Paterson/ Sisters / 9

Sisters

Chapter One

‘I- I have sisters?’

The smell of freshly made coffee wafted through the kitchen – dining area, and the bubbling from the stove top espresso machine rapidly increased – but Neither Phoebe or her mother took much notice.

Mrs Drazelle looked into her daughter’s glistening eyes and felt her heart grow cold with sadness and instant twenty – year regret. She instinctively reached out to touch Phoebe’s arm, by Phoebe jerked her arm out of her mother’s reach.

‘How could you not have told me?’ she demanded, furiously blinking back unshed tears.

‘Please try to understand…’ Mrs Drazelle begged in a pleading tone. ‘I did this for you. For you and your sisters…’

‘Rubbish!’ Phoebe snapped angrily. ‘We could have got through all of this so much easier together. As a family.’

Mrs Drazelle had never looked or felt so helpless. ‘What could I have done, Phoebe? I had nowhere to go – what chance do you really think we would have had of survival if we had stuck together?’

Annoyed at the insistent noise, Phoebe stormed over to switch off the stove. ‘We could have gone to live with Nan and Gar…’

‘Yeah, right,’ Mrs Drazelle snorted and rolled her eyes. ‘Mum, Dad, me and three kids. That would have gone down real well.’ Mrs Drazelle sighed in frustration.

Why couldn’t Phoebe understand?

‘Honey, I didn’t have a choice.’

Slowly, Phoebe raised her head, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. ‘There’s always a choice, Mum.’ She swallowed. ‘And you made yours twenty years ago.’

1 Month Before

‘Stop fidgeting!’ Jennifer Hooksville whispered from behind her. ‘You look beautiful,’

The song that was the lead – up to the main event began to play, and people hustled and bustled, rushing into position.

Kiera Maudlin had long ago resided herself to the fact that true love didn’t exist in real life – and even if it did, it would never happen to her.

With shoulder length brown hair with two platinum blonde chunky foils at each side, soft but blemish – prone skin, large brown eyes, a pointed chin, high cheekbones and a slim figure hidden behind funky clothes, Kiera felt quite plain.

Which is why she felt so totally out of place here today.

Phoebe Drazelle, her best friend, was getting married, and had elected Kiera as her bridesmaid, due to the fact that she was an only child.

Phoebe had been forever planning her wedding day. Since she was thirteen, she’d had everything downpact, down to the exact arrangment of her bridal boquet.

A true romantic at heart, Phoebe had always unconciously been imagining her compatability with every guy she came into contact with – from the guy who served her coffee at the local café, to her Australia Post delievery guy. The man she’d finally chosen to spend the rest of her life with had been none of those – he was, instead, her boss.

‘I can’t do this,’ Phoebe moaned, breathing heavily.

Kiera turned around to face her friend. ‘Yes you can. This is John – the love of your life, the person you’ve known for the past three years and lusted over for the last two.’ Kiera leant around Jennifer to grasp Phoebe’s hands. ‘Take deep breaths. This is the day you’ve always wanted.’

Phoebe followed Kiera’s advice, closed her eyes and slowly inhaled then exhaled. In, out, in, out….Watching her friend, Kiera allowed herself a small smile.

‘I always knew you’d be the first to get married,’

Phoebe opened her eyes and grinned. ‘It’s not like you haven’t had your chances along the way,’

Kiera raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah, well, I just didn’t realise that all the ‘Mr Unavaliable’ signs where there all the time.’

‘And Phillip?’ Phoebe asked, matching Kiera’s raised eyebrow.

‘Phillip,’ Kiera began to explain dismissively. ‘Fell in love way too easily. He’d marry anyone with two legs and easy booty,’

Phoebe suppressed a smile. ‘I could say something but I think I’d better not,’

Kiera nodded approvingly. ‘I think that’s a wise idea,’

After a few more giggles, Phoebe’s face became serious and she looked around at Kiera, Jennifer, and her other bridesmaide, Sarah Lowes.

‘How did I get here, girls? Me, the woman who pledged never to get married until I hit twenty – five?’ the twenty – year – old version of the teenage Phoebe who’d always been there for Kiera stared at her. For that, Kiera had no reply.

‘Life never goes the way you expect it to, honey.’ Jennifer said soothingly.

‘Sometimes it works out even better,’ Sarah added.

Fighting back unshed tears, Phoebe held out her arms to her friends, and they all hugged, afraid to let go.

As she watched her best friend take her everlasting vowels, Kiera felt a hole developing in the pit of her stomach, and an overwhelming flood of emotion.

Phoebe had found the love of her life – would Kiera? Though she was known as a woman who’d withdrawn from the avaliable bachelorette contest, a woman who’d steeled her heart from love, only Kiera knew how much she really desired – craved – to be loved.

Growing up, she’d been alone. Her real mother had abandoned her when she was just four years old – Kiera didn’t even remember her. As such, she’d been passed between foster homes until she was fifteen, when she’d got a tranieeship at a local law firm as a Paralegal. A few months into it, she had enough to move into a house with Phoebe, Sarah and Jennifer.

The best thing of all was that the house had had two bathrooms.

But all through the time, while she loved her best friends with all her heart, Kiera had never known love. Maybe she wasn’t attractive. Maybe she was too career- focused. Maybe….

Maybe she just couldn’t trust anyone enough to love them.

‘I do.’

Phoebe’s declaration brought Kiera out of her reverie, and a tear escaped down Kiera’s cheek. Beside her, Kiera could hear Sarah and Jennifer’s muffled sobs. They had always been such romantics.

Music was playing at full ball, and the sight of an over – crowded dance floor took Kiera’s mind back to her High School Graduation night.

Because she didn’t get out much, the loud music was such a blow to Kiera’s ears that for the first couple of songs, she ducked out of the noisy hall and decided to take a walk in the garden.

At the bottom of the wooden steps, Kiera bent down to remove her matching hot – pink high heeled sandals from her aching feet. Going over to the fountain in the middle of the garden, Kiera dared glance at her reflection and drew in a breath.

She looked beautiful. Her hair had been straightened, now cascading just below her shoulders. Her two blonde strands had been pulled back and clasped together in a clip with a large hot pink frangapenny attached to it – Phoebe’s favourite flower.

Her lips were a glossy hot pink as well, her eyelids the same colour, highlighted with hot pink eye liner which would probably have looked downright ugly on another person; but with Kiera’s complexion, the colour blended well.

Her cheeks were brushed with crimson, her high cheekbones accesentuated in a sexual manner.

Around her neck, she wore a shimmering gold necklace which bore the seven rings of happiness – a symbolic present from Phoebe to remember their past, present and future that they had, and would, share together.

Her dress was an A line hot pink sheath of silk. When Kiera had seen Phoebe’s choice of colour, she’d seriously considered backing out.

But now she was glad she hadn’t.

‘You look even prettier then the bride,’

Kiera blushed and felt a smile cross her lips as she slowly turned towards the man to whom that husky, masculine and sexy voice belonged.

‘I find that very hard to believe.’

‘Well, believe it,’ Jay Matthews said, coming out of the shadows. ‘Because you really are every man’s fantasy.’

Unfortunately, that’s all I am. Kiera thought despondently. ‘Where’s LeAnn?’

Jay indicated the hall with his head. ‘She’s in there, passing on her congratulations to the happy couple.’ He slowly inched towards her. ‘You really do look beautiful,’

Kiera bit her lip, her arms hanging at her sides. ‘It’s really good to see you,’

‘I’m sorry.’ Jay said, wrapping his arms around her waist. ‘Things have been pretty hectic lately.’

‘So I’ve heard.’ Kiera lowered her head in an attempt to rapidly blink back forming tears. ‘You’re partner’s expecting.’

Jay drew in a sharp breath. ‘That was totally unexpected,’

‘Yeah, well, what can you do?’ Kiera raised her head, confident her eyes were dry and clear. ‘That’s where you belong,’

Jay looked into Kiera’s eyes, as if searching for something. Without finding what he was looking for, he pulled her into an embrace. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he whispered.

Kiera wanted to tell him that she had missed him too – that every day and every night, since their last encounter three weeks ago, she had ached for him: both emotionally and physically. But she said nothing, afraid to open her mouth and say the wrong thing.

For the past six months, since meeting Jay at Sarah’s coffee shop, Kiera and Jay had been seeing each other – pleasing each other and themselves as they shouldn’t have. Their desire for each other, and the sheer temptation each of them had, had led them down a dark, forbidden path of a simple affair. In the beginning, everything had been easy, as emotions had been easy to ignore. But the more Kiera had come to know Jay better, the harder she had felt herself falling.

However, she was deteremined never to let Jay know. For many reasons.

Kiera felt Jay’s growing passion against her, and she fought her emotions and deep desire by pushing back.

‘Jay, we can’t. Not here,’

Jay sighed, but nodded in agreement, with a fleeting glance at the lit up hall.

His silence told Kiera nothing she didn’t know already. He would never leave LeAnn – particularly with the upcoming arrival of their child. And plus there was that twenty – year age gap which may be standing in the way…

‘You should get in there,’ Kiera said, playfully punching Jay on the arm. ‘Your partner needs you.’