoloured tights just above her knees which were scraped, cut and bleeding through the tights.
Kate’s hesitance to go by that gate vanished at the sight and she ran to sister, instincts from her past rising to the surface and flushing away all her resistance. She passed Mrs. Calvert’s quick steps. “Abby!” she called. “What happened?” She fell to her knees to examine her sister’s wounds.
Abby looked up slowly. “Kate?” She sounded surprised and confused all bundled together.
“Yes sweetie, it’s me.” She brushed her hand over her forehead, pushing wet, red highlighted hair away from her skin. “What happened to your legs?”
Her eyes slowly looked down and her eyebrows gathered in confusion, then she shrugged slightly and looked back at Kate. “Gran died,” she said flatly.
Kate touched her arm. “I know sweetie.”
“I mean she just died. I just came home and she was dead. Like dead and no one was there. You weren’t there, I wasn’t there, Sydney wasn’t there, Avery wasn’t there and Peyton wasn’t there and she just died.” Kate’s heart sunk. That would have been an awful situation to deal with alone.
“Abby, I’m here now.”
Mrs. Calvert caught up to them. “Do you need to see a doctor Abby?”
“You’re here now,” Abby said. “Everyone’s here now and then you’ll all be gone again.”
Kate looked up the Mrs. Calvert. “We should take her to the hospital.”
Abby jerked away from them suddenly to her feet like a child fearing the night and not the twenty-three year old she was. “No, I’m not going there,” her voice mimicked the sound of a terrified kid standing alone and trembling.
“Abby be careful.”
“I just fell,” she explained. “I’m not going back to that place. Ever.”
Kate stood too.
“Let us clean you up then honey,” Mrs Calvert said. She climbed the stairs quickly and grabbed Abby’s arm. “Come on, let’s get those cuts tended too.” She led her into Gran’s house.
Kate followed behind, dialing other her sister’s number on her cell. When Peyton’s voice mail answered, she hung up and dialed Sydney, who picked up on the first ring. Kate quickly explained Abby’s situation and suggested meeting at Grans.
“Okay, dad’s here and I will try Peyton again, and then we will head right over,” Sydney promised.
***
Kate’s dad came rushing over to Gran’s house to check on his youngest daughter leaving Sydney alone at the funeral home. Not only had Kate felt awful about deserting them, she had learned Peyton hadn’t shown up either, leaving Sydney to decide all the final yes and no rulings on her own. Dread carried her heart knowing her sister was battling demons inside those walls but she feared Abby’s walls were crashing down around her and she didn’t want to leave her alone.
“Hi sweetheart,” her father said pulling Kate into a long hard hug after he set two bags of take-out on the counter.
“Hi Daddy.” She squeezed back. “How are you doing?” She readied her watchful eyes to catch any little sign of alcohol or a path that would lead to it. Years of battling with him to leave the bottle alone had taught her what to look for.
“I’m doing alright.” He leaned against the counter, crossing his legs and his arms. He was average height and an average sized man. But his face had aged quicker than the numbers on his birth certificate. The years he had spent drinking had caught up to him, like the beginning of a wilting flower. But he was sober and holding, and she prayed he could make it through another serious loss.
His eyes weren’t darting...good sign, and his body wasn’t jittery...another good sign. “How is Abby?” His concern was sincere and not the game he’d played so many times as a distraction from his true addictions. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s an emotional mess, that’s for sure. But Mrs. Calvert got her knees cleaned up and she went to bed early.” She hadn’t spoken another word to Kate during the process.
Kate motioned down the hall and explained how Abby was running and fell, scraping her leg. However, that wasn’t what bothered her or Mrs. Calvert. It was the distance she was putting between herself and others, shutting them out like the black curtain pulled across the window in her room, blocking the suns access.
“In the morning we will sit down and talk to her,” Kate said.
“How are you doing?” her father asked.
“I’m fine.” That was a lie, just like he hadn’t been honest about how he was doing. They were all sad and beating around the bush, a faux facade to each other avoiding the truth, avoiding the pain.
“First time back in a very long time Kate.”
She shrugged. “It’s no big deal, Dad.” It’s a huge a deal!
“Peyton mentioned you’re staying at the Caliendo Resort.”
She nodded it off like it meant nothing. She and Marc were grown adults after all who could obviously run into one another, shout, yell and wind up embraced awkwardly on the floor, but not awkward at all, and resume with maturity once back in the public eye...weren’t they? She blamed Marc. He started it in that sauna with his saucy tongue. His unusual saucy tongue had her mouth tingling.
“You could have stayed with me.”
Derek wouldn’t have stayed in his house and originally, she’d intended on introducing Derek to her family. She wasn’t about to bring his name up now and describe everything that was him. Coincidentally, that was precisely the reasoning she gave herself whenever she anticipated bringing him into a conversation. It was like her mind exploded at the thought of trying to explain their relationship, which was why even they still didn’t know if they were officially an item. Or were an item. That was over and done with now and she was glad they didn’t know about him.
“Peyton was staying with you and I didn’t want to crowd the house.”
He nodded slowly. He probably thought there was a much deeper reason for her staying at the resort. Like Marc perhaps. What did her father think was going to happen exactly? Because she was pretty sure he could never conjure up the quarrel that had already played out followed by the trip, slap, and fall that had landed them together almost lip locked in a hot steamy sauna. She didn’t think it wise to go down this road with her father...or with any of her family members for that matter.
The door burst open and her twin, with matching brown curls layered above her shoulders and highlighted in platinum blonde, ran straight in for a hug from her double. “Oh I missed you!” Peyton cried, her arms wrapped tightly around her shoulder, in an overly extended, I’m-never-letting-go-of-you, bear hug. Kate squeezed back.
“Share.” Sydney, only a year younger, pushed her off and scooped in for her own hug. “I love having you home,” she whispered. “I missed you so much.” Sydney had her father’s wavy, light blonde hair and brown eyes, completely the opposite of all the twins.
“I missed you too, Syd.”
Kate gave them the run down on Abby as they settled around the table and pulled open the take-out bags, popping the lids off and digging into the Chinese food.
Sydney’s brows furrowed together as she listened. She looked mortified that she had missed the signs of her sister’s breakdown. “This has all happened so quickly. First, we were at the hospital and Abby seemed fine.” She glanced at their dad who nodded in agreement. “I mean obviously not fine but unde
r the circumstances...” she paused, re-thinking the situation. “Maybe she was in shock,” she offered as an explanation. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t come home with me or Dad and said she was tired. Then I was making funeral arrangements and calling all of you and I just didn’t notice.” She looked down at her trembling hands holding the chop sticks.
Kate touched her arm in support. “No one’s blaming you Syd. We definitely couldn’t foresee Abby’s actions. But we should all talk to her in the morning.” Everyone agreed. “Why don’t you tell us about all the arrangements, since none of us were able to make it.” Kate glared at Peyton and she innocently shrugged. What had kept her away?
Sydney quickly listed off the times and date for the visitation, the service and the brunch afterwards. They easily moved away from the subject of death and were all contributing a happy little part of their current lives to lighten the mood. Sydney bragged about her daughter, Haylee, being an “A” student in school. Peyton beamed about the rise in her clientele and if she ever decided to open a business in her house she would have a fantastic following to support her. Her dad gave them some gossip all the girls looked surprised he would even know. And Kate contributed her excitement on her new condo, but left out the part where Derek was planning on moving in. An hour later, their exhausted father announced he was heading home.
“I’m going to spend the night here,” Peyton told him, declining a ride home. He did rounds giving hugs to each of his girls before leaving. They casually waved and watched him leave. Then Peyton turned the lock, Kate grabbed wine glasses from the cupboard, and Sydney went digging into the cleaning cupboard to pull out a bottle of hidden red wine.
They all but collapsed on the white wicker furniture in the insulated and heated sun room. They had lived through their dad’s drinking and vowed to never take a sip of alcohol with him present to support his decision and in fear he might slip.
“What is that delicious smell?” Peyton asked. The sun room was enchanted with lavender, citrus, vanilla and so many more alluring smells teasing their senses like a field of wild flowers.
Sydney stood “Do you want to know a secret?” she teased, wiggling her hips across the room. The sisters laughed. She put her finger over her mouth silently hushing before she reached towards the large wooden doors and opened the mammoth of an antique pine flat-to-the-wall. The aroma intensified. Inside were rows of handmade soaps. The curious twins ventured over mimicking Sydney’s walk. The soaps were wrapped in twine and adorned with little handmade listings descriptive names of all the properties of the essential oils listed on the backside.
“What is this?” Kate asked. It couldn’t very well be Gran’s personal collection of soap since each row was multiples of the exact same one.
“Abby started making these for her and Gran. Gran suggested, when her friends started wanting them that they sell them,” Peyton explained.
Kate picked up a Shea butter bar and smelled it. It was wonderful. “Wow, these are amazing. Abby made them?”
Sydney nodded. “This is her third batch and they started taking orders and delivering to friends.”
Kate was impressed. “That is wonderful. Is she enjoying it?” Kate would love to see her sister do anything other than waitressing in Jake’s bar.
Sydney nodded. “This is amazing soap. I have to admit that I was surprised the first time I used it, but it’s so soft and all natural and leaves your face feeling younger.”
Kate gave her a slanted grin. “You could be the spokesperson.”
“You’re the advertising designer, maybe you should make her up some posters and flyers to help her advertise,” she told Kate.
“Maybe I will.”
“Just don’t forget to buy some before you leave. It would mean the world to Abby.”
Abby. What were they going to do with Abby?
Chapter Six
Marc dropped his mother and sisters off at the glass double front doors of the funeral home, before driving he and his uncle to a parking space in the back.
“I’m proud of you Marcus, for putting aside your feelings regarding Katherine and attending tonight,” his uncle said, as their quick strides took them across the wind whipping evening. The sun settled earlier now and was beginning to dip behind the lake, and like his feelings towards Kate, shadowed them in darkness.
He shrugged.
“You take it lightly but it’s difficult to get over betrayal,” he continued. “No matter the people involved, or the volume of the betrayal.” He spoke as if reliving the experience. It was a betrayal linked to the brothers no doubt.
His Uncle Carl spoke with consideration in contrast to Marc’s father’s unsympathetic, and generally selfish, nature. It was hard to believe complete opposites shared the same bloodline. Since the loss of his brother, his uncle strived to bond with his nephew. A healing process, Marc believed.
It was a nice change from having to disguise his feelings and thoughts like the inspiration behind a masquerade ball. He’d always adorned a mask with his father, never revealing what he felt and, under no circumstances, ever requesting his father’s opinion. It was him and his mother alone. Until now, and even after a lifetime of trusting his uncle, Marc couldn’t help but be cautious. He felt that little mask was still dangling whenever he conversed with his uncle. His father could take credit after heeding a warning: You’re Uncle Carl is not who he seems and it is best you figured the truth out after I’m gone. Don’t hate me for keeping it from you or those involved Marcus, your heart is better than that. Marc wasn’t sure what that meant but wondered if all the strange up and down’s with his Uncle were tied to his father’s warning.
He didn’t know whether to believe his father or the strong relationship he had always had with his uncle.
His father had changed in his last months of life. It had been an aggressive cancer that had taken him down quickly like no human could. And Marc found a lot of his father’s ramblings at the end to be sincere, and left him taking extra precautions he never had with his uncle in a time when he was trying to get closer to Marc. It was all exhausting.
However, if his uncle uncovered the events that transpired in the sauna, he might scrutinize his nephew differently. How Marc had initiated the exact lack of self-control his uncle was presuming he carried.
“Let’s see how this plays out,” he said patting his uncle’s shoulders.
Inside, they found the Caliendo women scattered between the three rooms opened for visitation. Situated in an old Victorian home that had long since been transformed into one of the two funeral homes in town, the grand foyer displayed a large winding staircase located at the heart of the house. The main areas on each side were open and wrapped around behind the staircase where another room connected the three in a half moon. It was casual visitation, with no line up to wait in and pass your condolences, but instead an open gathering to show your respect.
His uncle was also quick to a find a group of old acquaintances to pass his time. Marc didn’t mind. He hadn’t turned up solely to please his mother, he was on a search for a proper apology to Kate.
The rooms were separated by large columns or French doors propped open with cast urns filled with cascading flowers. Each room was crowded. He recognized plenty of business owners likely stopping by on their way home before supper.
He wasn’t able to simply walk around and zero in on Kate, he was a Caliendo, and accompanying the name was the expected communication of many. People wouldn’t allow him to pass without a greeting. Some inquired about the resort, others about his family while others wanted to share a piece of their business or family. He was getting used to the friendly banter, since that was a big part of his job at the resort: making sure the guests were always satisfied.
He spotted Izzy still hanging with Emma and found it rather odd she hadn’t scoped out Abby.
As he walked into the second room, he stopped by Grace McAdams casket. Flowers brightened up her area for an adored woman, and he silently paid his
respects.
Through the second set of French doors, he finally spotted Kate. She was off to the side of the room, rearranging coffee mugs and napkins at a small beverage and snack table−alone. There were less people gathered in the last room, as though they had not quite made it that far yet. He nodded at guests, quick and brisk, brushing them off, heading directly towards Kate.
As he approached the table, she took no notice, her eyes lost in her own deep thoughts. He had the opportunity to notice her shimmering long sleeved, fitted black dress with a crocheted neckline. He preferred her curls loose and wild, but they were pulled up and around the back of her head, sleek and professional...nothing like they had been in that sauna. Get the thoughts of the sauna out of your head!
He picked up a mug casually and set it in her row. “I can’t stand it when the cups aren’t sorted at such events,” he teased.
She looked up confused at first, then when she found his eyes, hers lightened and her cheeks stained from embarrassment.
“Busted,” she said setting two mugs back on the table. Her hands clasped together as though they couldn’t stay apart. He could hold them apart. Enough.
A couple came to the table for coffee and he touched the small of her back and guided her away to have a private moment. “I wanted to give my condolences for Grace.”
“Thank you.”
“I also wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you yesterday.”
She smiled up at him. “It should be me apologizing,” she said. “I offended your father and it was inconsiderate with his passing not that long ago.”
Lakeshore Secrets: The McAdams Sisters - Kate McAdams (By The Lake Series Book 1) Page 4
