by Leanne Davis
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
The Remaining Sister
by
Leanne Davis
Sister Series, Book Nine
www.leannedavis.net
Table of contents:
Copyright
Dedication
Other Titles by Leanne Davis
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Dear Reader
My Other Titles
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Remaining Sister
COPYRIGHT © 2017 by Leanne Davis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Publishing History First Edition, 2017 Digital
Digital ISBN: 978-1-941522-47-9
The Sister Series, Book Nine
Edited by Teri at The Editing Fairy ([email protected])
Copy Editing: Jeannie Brooker
Cover Design by Steven Novak ([email protected])
Dedication:
To Amanda for inspiring me almost daily to keep learning.
Other Titles by Leanne Davis
Diversions
River’s End Series
River’s End
River’s Escape
River’s Return
River Road
River on Fire
River’s Lost
The Sister Series
The Other Sister
The Years Between
The Good Sister
The Best Friend
The Wrong Sister
The Years After
The Broken Sister
The Perfect Sister
The Lost Sister
The Remaining Sister
The Step Sister
Daughters Series
Christina
Natalie
Melissa
Emily
The Zenith Trilogy
Zenith Falling
Zenith Rising
Zenith Fulfilled
The Seaclusion Series
Poison
Notorious
Secrets
Seclusion
Chapter One
“SHE WAS FOUND, CHLOE.” His tone was soft, grim, and resigned. The sureness in this statement was emphasized by the hollowness of his voice and the haunted look that sparked from his eyes. He wasn’t just saying that.
Chloe Carrington started shaking her head repeatedly no at her brother-in-law, Ryder Kincaid. As if her neck were stuck on a recorded loop, she could not stop shaking. NO! No. Oh, no! It couldn’t be. But inside, she knew. In that instant, Chloe knew there was only one reason Ryder would be standing there in her restaurant’s kitchen, in the middle of the afternoon, with that terrible expression on his face.
Ebony. They found Ebony. Her sister. Her identical twin. Her other half. And Ryder’s eyes were big and solemn and sad. So sad. That meant…
She couldn’t even say the words in her head. She started shaking her finger at him as he advanced towards her. If he touched her, he’d have to hold her, and comfort her, and support her as she fell apart.
He was telling Chloe that her sister was dead. By saying “found,” Chloe knew he was referring to her body. Her mind, heart, soul and everything else that made Ebony the woman she was instantly vanished from the earth.
“No! No! No! Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare say it, Ryder Kincaid. Get out! Get Out! Don’t say it!” She stepped back as if by moving, she could somehow ignore the facts. Maybe it was wrong to begin with. If she denied it, perhaps it couldn’t hurt her.
But of course, it already had. Ryder held her shaking body against his, wrapping his arms around her to hold her up, supporting her body weight when she collapsed. Her legs felt like rubber as the grief in her heart saturated her mind and body. Her sister, her beautiful, talented, smiling, energetic, identical twin sister, her other half was dead.
NO! No, goddamn it! He was wrong. He had to be. She lifted her head to argue and stuttered as she pleaded with Ryder to take it back because it was a lie. “B-b-but she sent a note. Remember? She told us she had to leave. That she couldn’t continue living here. And couldn’t be a mother or a wife any longer. She told us. It wasn’t right, and she should have stayed here but don’t you remember? She told us she had to leave.”
His arms supported her body while his hands rubbed between her shoulder blades. He leaned back a little so he could look into her eyes. But Ryder’s image was blurry to Chloe. She sniffed and another loud sob escaped her lips.
“Apparently, she was murdered. She never left us. Someone made her send us that note. Someone else robbed our savings. It wasn’t her. It was never her.” Ryder’s voice cracked as he said her the last time. He was overcome with grief and misunderstanding as he gripped Chloe harder.
“How do you know? Are you sure?”
“A body was discovered in Rathbone Plains. I went out there. It had her earrings and the necklace I gave her for our first anniversary, along with her engraved wedding ring. It’s definitely her. There will be an official investigation, but Chloe, it’s her. She never left us. She never did that to us.”
Chloe’s reality was altered forever and her heart hammered in her chest as her entire body trembled. Oh, God! All the terrible things Chloe thought about her sister for choosing to leave her family… They all believed she made that choice. For over three years, everyone believed her sister just walked out on her husband Ryder and Wyatt, their then eighteen-month-old son, as well as her twin sister and loving parents. They believed that Ebony abandoned them to pursue another lifestyle. Chloe spent the better part of those three years working through her anger, rage, and resentment of her sister. She could not forgive her sister’s betrayal in choosing a different life over what she had with them. They thought Ebony had wanted a much better life, one that was more exciting and far beyond the mundane confinements she found in Silver Springs.
They believed it at the time too, because her note said she was doing that. The note was written in her handwriting, and verified by Chloe and her parents.
Chloe’s heart sank even lower. They believed the note. She and Ryder, as well as her own mother, believed the note. She glanced up, using Ryder’s forearm to support her. They swallowed that story so easily and hated her for it. But now? To find out she was dead and, even worse, murdered was beyond Chloe’s comp
rehension. Ryder said her body was found in the swamp and only the jewelry she wore could identify the remains. The remains. Oh, GOD! Her sister was relegated to nothing more than the remains. They never bothered to even look for her. Ebony was decomposing in the stinking swamp without one person searching for her. That image haunted Chloe. It churned her gut and made her stomach ache. A piercing wail broke the silence. Did that come from her? She leaned forward, trying to gasp for breath. She could not breathe with all the images clashing in her head.
Ebony.
Chloe saw Ebony smiling at her, and getting so cheeky as she told her about the guy she met. This hot, white guy in her history class at college. It took her two months of daily flirting before Ryder finally asked her out to dinner. She recalled Ebony grinning from ear to ear when she told Chloe she was pregnant. Ebony was going to have a baby. Both of them were terrified but happy, and they celebrated the occasion by running out to buy a baby outfit. Neither of them had any experience with babies. What Ebony lacked in knowledge she made up for in excitement. Every day. Chloe loved having Ebony in her life every day. Chloe and Ebony worked together, spoke on the phone daily, and took turns cooking holiday meals. They struggled for a while when she married Ryder. They were close so it was difficult to separate and let Ebony live with her husband. Ryder admired their close relationship and considered Chloe more like his own sister than an in-law.
After Ebony disappeared, he became her rock and stability. She often turned to Ryder when she missed her lost sibling. But nothing could touch the relationship she shared with Ebony. They were identical twins. Chloe couldn’t imagine being the only one with this face now… it was so odd. She hated it, actually. She missed seeing her own face on Ebony and showing off when they were together.
In many ways, they functioned as one person. Since Ebony’s disappearance, half of Chloe seemed dead. Gone. Withered. She always believed Ebony would return, feeling sorry and contrite. She knew Ebony would work hard to make it up to everyone she hurt. Chloe doubted if Ryder would remarry her, or even forgive her. But Chloe knew in her heart, in a place she shared with her sister, that if and when Ebony returned, she would have no problem forgiving her twin sister. No matter how long it took and whatever life Ebony chose to pursue, Chloe would always find a way to forgive her. In all honesty, she was desperately waiting to forgive her sister.
Now? Now, there was no chance of that happening. All her imagined scenarios of a reunion, along with her hopes and dreams, were over like Ebony’s life. There was never any foundation for hope. Bile climbed into her throat. Panicked and needing to be alone, she pushed off Ryder and ran to the bathroom at the back of the kitchen, getting there just in time. Leaning over the toilet, she violently expelled the contents of her stomach, but the sick knot in her gut remained.
Her life would never be the same again.
She was alone now. All alone. She no longer had a twin. No longer was she half of a matched set. No more waiting for her other half to return.
She twisted around and fell back onto her butt. She was wearing slacks and a white blouse. The sleeves were rolled up tidily, revealing bare forearms. Flour dusted her hands and wrists. She had already prepped the pie crusts, but now, the fillings might never be finished. She bent forward at her waist and another howl escaped her. Her mouth dropped opened and more sobs could be heard as hot tears filled her eyes. She trembled and saliva dropped from her mouth as her body seemed to repel her own fluids. Her heart was mired in the pain and grief and images of her dead sister.
“Ebony!” she yelled out her sister’s name. She could have been cursing the gods or calling her sister home. She sucked in a deep breath and her entire torso shuddered. There was nothing subtle or tender in her grief. How could there be? Half of her had been exorcised, taking with it her own soul.
She closed her eyes and fell onto her side, lying against the bathroom wall. She was oblivious to the germs and dirt on the floor, something that an hour ago, would have grossed her out. She tucked her knees to her chest and cried her eyes out. Keeping her eyes tightly shut against the harsh reality that was now her world.
Warm arms encircled her. Ryder. He came back to check on her. It had to be. He understood the grief she was in. He felt what she felt. Maybe he was the closest person who could feel it besides her. She didn’t doubt how much he loved Ebony. He was so strong and heartbroken when they first believed she ran off. He’d been there for Chloe, and she for him ever since. That was because they both shared an enduring love for Ebony. Some husbands might have been angry or tried to punish their wife’s family, especially if she had an identical twin sister. But Ryder wasn’t like that. No. She and Ryder became a team raising Wyatt.
The sickening realization that Wyatt would now have to deal with the knowledge that his mother was dead made Chloe’s gut churn. Fresh tears streamed from her eyes. She curled into Ryder’s strong embrace. He picked her up. She was shocked at first, but eventually let him. Her body was small, only five feet tall, but her frame wasn’t. She had a voluptuous figure that made her anything but lightweight. She and Ebony had always been short and small. They both had big boobs and curves and always teased each other about it but agreed that eating was a favorite pastime. Chloe was a pastry chef so there was no way either of them refused to eat.
Chloe kept her eyes closed and remembered how often Ebony would eat one of Chloe’s whole pies just to prove she could. The stupid, double standard of making women starve until they got sick was invalid to Chloe and Ebony. If men could eat whatever they wanted, then so could Ebony. Chloe shuddered and a small moan escaped her mouth as she pictured her funny but fierce sister scarfing down a huge piece of pie, as if to say, “Fuck you!” to the rest of the world and their standards.
Chloe was being carried into her office before gently landing on the couch. A throw blanket was tucked over her. She curled into a fetal position just as she’d been while on the bathroom floor. This was too much. She could not handle it or survive so much pain. It was way too much for anyone to endure.
Her eyes stung and she kept them tightly shut. A glass touched her lips. She opened her mouth and cool water slipped down her throat. She tried to swallow the huge lump of grief that burned in her throat from screaming her sister’s name so loud and for so long. Then a pill was placed on her tongue and the water glass returned to her mouth. Somewhat startled, she started choking and sputtering before her eyes flashed open.
She sat up straight when she saw it wasn’t Ryder. Holy shit! Odder still, it was Chet. Chet Willapana was kneeling in front of her and holding the glass of water. He sat back on his heels and lowered the glass. His dark eyes were focused on her. His black, silky hair, which was too long, fell over his forehead, obscuring his eyes. He had an annoying but also sexy habit of flipping it back by running his hands through it and shoving it out of his way. His eyes were slightly slanted and the dark black slashes of his eyebrows only accentuated his other features. The angles and planes of his face imbued him with a sense of mystery. He didn’t smile very often, if ever. His goatee wasn’t too long, but was so sparse, it often looked like he forgot to shave.
Chloe had never felt too comfortable with her busboy/janitor/dishwasher. He cleared the tables, washed the dishes, and cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen, and the main seating areas of the café. He was definitely a hard worker. That was obvious. He dutifully performed the multiple positions at the café into one without complaint.
He also never said a damn word to anyone.
Chloe often wondered if he spoke proper English. She communicated with him in a small vocabulary of single words, never fluently. She had no idea how well he spoke English. She’d heard him speaking to his mother, Dok, a server at the restaurant, in fluent Thai. But even then, he spoke very quietly, with his head always bowed down. Whatever he said only required a few softly spoken sentences. He’d only gotten the job because Dok asked Chloe to let him work there. Chloe needed a busboy at the time and automatically said yes. It wasn’t a c
omplicated or difficult job. If Chet were anything like his mother, Chloe couldn’t go wrong by hiring him. But since that day, over three years ago now, she could count on one hand the number of times she actually addressed Chet Willapana. In that moment, it suddenly occurred to her how little time she’d allotted to a person whom she spent so many hours being around. Often, it was just the two of them working in a confined space without any conversation.
He just peeled her off the bathroom floor where she was curled up, still screaming and crying in a fetal position. He carried her to the couch and fed her pills and water. She suddenly sat up and shoved his hand away. She started to spit the pill out. What the hell was it anyway? Her shock at seeing his presence briefly eclipsed her incessant sobs.
“What is this?”
Chet got to his feet. He was tall and thin, standing over six feet tall, with long, lean limbs. No two people could have possessed more different body types than she and Chet. She was short and curvy and he was long and lean. Her dark skin was even and clear, while his was decorated in bright tattoos of blue, red, and orange dragons on his forearms. He also wore earrings that dangled on the right side of his head when he swung around. The ends of his dark hair were dyed in a rainbow that spanned from rusty brown to white-tipped ends. He had a youthful face. Chloe couldn’t tell if he were eighteen years old or twenty-eight. She never bothered to look on his employment application. She should have. He had become a fixture in the kitchen and restaurant. During the day, while bussing the tables, he worked in complete silence and with calculated efficiency. He always kept his head down and rarely spoke. The rest of the time, he worked in the kitchen. Chloe saw him every single day, but in that special moment, she realized she never really saw him. She seemed to look right past him, over him, and through him; usually she completely ignored him. And now? He’d practically swept her off the bathroom floor.
