Back to Me without you (Sibling Love Book 1) (18 page)

For one brief moment, Abby almost forgot Justin was still sitting there.

The way he spoke his brother’s name made Abby wonder if perhaps he knew more than she was comfortable with.

Had Sam confided in his brother about their one night of passion? What if Justin had shared that secret with Jessica? She had to know.

“Do you know about…?” Abby asked sheepishly.

Her face was serious but reserved at the same time.

He nodded. “I do know, but I’m also not going to divulge anything about you and Sam to Jessica. I wouldn’t dishonour the bro code. I promised Sam I wouldn’t say anything, and I don’t make a promise if I’m going to break it.”

His words made Abby feel a little better. She let out the breath she was holding. Maybe she could trust him, after all.

“Thank you. You’re a good person, Justin.”

Justin smiled and got up to leave. “He’s a good guy, too. Sam, I mean. His heart has been broken. He’s just now beginning to piece it back together.”

Then Justin said good night and walked out the front door, leaving Abby feeling more puzzled than ever.

A couple of days later, it was an unusually hot day for August in Sydney and Abby was making the most of the weather by spending the day at Luna Park with her family.

They had already been there half the day, and so far Abby had managed to enjoy herself and the company she was surrounded by.

It was after midday, and they were finally sitting down to some hot chips on a nice patch of grass after a morning of walking around the park and channeling their younger selves on the rides.

“This has been fun,” Jessica said as Abby watched her sister lean back against Justin, shielding the sun out of her eyes.

“I agree. While I was a little unsure about how much fun I could have with my sisters when you told me about this day, it has been a lot more fun than I was anticipating. I didn’t realise that you could be this fun. To be honest, I can’t recall the last time that we spent the day together having fun,” Steven grinned, popping a hot chip into his mouth.

Abby tried to think back as to when the last time she, Jessica and Steven all spent the day together doing something fun.

She couldn’t remember, but it had been a while considering her memory of their last real day together had consisted of planning funeral arrangements for their parents and then ultimately saying goodbye to them at a somber gathering.

Steven was right. Today had been fun. And not nearly as boring as Abby expected it to be.

Abby watched Sam get to his feet, rubbing his hands together.

“Alright, who’s coming on the drop tower ride with me?”

Sam was apparently looking for participants to go with him but no one seemed eager to say yes to his invitation.

“If you’re talking about the Hair Raiser ride then you’re on your own for that one,” Jessica said. “I’m much too comfortable here. Although, I’m sure Steven might take you up on the offer.”

Steven shook his head. “I don’t think so. I learned my lesson the first time we came here. I’m going to wait at least an hour before going on rides after consuming food. I won’t be smelling of vomit this time.”

“Aw, you’re no fun. I was looking forward to making fun of you again,” Jessica said.

“Not this time, little sister.”

Then Abby said something she didn’t expect herself to say.

“I’ll go,” she said, shocking both her brother and sister.

They obviously didn’t expect their dependable and responsible older sister to say yes to a ride she wouldn’t normally go on.

This was the new and improved Abby Carter.

She just hoped she didn’t end up regretting her decision later.

“So this is going to be fun,” Sam said, making small talk as he and Abby were ushered to an available chair by the ride attendant.

“Uh-huh,” Abby responded, bracing the seat belt tight around her.

“Thanks for coming with me.”

“It’s okay. I suppose I could have allowed you to come by yourself, but then I wouldn’t be conquering my fear of heights, and I promised myself that I would be daring and try something new out of my comfort zone.”

Sam watched her hands grip the safety bars she pulled over her head, her knuckles going as white as snow.

“You sure? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. There’s still time to back out.”

But Abby shook her head. “No, I’m okay. I’ll be fine. We’re conquering our fears together,” she murmured.

Sam held out his hand, and Abby placed her hand in his.

At this moment, Sam knew that there was a connection between the two of them, and it had nothing to do with Jessica and Justin getting married.

But while he and Abby shared a connection with each other, he didn’t know if it would be enough to start something together.

As of right now, Sam was living in the moment, and if that meant spending time to get to know Abby, then he was going to do it. That would have to be enough.

O
ne month soared by so quickly.

And in that time, the wedding had gradually come together piece by piece. Dresses and tuxedoes were done. Flowers had been selected. Music was chosen.

Also in that time, Abby managed to get halfway done with her latest book. She hopefully to be done by the time she returned to New York City. Once the wedding was done, she would be able to dive really into the rest of the story because she would have more time to concentrate on it.

Tonight was the rehearsal dinner for the wedding tomorrow. Abby still couldn’t believe her baby sister was getting married. She still remembered when Jess was wearing pigtails in her hair and shadowing Abby around because she had wanted to be just like her big sister. Everyone had always thought it was adorable, including Steven, who was mainly glad she wasn’t following him.

It was a memory Abby would relish forever.

During the wedding rehearsal, Abby couldn’t help but focus on her sister’s face, beaming with love and excitement, as she walked towards her fiancé on Steven’s arm.

At that moment, Abby realised her sister wasn’t making as big of a mistake as she first thought. And part of Abby wanted the kind of love that Jessica shared with Justin. She just hadn’t been blessed enough to discover it yet. It would happen someday, just not today.

“Are you okay?” Jessica whispered to Abby.

Abby nodded, silently drawing in a breath. Of course, she was okay. But her little sister getting married was a big deal, and Abby couldn’t help but be a little emotional. It was not that she was jealous. It was very much the contrary.

With their parents gone, the responsibility of giving Jessica away weighed heavily on Abby. They were never coming back, and knowing that hurt like hell, more than she was prepared to admit to anyone. She hadn’t been able to break down properly when they died, because as the oldest, she owed it to Steven and Jessica to be the strong one and take care of them, look out for them like their parents would expect her to do.

“Abby?” Jessica’s voice snapped Abby back to reality.

“I’m sorry. Did you say something?”

“You were staring into space.” Raleigh blurted. She was sitting two seats down, and Abby was glad to have Adriana between them. She couldn’t stand Raleigh.

“Sorry. I guess I was lost in thought.”

Thinking about Sam’s chiseled face but she kept that bit to herself. No one needed to know that Abby couldn’t stop thinking about Justin’s older brother and how he stirred feelings in her that she thought she had brushed off. Feelings about falling in love that maybe was possible and not just a dream that was out of reach. His face haunted her dreams, keeping her awake at night.

Jessica clasped Abby’s hand underneath the table. “It’s okay. No one knows that my maid of honour is off with the pixies. They’re all too busy eating their dinner. Can I ask what you were thinking about? Obviously, it was something. Is it Sam? You don’t have to love the man but for my sake, try to be nice to him. We can always get you a date to dance with at the reception. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find the one,” Jessica said positively. The smile spread across her face told Abby everything she already knew about her sister. Jessica was good at seeing the Brightside to everything. Most of the time she was the bubbliest and happy person Abby knew.

“No, I can handle Sam. He’s fine. It’s just life in general. I guess it takes your sister’s wedding to put everything else in perspective. And I don’t want a date for the wedding. I wouldn’t have a chance to be with him anyway. Besides, you pinkie-swore that you wouldn’t play matchmaker again. You can’t go back on your word now.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Jessica answered reluctantly.

Knowing Jessica was like their mother made it all the harder to know if she was going to be able to stand by her word or not, but she’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

For now.

After the rehearsal dinner, Abby hadn’t been quite ready to go home. Jessica reminded her unnecessarily that she would need her sleep before the big day ahead and then went home with Steven.

Somehow Abby ended up at the last place she ever thought she’d go to at night—the cemetery.

Graves gave her the creeps in the daylight, let alone at night where she was positive spirits were skulking around every corner on every tombstone. But it was something that she felt she had to do. A part of her was urging her to visit her parent’s grave. She had held off on visiting them for as long as she could. She couldn’t do it anymore. Tonight was the night, no matter how scared she was.