His Sister's Return

by Mary Goldberger

  Chapter 1

  Trystan Tyeson looked up as his office door opened and he smiled as his little sister, Marla Tyeson walked in closing the door behind her.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked on a sigh sitting back in his chair fiddling with the pen that he had been using to sign papers. “You have a frown on your face telling me that something happened. Did you and Samuel have an argument?”

  He watched a scowl cross her face as she strolled over to the couch and sat with a flounce. “We haven’t even spoken today. I went by his office to invite him for lunch as he told me that he would be working all day when I was informed, very smugly, by his secretary that he received a phone call and rushed out saying he would be back in time for his two o’clock appointment.”

  Trystan merely nodded his head as he said, “Maybe it was an urgent matter that he had to attend to.”

  Marla sent him a glare before informing him, “Miss Nels enjoyed informing me that he also booked a room at this hotel for someone coming into town within the next few days. She hinted that it was a woman.”

  Trystan began to frown but all he said was, “Marla, she could be someone that is helping him with his project.”

  Her frown didn’t lesson as she said sharply, “Even if that is so, why did he lie and tell me that he was going to be in his office all day today?”

  Trystan opened his mouth to respond before he closed it on a sigh watching her lean her head back against the couch as his phone rung on his desk.

  “Hello,” he said answering it his eyes still on his sister seeing the pain on her face at whatever was running through her mind. His eyes suddenly hardened as he listened intently to the voice on the end of the phone, but he kept his voice calm as he said, “Can you send me one please?”

  He hung up the phone a few seconds later and his cell beeped not long after, and as Marla looked over at him he touched a few buttons on his phone to retrieve the picture that was sent to him. His mouth tightened as he looked down at his sister’s boyfriend hugging another woman a smile on both of their faces.

  “Is there something wrong, Tryst?” Marla asked sitting up straight on the couch.

  “No, Marla, just a personal matter I have to take care of,” he told her with a soft smile closing down the application on his phone before pocketing it.

  Marla rolled her eyes as she got to her feet. “Another one of your woman friends,” she remarked. “I thought you were staying with Bea for a while.”

  Trystan said absently as his mind began to form a plan, “Bea and I are still seeing each other.”

  Marla shook her head as she said, “I really pity any woman who falls into your clutches, brother dear, because you are merciless.”

  Trystan only smiled at her as he walked around his desk, “How about we have lunch instead since we rarely get the chance to eat together anymore?”

  Marla nodded her head her eyes dimmed with sadness, but Trystan urged her out of the office telling his secretary that he was taking an early lunch and that he would be back later for his afternoon meeting. There was a hard look in his grey eyes that she recognized and she shivered as she muttered once they were out of earshot, “I wonder who he has his sight set on now?” as she continued on with her work.

  Alina Barks walked out of the terminal on a weary sigh as she rolled her shoulder blades longing to get out of the sticky clothes she was wearing as she looked around the airport pulling her sunglasses from her hair and folding them up before pocketing them.

  “Alina,” a deep male voice called out, and she turned her head her shoulder length brown hair guiding across her shoulders with her action. As she located the sound of the voice, a smile grew on her face and her hazel eyes sparkled with recognition.

  “Samuel,” she said as she hurried toward him her shoulder bag bouncing against her.

  Once she reached him, he closed his arms around her in a tight embrace and she sighed in contentment so glad to see him after all these years of being separated.

  He squeezed once before he let her go and looked down at her before stepping back and whistling. “My baby sister has grown up,” he complimented.

  Alina only laughed as she stepped back herself putting a hand on her hip and giving him the once over before teasing, “And how many hearts have you broken, brother dear?”

  He laughed as he took her arm leading her away to get the rest of her luggage. “More than you, I do believe,” he said smugly.

  “Cad,” she said hitting him on the arm, and they both laughed unaware of the two individuals who were paying close attention to them. There was a smug look on one of their faces as she hung up her phone before pushing a few buttons and with one last smirk, she strutted away in the opposite direction.

  The other pair of eyes was filled with anger and her mouth tightened as her hand closed around a bottle of water she was holding. The bottle erupted in her hand and all over her clothes, but she wasn’t conscious of them as she watched the couple walk away laughing at something.

  “He is mine,” she uttered sharply causing the people around her to eye her warily before stepping away from her as she began to go after them.

  “I already booked you a room at the local hotel,” Samuel told Alina as they exited the airport after making a stop for the rest of her luggage.

  “Samuel,” Alina began only to stop when he gave her a glare.

  “I haven’t seen you in over twenty years although we have kept in touch thanks to Aunt Theadora. I wanted to do something for you so let me, okay,” he told her opening the passenger door so she could get in.

  She gave him a glare just as strong as his before she slipped in the seat.

  “Just this once I will let you have your way, but don’t think it will happen often, Sam,” she warned him using the nickname she had for him when they were children.

  He laughed as he closed the door and put her luggage in the trunk before sliding in the driver’s seat next to her. “I know, Alina, how stubborn you can be,” he told her with a teasing wink.

  Alina shook her head as a smile tugged at her mouth but the only thing she said was, “Drive the car, Sam.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said giving a small salute that caused Alina to roar with laughter as he pulled away from the curb.

  They were minutes away from the hotel when Alina said, “So when am I going to meet this woman who has you eating out of the palm of her hand?”

  “Hey now,” Samuel said with a frown only to catch the raised eyebrow on his sister’s face, and he amended his words with sheepish look. “Okay, so she can get me to do anything for her.”

  Alina only grunted as she shifted to look at him more closely. “I say that she could do hell a lot more than that, but we will keep it to your version, brother.”

  He shot her quick look before he returned his eyes to the road making the turn for the hotel. “I am hoping to introduce you two tonight as I want to invite her for dinner.”

  “You haven’t already?” Alina asked in shock.

  Samuel sighed as he pulled up to the hotel entrance and parked. “We both have been busy lately. I have a meeting coming up in a month that I need to be prepared for and she has been busy with her shop. Did I tell you that she designs and makes her own clothes?”

  Alina laughed as she heard the pride in his voice before she remarked, “Yes, Sam, you have told me about it a thousand times already.”

  He grinned at her before opening his door as someone opened the other door for Alina to get out. He headed to the trunk where he opened it and stepped aside as the hotel staff came out to help.

  “I hope that you enjoy staying here as I know the person who owns this hotel,” he told Alina as they headed inside followed by the hotel staff member.

/>   “Nice,” Alina commented impressed as she looked around the lobby they entered smiling at the staff member as he indicated the reception desk.

  They walked up and Samuel talked with the reception clerk as Alina looked around after tipping the staff member remarking, “Thank you for your help.”

  “Here you go, Alina,” Samuel said bringing her attention back to him as he handed her the room key. “You are on the third floor room 323.” He nodded his head at the receptionist with a ‘thank you’ before grabbing Alina’s luggage as they headed to the elevators.

  They were unaware of the sharp the receptionist gave them as they headed for the elevator and she picked up the phone on the counter to make a quick call her eyes still watching them when the elevator closed after they got on.

  Once on the floor, Samuel let Alina lead the way as they walked down to her room. “Here we go,” he remarked easily as he put down her luggage and Alina just shook her head.

  He looked at his watch before grimacing. “I have an appointment in about forty minutes so…”

  “Go, Sam,” she told him opening the door wide before grabbing her luggage. “Go to your meeting. I promise you I can take care of myself.”

  He nodded his head as he backed up. “I will call you later and let you know what time I will be picking you up for dinner.”

  Alina shook her head. “Just let me know the time and place, I can get there by myself. You need to pick up your fiancée instead.”

  “Alina…” he began only to stop when she gave him a heavy glare, and sighed in defeat. He lifted his hands in the air as he said, “All right, all right, you win this one.”

  She smiled as he began to walk away when he suddenly stopped and turned back around.

  “Alina,” he called as she stepped into her room and she poked her head out the door. Sam smiled before he said, “I am glad that you came home.”

  Tears came to her eyes that she blinked away before she told him, “So am I, Sam, so am I. Now get going before you are late for your meeting and I will see you tonight.”

  He nodded his head sharply before he turned and hurried to the elevator catching it just in time before the doors closed.

  Alina pulled her luggage into the room closing the door with a heavy thud as she shook her head. “Still a kid at heart, Sam, who would’ve thought it of you?”

  She chuckled as she pulled the luggage farther into the room looking around with delight at the comfort it provided. She left the cases near the bathroom doorway as she swung the bag on her shoulder on the bed and walked over to the sliding glass doors. She opened them taking a deep breath as the wind hit her in the face and she stepped out on to the small balcony. She leaned against the railing as she looked around her and she sighed with a feeling of contentment something she hadn’t felt in a long time. As her eyes drank in the sight, she murmured, “I am finally home.”

  Trystan walked in the hotel in hour later with a scowl on his face. “Darlene,” he said as he walked up to the reception desk. “What room was she given?”

  Darlene didn’t hesitate to punch up the information. “323, sir,” she told him. She hesitated for a second before she told him, “Sir, Mr. Blairson didn’t stay because he came down not too long after they went up.”

  Trystan nodded his head before saying, “Thank you, Darlene.”

  He walked away from the desk heading for the dining room his mind already whirling. Although Samuel hadn’t stayed, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t planning on coming back. Trystan knew he had an appointment that afternoon and he had to admit grudgingly that at least he hadn’t let the woman distract him from his work responsibilities.

  “Trystan, honey, what is putting that fierce look on your face?” A sultry voice said, and he looked over into a pair of heavenly green eyes. He smiled as he stopped to take in the woman before him with her long naturally waving red-hair that she had swept into a sophisticated style to emphasize the shape of her slender neck down to the snug dress that emphasized her full breast, trim stomach, and long legs.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured shielding his eyes from her watching eyes.

  “For you, anything,” she said with a slight tremble to her voice.

  His cell rung before he could comment and he smiled at her as he answered it, “Hello.”

  “Tryst, Samuel called to invite me for dinner,” Marla told him in a rush excitement threaded through her voice.

  Trystan frowned slightly thinking about the woman upstairs when he told her gently, “Marla, we are having dinner with mom tonight, remember?”

  “Damn, I forgot about it,” she told him with disappointment. She sighed before she told him, “I will just call Samuel back and see if he would like to join us.”

  Trystan’s lips twisted at that, but he agreed to her suggestion. “I will pick you up around eight as Bea is going with us.”

  They agreed to the time before they hung up and a scowl crossed his face as he hit the ‘end’ button because he had a feeling that Samuel wouldn’t be joining them tonight.

  “Is something the matter?” Bea asked him sliding an arm through his own.

  He wiped the scowl off his face and smiled. “What could be the matter when I have a beautiful woman on my arm?”

  She smiled at him her eyes alight with pleasure as he led them through the dining room to their accustomed table in the middle of the room.

  Upstairs in her room, Alina had just stepped out of the shower when the phone on the nightstand began to ring.

  “Hello,” she said wondering who else knew she was here.

  “Miss Barks,” a soft feminine voice said.

  “Yes,” Alina responded a frown covering her face. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, ma’am, no problem,” the woman said. “We just want to make sure that everything is all right and there are no problems with your room.”

  Alina relaxed as she assured the woman, “Thank you, miss. There are no problems and the room is absolutely wonderful.”

  The woman at the desk smiled and added, “If there is anything you need, please feel free to ask us.”

  “Thank you,” Alina said again before the clerk hung up, and Alina flopped back on her bed with a soft smile. Her eyes closed on a sigh as she muttered, “You chose well, Sam” as she drifted off to sleep.

  A few hours later, Trystan escorted three women inside one of the top restaurants in the city noting the bleakness to Marla’s expression.

  “Is something wrong with Samuel, dear?” Their mother, Delilah Tyeson, asked after they were seated. “Why didn’t he join us tonight?”

  “He said that he had made other plans, but to give you his regards,” Marla said with a smile although everyone at the table could tell it was forced.

  Bea hid the smirk in her eyes by lifting up her water glass taking a sip shielding her eyes with her lashes. “I am sure that he is just busy, Marla,” she remarked as she lowered the glass back to the table.

  “I am sure that is exactly it, Marla,” Delilah agreed. She picked up the menu and stated with relish, “I am hungry so let’s go ahead and order.”

  They agreed as they picked up the menus and began to look through it while Trystan sent Bea a smile of appreciation, and she nodded her head before turning her attention back to the menu in front of her.

  They had just ordered dessert some time later when Trystan looking around the restaurant watched in stunned disbelief as Samuel walked in with a hand on the arm of the young woman from this afternoon’s photo.

  “Tryst have you decided what you would like…” Marla’s voice trailed off as she noticed his attention focused someplace else and she followed it until she spotted the couple being seated not too far from them.

  “Marla, dear, your face just turned white as a sheet,” her mother commented sitting forward with a frown. She turned her head to see what her daughter was staring at, but other customers were in the way so she couldn’t see anything. “Trystan is there something wrong?”

 
; “No, mom,” he told her smoothly shifting his chair slightly. “Marla and I both thought we saw someone we knew, but it was just someone who resembled him.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said giving Marla a searching look. “Whoever that person was, I hope we never run into them because Marla must’ve had bad encounters with that person.”

  Marla shook her head forcing a smile on her face as she leaned forward patting her mother’s hand. “Sorry, mom, but like Trystan said I thought I saw someone from the past so it startled me. I am sorry if I worried you.”

  “As long as you are all right, then no apology necessary,” she told Marla giving her a smile.

  Bea looked from Trystan’s face to Marla’s still pale one and she hid her smile as she patted her lips with her napkin. Things were about to get really interesting, she thought to herself as their server came back.

  Chapter 2

  “Sam, you know you could have joined Marla and her family for dinner,” Alina commented as they settled down at the table they were led to when they entered the restaurant.

  “I love Marla very much,” Samuel said without hesitation, “but I don’t think she will begrudge me eating dinner with you on your first night back.”

  Alina shook her head as their server came forward with menus. “Unfortunately, she didn’t know that you were introducing us.”

  Samuel grimaced slightly at that truth before he retorted, “She will understand.”

  Alina hoped her brother knew what he was doing, but she didn’t say another word as she looked over the menu. She flinched and said to him in a whimsical voice, “You know I would have been just as happy eating at the hotel.”

  “I don’t think so,” Samuel said in a voice that brooked no arguments.

  Alina grumbled under her breathe but decided not to argue as she ordered something that looked good from the picture and glass of tea.

  “Still not fussy, I see,” Samuel commented as the server took away their menus.

  Alina shrugged her shoulders taking a sip from the glass of water at her setting. “What’s the point of being fussy when there are so many things to try out?”