The Other Sister

by Dianne Dixon

  “Not that far. Only fifty miles or so.”

  “You can’t go,” Ali pleaded. “You’ll be all alone.”

  “I won’t be alone.” Morgan told her. “And neither will you.”

  Morgan took a small sheet of pearl-colored paper from her pocket and handed it to Ali.

  The note, written in Morgan’s elegant handwriting, left Ali aching. With love. And joy.

  Wherever I go, I will never be gone.

  Wherever you are, I will always be there.

  Whenever you want me, whenever you need me, I will come.

  The stranglehold is broken.

  What remains is the bond.

  Six hundred ninety-three miles from JOY,

  in the coldest, darkest part of the night.

  Perfect justice.

  The man, Logan, being carried down the mountain on a stretcher.

  For the first time since this ordeal started, he thinks of something other than the rapes. He thinks of his wife, Jessica, and the file she put together—and he wonders. Did she know? How could she not have known? Can a woman be married to a man, share his home, and grow his children in her belly, and have no idea who he really is?

  His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his rescuers’ voices.

  They’re saying he’ll probably die and if, by some miracle, he survives, he’ll be a vegetable. Spending the rest of his life mute and paralyzed. His brain dangling from its stem like a smashed pumpkin.

  Ali

  The gut-wrenching revelations in the Peter Sebelius video. The stunning news that Morgan was moving away. Ali thought these things would destroy her.

  To her amazement, they made her stronger, more of her own person than she’d ever been.

  The party at JOY had ended hours ago. Ali was in bed—with Aidan Blake’s face filling the screen on her laptop. Aidan’s tone was light as he asked, “Why are you calling me in bloody Australia to talk about this? Why does it matter now?”

  Ali’s response was brisk, determined. “I’m cleaning up a lot of old business tonight.”

  Aidan studied her for a beat. “Is everything good with you and Matt?”

  “Everything’s fine. This has nothing to do with Matt.”

  “Right, then. You asked for the truth and I’ll give it to you. The truth is, you’re a gorgeous creature. I’d love to fuck you. You’re also the wife of a man I greatly respect. Which means I’d never lay as much as a finger on you.”

  “Then why did you kiss me, that day in your truck, when you gave me a ride to my friend Jessica’s house?”

  “Why? Because I was an ass.” Aidan seemed uncomfortable. “It happened before I could stop it. Made me feel like a fool then, and it’s doing the same now.”

  “You didn’t have the right,” Ali told him.

  “I’m not suggesting I did. All I can say is, much of the time when I’m around you, I find myself behaving like a randy schoolboy.” Aidan looked away and grinned. “I’m usually better with women than that.”

  “You had no right to touch me, to touch any part of me.”

  Aidan’s grin vanished. “Point taken. It should never have happened.” He came closer to the camera, as if wanting Ali to see he was sincere. “I’m saying it again. I was an ass. I’m begging your pardon, humbly…hoping you’ll forget it ever happened.”

  “I don’t know if I can do that.”

  Aidan seemed surprised. “You can’t forget something as simple as a man’s uninvited kiss?”

  “It’s not that simple,” Ali told him. Aidan didn’t know about the rape and how, for a while, it had left her terrified to be touched, by any man, in any way.

  There didn’t seem to be anything else to say. Ali closed the laptop and pushed it aside just as Matt came into the room, his hair damp and his skin warm from the shower.

  He got into bed and lay close to Ali. “Are you okay?”

  Ali nodded.

  “What’s keeping you so quiet?”

  “I was just thinking about this quote I saw somewhere. ‘The life of every person is a diary in which they mean to write one story, and write another.’

  “I said I wanted a husband who was a good man.” Ali was deep in thought. “But what I expected was for you to be perfect. I wanted a restaurant, wanted to turn Grandma MaryJoy’s dream into reality. But to do it, I never guessed I’d have to move across the country and work so hard. I wanted our marriage to be strong when I took that vow, ‘for better or for worse,’ but I never dreamed the better would only come after we’d gone through the worst…after you were out of work, and we were in debt, and I was raped.”

  Ali stopped. Then said, “I wanted a child and I have Sofie, the most loving little girl in the world, but it’s only because I lost the most extraordinary friend I’ve ever had. And for my whole life, I wanted my sister to be happy and independent, so I could be free of her. And now I’m getting exactly what I wished for, and I don’t want to let go of her. How do you make sense of any of that?”

  “I don’t know if you can.” Matt held Ali’s hand. “All of us are looking for missing pieces we never quite seem to find.”

  “What about you?” she asked. “What’s the missing piece you’re trying to find?”

  “Atonement,” Matt told her.

  “For what?”

  “For a lot of things.”

  “Name one.”

  “Something I did once, somewhere I went, when I was lonely and needed a friend. I think it might have been wrong, but I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Matt stayed quiet for a while. “After it was done. Completely finished. I made a conscious decision to shut the door and not tell you about it. Not to shut you out, but to save you from any more hurt. I want to keep us facing forward, Al. I want us together, and strong. I also want you calm and happy.”

  Ali sensed that if she wanted to know, this was the moment. Matt was ready, willing. It would be easy to make him confess.

  She bit her lip, weighed her options.

  She was sure that part of Matt’s search for atonement was connected to his unfinished business with his mother and his sister. But she understood there was more to it than that—other things, other people. Stories he still hadn’t told.

  And this was the tipping point, the place where she could demand to know every single detail.

  Ali thought about it.

  And she said, “Look at me.”

  She waited till their eyes met. Then she held Matt’s gaze. Letting him see that whatever his transgressions had been, they were forgiven.

  Ali forgave Matt because she understood what he was dealing with. She had secrets of her own—her relationship with Levi, and the baby she’d miscarried. And she understood that those secrets belonged where they were. In the past.

  Ali had no questions for Matt. She knew everything she needed to know. She knew the truth about his soul. It was absolutely pure.

  Matt pulled Ali close, his touch tender. “I love you, Al. That’s the only thing I know for certain about my life. All the rest of it is a mystery I don’t understand.”

  Listening to the comforting beat of Matt’s heart, Ali said, “Maybe the only thing to do is to take it on faith. Live life one day at a time. Knowing that at the end of whatever dark tunnel you’re in, there’ll always be a light…pointing you toward something new and completely beautiful.”

  Matt kissed Ali with all the sweetness that was in him. “Do you really believe that, Al?”

  “Yes. I’m not sure why, but I do.”

  Epilogue

  Twenty-three hours of labor and a difficult delivery. It was the hardest thing Morgan had ever done.

  And now she was experiencing pure delight. “I can’t believe it. You came!”

  “Of co
urse I came. I’ll always come.”

  Morgan heard the caring in her mother’s voice, the unwavering devotion. And she was finally able to say what had been bottled up inside her for so long. “I love you, Mom.”

  Her mother rested a hand on Morgan’s shoulder—while Ali lowered the baby into Morgan’s arms.

  Morgan looked at the sleeping newborn and had a fleeting moment of doubt—the same anxiety that had been with her every minute of this pregnancy. Can I really trust myself to love this child?

  Ali seemed to have read the question in Morgan’s mind. “In a single afternoon on that boat, life threw you a real curve, Morgan. But this baby is as much yours as it is Logan’s.”

  Devoted, tenderhearted Ben Tennoff had been at Morgan’s side every step of the journey. He took her hand and held it.

  Morgan smiled.

  Then she looked down at her baby, knowing that everything would be fine. Her child carried the spirit and promise of truly remarkable people. Morgan’s people. Courageous, graceful people like her sister. Strong, faithful people like her mother. And wise, enduring people like her grandfather in Maine.

  The baby opened its eyes. They were the color of violets.

  And Ali said, “You’re the great-grandchild of MaryJoy O’Conner. She believed in the power of celebration. And her dream, when it came true, was a place called JOY.”

  It was then that Morgan clearly saw her daughter’s destiny, and knew her name.

  Reading Group Guide

  1. Describe the dynamic between Ali and Morgan. Do you think Morgan’s jealousy is justified? Do you think Ali’s guilt is?

  2. Why do you think Morgan turns to the mysterious Sam figure for comfort and companionship? Have you had a person in your life who has been your support system like Sam is for Morgan? Explain that relationship.

  3. Why does Morgan get involved with Logan on his wedding night? How do you think that relationship and the continued affair later on make Morgan feel? How does this foreshadow Logan’s overall character?

  4. Describe the difference between Matt’s and Ali’s upbringings. How do you think Matt fits in with Ali’s family? Do you think Matt recognizes the dysfunction in Ali and Morgan’s relationship, or does he idealize Ali’s situation?

  5. Why do you think Matt keeps his disappearance a secret from Ali? Could you marry someone who did the same to you? How would this affect your relationship?

  6. Morgan and Ali have an almost psychic twin connection. Have you ever had someone in your life with whom you felt that kind of a connection, where you could intuitively sense their feelings? Explain.

  7. Why do you think Morgan sells the tract of land her grandmother bought years ago? Is it out of love or revenge?

  8. Describe the relationship between Ali and Levi. Why do you think Ali continues their flirtation after marrying Matt and moving to California?

  9. Do you think Ali is justified in blaming Matt for her attack? How does she change after that night? How does it affect their marriage?

  10. Describe the dynamic between Ava and Ali. How is it different from Ali’s relationship with Morgan?

  11. Why do you think Matt turns to Danielle for comfort? Describe their affair. Is it physical or purely emotional? Do you think Ali deserves to know?

  12. How does owning Ralph change Morgan as a person? Does it affect her relationship with Ali? With herself? With Ben Tennoff? In what ways?

  13. How does Ava’s baby, Sofie, bring Matt and Ali back together? Ali and Morgan?

  14. Why do you think Matt decides to take the movie job in Australia? If you were in his position, would you do the same?

  15. How does Ali react when she sees the suitcase in her attic? When Morgan finds out about Ali’s rape, how does it affect her feelings toward her sister?

  16. How do you feel about the ending of The Other Sister? Do you think Morgan and Ali got the lives they deserved? Do you think they each have a happy ending once the book ends? Explain.

  17. Imagine having a twin brother or sister. Do you think you’d encounter the same difficulties that Morgan and Ali do? Is there always some level of sibling rivalry? How do you overcome that?

  Acknowledgments

  Alice Tasman’s belief in this book and its writer.

  Shana Drehs’s world-class ability to make any novel in her care so much better.

  Heather Hall’s and Diane Dannenfeldt’s brilliantly meticulous copyediting skills.

  MaryLu Edick’s, Jan Winford’s, and Gail Schenbaum’s unfailing love and support.

  Loraine Despres’s and Carleton Eastlake’s enduring friendships, and their wizardry with crashed-computer, day-before-the-deadline file recovery.

  Stephanie Ortale’s generosity and enthusiasm.

  Josie Assini’s contribution of the perfect writing environment.

  Gigi Chow’s, Tina Mui-Wong’s, Denise Sparks’s, and Alice Rossiter’s kindness and magic.

  To these wonderful people, for all of their beautiful gifts…

  Thank You!!

  About the Author

  Dianne Dixon has two Emmy nominations and is a winner of the prestigious Humanitas Prize for outstanding accomplishment in writing for television. She was visiting professor of creative writing at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and has also taught screenwriting at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media. The Other Sister is Dianne’s third novel. Her debut novel, The Language of Secrets, was named a Top Ten New Fiction title by Amazon. Dianne is an insatiable reader who loves good books, great food, and dark chocolate.

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