Chapter 2
Alysa’s arm is wrapped around my back, mine draped over her shoulder, her temple pressed to my chest. The service ended about fifteen minutes ago, and most of the guests have gone.
A few stragglers remain, but they don’t seem to mind us standing here, looking down into the two six-foot holes where our parents’ caskets rest.
Everything was beautiful, and I’m grateful we didn’t have to handle any of the arrangements ourselves. Our dad and stepmom had built a deeply loving family within the community of Maple Falls—the small town named in their wills as their final resting place.
“…to be laid to rest in Maple Falls Cemetery, surrounded by our true family, alongside one another.”
There were far more people than I expected.
Some were distant relatives who, like my sister and me, had traveled from out of town.
But most were locals who spoke of my father and stepmother as though they were family—siblings, even parents.
They said this loss would wound their community for a long time, and that even after the grief faded, the mark left by their love would last a lifetime.
Our dad was a doctor at the local hospital—nothing as grand as San Francisco General—but I remember asking him once why he chose it. His answer was what pushed me to go into the medical field in the first place.
“Needing help isn’t determined by the size of the hospital, Ayden. Regardless of who someone is, where they are, their social status… everyone needs help. In a small town or a metropolis.”
I planned to do my residency at SF General and then move out of the big city. That had been the plan, until I met Michael…
Feeling my sister squeeze me, I look down at her. She’s got a somber smile, accompanying the red cheeks and tear-filled hazel eyes that match mine.
“I couldn’t have done this without you, righty.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” I drag my palm across her cheek, taking away the tear that draws down it. “Do you want to skip the communal lunch and grab some bad fast food?”
That smile of hers turns to a toothy one. “It’s like we are twins or something. You read my mind.”
She and I are fraternal twins, but we share many of the same features, minus our height.
Almond-shaped eyes, long lashes now clumped from tears, and bold eyebrows.
Her sleek, straight nose is red, and I’d told her not to wear makeup, but it’s bunched up just under where she’s been dragging the back of her hand.
As she tucks her honey-gold hair behind her ear, she pulls away from me and walks toward the rental car. She’d berated herself earlier when she asked if I wanted to drive. It pained me to see her nearly get on her knees to apologize when I reminded her that my license was still suspended.
I’m circling the black sedan when I hear tires crunching behind us. The single stretch of dirt that winds through this part of the cemetery is nearly empty now; only our rental and two other cars remain.
That is until a mossy-green truck rolls to a stop. The sound of a car door closing behind me pulls my gaze back to Alysa, who is starting the engine. I make my way to the passenger door but pause, glancing toward the newcomer.
From the driver’s side, thick, voluminous curls appear. I don’t need to see the face to know who it is—Keoni, my stepbrother.
I haven’t seen him since… god, my graduation party. We’ve both grown up, it seems, because holy shit, he’s even bigger than he was back then.
We’re a solid half-football field apart, and he doesn’t look my way. His gaze stays fixed on the blue canopy that shaded the guests during the service.
I watch him clench and unclench his fists. His shoulder-length, curly hair, always his signature, is pulled into a bun on top of his head. The white button-up strains against his muscles, and even from here I can see the rise and fall of his chest caused by his heavy breathing.
The moment I’m moving into my first step toward him, I hear Alysa. “Ayden, come on, I’m hungry. Please.”
I take a deep breath before slipping into the vehicle slowly.
Go to him…
Ignoring that idiotic idea, I grab the seatbelt and click it into place. Then, almost without thinking, I drop the visor and check the mirror. Adjusting it just enough to see the truck, I search for him—only to find he’s gone.
I steal a glance at my sister as she moves to put the car in drive, then shift my gaze past her. That’s when I see him, standing exactly where we’d been minutes ago. Alone.
Go to him…
My stomach tightens with indignation, directed at myself, for not telling Alysa to stop. Regardless of what happened the last time we saw one another, he’s our stepbrother, and he, like us, just lost a parent.
Still, humiliation wins out over everything, and I rest back against the seat as we get moving. We will all have to find a way to cope with this, because once my twin goes back to London, I too, will be alone again.
“Righty, come on, you didn’t even touch your damn waffles.” A blueberry hits me square in the chest, and I stare at her in disbelief. I’m wearing a white button up. That could stain. “I get it, but you need to eat, you’re looking awfully skinny.”
I roll my eyes. “My weight is fine, says my doctor I saw a few weeks ago.”
“Speaking of doctors. How’s physical therapy?” She pokes her fork into the last of her syrup-drenched pancakes and rolls it to gather the rest of the scrambled eggs, before shoving it into her mouth.
“Going. I’m no longer limping, which is great. I can’t run properly yet, but I don’t need to.” I shrug my shoulders. “Other than that, all my internal organs are back where they belong.”
She scowls. “Not at the table, please.”
“How you’re so squeamish is so funny to me.”
The astonishment across her face has me chuckling.
“You aren’t allowed to give me shit. You’re quite literally an ICU nurse, and Dad was an ED doctor.
That career just wasn’t for me, it’s why I went into tech.
I’m building us a better future and you’re keeping our present alive.
” She grins. “Plus, I’d prefer to dissect a computer and read coding over a body, any day. ”
I grab my glass of orange juice and take a sip, giving her that ‘whatever’ look we both have mastered.
After she finishes scooping up the remnants of her plate, she pushes it aside and grabs mine. All she does is pick at the bananas that’re drenched in the sugary substance, leaving the one and a half waffles I just can’t stomach to eat, be.
“Tell me.” She adjusts herself back against the bench chair, just as the waitress strides by and grabs her plate. “How’s Michael?” There’s no hiding the disgust in her tone for my ex.
I hesitate, thinking about his response to my text last night when I let him know I made it and was in the hotel room. It was as expected:
Michael
Good. You said you’re staying with your sister, right?
Yes. Just Alysa and I.
Glad to hear it. Get some rest, talk to you in the morning.
I’m grateful I haven’t spoken with him since then.
He’ll give me some excuse why he hasn’t called, like work got out of hand, and he had to stay late.
He’s a police officer, just like his father, and works the shit-shift, or graveyard shift.
Normally he is off at eight in the morning, which is when he would’ve reached out to me.
Again, I wasn’t holding my breath, and am still not.
“Alright.”
“He is still your ex, right?” she asks, tilting her head. I can hear her inner thoughts basically screaming that he fucking better be.
Nodding, I put my cup back down onto the table. “Yeah… or how he coins it, we’re on a break.”
“Wait. You told me three months ago you two were broken up. You got back together? What is a break if not a break up?”
I truly don’t want to have this conversation. “I’m just struggling with how my life turned so abruptly. Michael has been—”
“A goddamn asshole, Ayden. You should’ve broken it off so fucking long ago!
The car accident never would’ve happened.
” Now, whenever I think about that, I’ll think of my dad instead of myself.
Maybe it’s life’s way of telling me I could have had it so much worse.
It could’ve killed me, instead of just ruining my life further.
“Please make this a permanent split. You deserve so much better.”
Bringing my hand up to the back of my neck, I rub at the nape and soon drag my fingers through my hair. “I know… It’s just, his dad got the charges dropped. If it weren’t for him, I likely would’ve spent time in jail. I’m lucky all I got slapped with was a suspended license for twenty-four months.”
“And what does that have to do with this not being a permanent split? Him helping you doesn’t mean he can—”
“Do we really have to do this…” My insides twist. The last thing I want is to think about him while I’m here.
She narrows her eyes and shakes her head. “Fine, but we’re here for a week, and we will talk about it.”
After adjusting her dress, she crosses her legs and folds her hands into her lap. I equally lean back and relax.
Alysa and I never had that phase where we disliked each other. From the moment we came out the sunroof, until now, we’ve had a great relationship.
I call her lefty because she’s my better half, the one that has my heart. I’m her righty, because I had to give her my right kidney.
She was born with congenital nephrotic syndrome, and at ten, one of them failed while the other barely functioned. We were lucky I was a perfect match, considering it was a fifty-fifty shot, since we are fraternal.
She’s healthy as a horse now, and I think all we’ve gone through has made us stronger.
“Are you?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, what? What did you say?”
With an exhausted roll of her eyes, she taps her freshly manicured nails against the table. “Ready to meet the lawyer tomorrow?”
“Oh, right…”
“I wonder if Keoni will join us.”
The moment his name leaves her mouth, I suck in a sharp breath. If I tell her I saw him as we were leaving, and didn’t say anything, she’ll be furious.
“When was the last time you saw him?”
About an hour ago.
“Eight years ago… high school graduation.”
“Holy shit, seriously?” She props her elbow onto the back of the booth. “I saw him last year for Christmas. Didn’t think he could look any fucking sexier.”
“Alysa Pierce.”
She quite literally giggles. “Oh please… it’s just a fantasy. Plus, I don’t know if technically we are still legally stepsiblings. That, and it wasn’t like we all grew up together. Just a few years in the same house.”
I have no idea who she’s trying to convince, because it sure as hell isn’t me.
Honestly, it isn’t that. Really. We were fourteen when my dad introduced us to his girlfriend, Keoni’s mother, and they married a year later.
We lived together from fourteen to sixteen, when Keoni moved out and went to college in Arizona.
“I found him hot before our parents started dating, so it doesn’t count.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t you have a boyfriend back home?”
Her mock gasp has us both laughing. “Don’t tell him. It’s basically like me flirting with a celebrity, even if Keoni isn’t one. That’s forbidden for me and he’s waaaaay out of my league.”
“You’re hot, shut up.”
She bites her bottom lip and tucks her hair behind her ear dramatically. “Thanks, bro…” There’s a slight pause, before she drops her hands into her lap. “Can I be honest with you?” Her sudden shift to seriousness tugs concern deep in my chest.
“Of course.”
As she swings out of the booth, I scoot over and she comes to sit right beside me. Throwing my arm over her shoulder, she tucks herself into me. “I’m not ready for tomorrow.”
I rest my cheek onto the top of her head. “I know, same.”
“We didn’t get to see them in the… you know…
” There wasn’t much left of our parents, according to reports, due to the severity of the accident.
The only thing placed in their caskets were their ashes.
They’d wanted to be buried beside each other for as long as there was soil to keep them together.
“And maybe that’s why it didn’t feel like they were gone.
But, tomorrow, hearing their will… having their stuff being given away, it’ll make it real. That we won’t see Dad again.”
Releasing a sigh, I squeeze her tighter to me. “We will get through it together. Like we do with everything, lefty.”
I’ve got to be strong for her. I can’t suffocate her with my own problems. We’ll get through this week together, and be stronger at the end.
She lets out a shaky breath, turning her face against my chest as she nods. She doesn’t speak, and time drifts by with her beside me. The table is cleared, the check paid, yet we remain.
There is never a ‘tomorrow’ I’m ready for, and this one will be no different—but I’ll be strong for her.
In the midst of our silence, my thoughts slowly drift from my sister.
Keo…