Read Circling Carousels Online
Authors: Ashlee North
Circling Carousels (23 page)
Crystal waved the comment off with her hand. “It simply doesn’t matter anymore.”
They ordered coffee and talked and talked. Some things were said that needed to be, and some of those things made them sad, but nothing could mar the way they felt at that moment. Crystal knew everything anyway, because of the diary, but still they revisited some of the painful things, and then they talked about the future and what Crystal wanted to do now. She pointed cheekily to the cashier and said, “Well, I don’t know, but that girl over there has two suitcases with all my worldly possessions, so I suppose I could stay if you’d like.” Again Sienna was out of her chair and hugging her until, she was almost blue from being squeezed.
They talked about Zach, about how happy Sienna was to have found something so good after so much bad, and Crystal was pleased. They talked about Constance Beale, Sienna’s counsellor, and how wonderful she had been, how instrumental in helping her, and then Sienna decided it was time to tell Crystal about their father.
“All these years,” she said, “we have thought something, believed something, but Crystal, I’ve found out something wonderful! Well, actually Constance told me about him first, and then I went to find out for myself. Our father, Darren Patterson, is not dead. He’s very much alive, and I’ve met him. We had dinner, and he is a wonderful man, the sort of man you would want for a father! He’s handsome and friendly and kind and . . . oh, Crystal, you just have to meet him!”
Crystal sat silent for a moment. Years of believing one thing and then finding out another completely opposite thing was a bit surprising. After a few moments ticked by, she said, “When? When can I meet him?”
“Well, over there, waiting to meet you, are a few people,” Sienna said happily. “They couldn’t stay away, and I couldn’t stop them; they were so excited! There’s Zach, my fiancé, and there’s Abe, who you already know, and our father and Elsie, who you’ll recognise as soon as you see her. They’re hiding behind the partition having coffee, because they didn’t want to spoil our reunion or overwhelm you, but if you want to we could go see them.”
“If I want to? Of course I want to!” said Crystal with childlike joy in her voice.
They both got up and, holding hands with a spring in their walks that had been missing for a long while, hurried over to the other side of the café. Crystal met with Abe again and then Elsie, whom she hadn’t seen in several years. She met Zach, whom she liked instantly. And then she looked at her father, a man she never thought she’d meet. He got up from the table, as the others had, and held both of his daughters in his arms. They laughed and cried, and then everyone was doing the same.
There was a lot yet to be said and it would be, but all in good time. For now, it truly wasn’t important. The most amazing thing had happened that day. All of the people she loved and cared for were in one room, joking, laughing, and all talking at once. It was wonderful. Coffee turned into lunch, and lunch turned into dinner. Eventually, it was late, and they drove home together. That night, everyone, Zach, Elsie, Abe, Sienna, their dad, and Crystal all stayed up very late and fell asleep in lounges and beds and on the floor. In the morning they had breakfast, as a family, and went on their separate ways to work. That left Elsie, Crystal, and Sienna together again, like in the old days, but so not like the old days.
They sat at the kitchen table for a long time and talked about everything on their minds. Much of it was dark and the stuff of nightmares, but with this new beginning there came hope
and joy, and it was a good day. They felt cleansed and renewed, kind of as if a layer of dead skin had been scrubbed off and underneath there was a better, fresher, healthier layer. It would be a little tender and pinkish, but it would definitely be better.
Crystal was in no doubt at all that she needed to meet this Constance whom Sienna was talking about, and although she thought she hid it well, her sister knew that she had a lot of things she may need to discuss with a counsellor. After introducing them and chatting a little, mostly about how very much alike they were, Sienna feigned another appointment and left them alone together.
Over the following months, under her wise counsel, the twins learned to be stronger to work through the things that had so plagued their lives, and to move on little by little. In time, Crystal wanted to be like her sister and find real lasting love, and in order to do so she needed to learn to trust again, but that would come and sooner than she imagined. There was much to tackle, but there was time for all that. There was strength to be found and lives to be fathomed out, but that, too, would take some unpacking and going through. Regardless of how long it took, it would happen, and the girls would learn to be whole again.
Chapter 34
T
he years would march on, and a lot would change, evolve, and move forward in the lives of Sienna, Crystal, their family, friends, and even their enemies.
Marcus would remain in prison for the rest of his life until he passed away at the relatively young age of fifty-nine. He would never question Sienna living in the house, although eventually, no money would be placed her bank account, or Elsie’s. But that was no matter; the house was payment enough. He never made contact with any of them, but in his will, read to Sienna after his death, he would leave the home and everything in it to her. All things considered, it wasn’t all that surprising. In Marcus’s mind, Sienna was still the teenager he knew, who had loved him. He wasn’t aware of her newer feelings that were almost the polar opposite of love. He didn’t know what she knew of his dealings, the death of her mother, or what he did with Crystal. It was entirely possible he would have wanted her cared for after his death, as in his life, she had meant at least a little, she figured. Even though he had cruelly tricked her, used her, and abused her childlike mind and heart, he must have cared enough for her to
leave her the house. It was good closure and excellent therapy for Sienna, although she did feel a twinge of sadness at his passing. Jason Sawtell would be paroled when he was very old and couldn’t bother anyone anymore. He too would never seek to contact either of the twins, and by the time he was released, the girls were quite a bit older and wiser. During the last months of his imprisonment, Crystal kept abreast of his release date to stay out of his way. Once they saw a man, possibly Jason, on High
Street talking with a younger man, no doubt his protégé.
Crystal was no longer afraid of him, for she had moved through the pain and agony he had brought to her for the most part, and she had fought her way forward.
Bonnie would remain a close friend to the twins, who she had known for almost all of their lives. She would join in family celebrations and was truly a part of them. In time, she would be cared for by others in the big house as she became older and frail, but still respected and beautiful, even in her old age. She had helped Sienna and Crystal find one another again, and she had cared about them down through the years, even when she had to go to massive lengths to try to bring them happiness. They would always love her.
Zach and Sienna would eventually marry in a beautiful ceremony, live quite a happy life, and have two beautiful children of their own—both girls. There were, as Sienna knew there would be, ups and downs, but with a love so rich and full of hope, they pushed through the old memories, the fears, and the nightmares to live good and long lives together. Sienna found that even though she had been through so much, she could give herself totally to her kind and wonderful man, and he helped her heal a little more with every passing day.
Crystal would become an artist, painting wonderful watercolours from the beauty around her, and she would, despite her doubt it would ever happen, find love with a man who was decent and true. Despite her belief, she could never be a normal person, having lived such a horrible life. She, along with her sister, found that with safety and honesty, came trust and an openness that allowed love, real love, to flourish. Crystal would
never have children of her own, as she had been damaged too much to carry them inside her body, but she was a marvellous auntie to Sienna’s girls.
Elsie and Abe would realise, one wonderful day, that what they felt wasn’t just friendship, and they would explore the infinite possibilities for love, when love seemed something they wouldn’t get another chance at.
Dr. Darren Patterson would love them all, enjoy their happiness, and be a wonderful father and friend. He was the best grandfather his two little granddaughters could hope for. Sienna and Crystal wished they had had the chance to know him earlier, but the here and now was certainly making up for the lost years. Darren wished the same, but he had long since forgiven the mistakes made that led to the years he had lost. Now he was simply enjoying it all. He never married, but he had come close a few times. He became a world-renowned surgeon, sought after for his uniquely honed skills, and his children loved him more than life itself.
Constance Beale would be a friend forever and their counsellor throughout the next few years. She would be instrumental in helping each of them live their lives in a whole way, a better way. She would be there through all the tears and pain, when she would cry with them, and she would be there to celebrate in their happiness as well.
And with the utmost grace and beauty, the girls, Sienna and Crystal, out of the ashes of pain and anguish, would forge lives of integrity and joy and make something wonderful out of something so horrific.
The years of control and secrecy, the times of fear and loneliness, the relationships that took their lives down such wrongful paths, and the nightmares that held them for years were gone and over.
Although they still had some challenges due to the pain of the past, they faced them and worked it out together with their family and friends’ support and love. No longer did they feel shame and embarrassment. No longer did they feel as though their lives were unfixable messes. They stepped out and took a
chance to live again and to embrace each day to the absolute. It was no fairy tale, as real life seldom ever was, but it was much better than ever before.
The carousel would continue to turn, in full and ever- moving circles, but unlike before, they now had the freedom and the ability to get on and off as they pleased and to experience and enjoy the ride thoroughly.
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