Shadow of Love (3 page)

While leaving Marlene half of the business for herself and her daughter, Emily’s father had left the other half to his birth daughter, hoping she would decide to continue with the family tradition. Emily knew how deeply resentful both her stepmom and her sister were after learning about the condition, their idea to sell everything and cash in destroyed before it could take shape.

Emily’s return from university and her new-found confidence in the business was starting to pay off, the restaurant being resurrected from the brink of utter disaster. Numbers were still in the red, and they needed a miracle to be able to breathe freely, but the direction the business was taking was good, and the future looked less bleak than it had the year before.

Emily slipped into the driver’s seat, her teeth already chattering from the icy gusts that had somehow found a way to sneak past the protection of the raincoat she was wearing. She would drop off Sophie at the main house before going to her own flat. She did occasionally spend a night at the house, feeling sorry for Sophie at the times when Marlene was hospitalized. The house was old and rather large, the empty rooms and creaky corridors scary in the darkness of night.

‘
Listen, Sophie,’ she said, turning to her sister who had been inspecting herself in the little mirror, surveying the damage done by the rain. Not that she could notice any, Emily thought as she started the car and pressed the heater controls, eager to warm up her frozen hands. ‘If anything goes wrong, just give me a ring, will you? I know you think this James McMaster is a dream come true and all, but you never know. If you find that the date isn’t going well, let me know, and I can always pick you up.’

She noticed Sophie’s eyebrows furrowing in resentment as the latter shook her blond hair.

‘
No, seriously,’ Emily continued, ignoring Sophie’s displeased expression. ‘Most probably you won’t need me, but just in case, remember I’m here, ok?’

‘
All right, you party pooper.’ Sophie grinned, mollified by her sister’s visible concern. If she enjoyed anything most, being the center of attention definitely was it.

Emily suspected that years of being spoiled by her doting mother had done permanent damage to Sophie’s way of seeing herself and the rest of the world. How often did Sophie take it for granted that her family and friends worried about her, using their concern for her own selfish benefits? However it was, Emily felt responsible for her sister, the recovery of their mother dependent on it. Marlene Marrows loved her daughter with an obsession that bordered on insanity; her life was centered on the willowy blond girl with the smile of an angel.

Emily wasn’t jealous, knowing that she had a safe spot in Marlene’s heart as well—a much smaller one, obviously, yet big enough to keep her happy. She had almost lost it twelve years ago, the one time she dared to speak up about the things that would expose Sophie as a liar and manipulator.

She was fifteen at the time, and horribly naïve. Childishly, she believed that telling the truth was the best option, hoping Marlene would realize her mistake and stop the avalanche of destruction and misery her daughter had started. The experience had taught Emily a valuable lesson that she had never forgotten. Marlene’s suddenly icy eyes and calm, measured voice had explained to her with deceptive calm the danger she was in. If she kept spreading lies about Sophie and contradicted what Sophie said, Emily would find herself in a foster home faster than she could count to ten. After all, Marlene didn’t have to take care of her if she decided to forgo her step-parenting responsibilities. If she painted a picture bad enough and difficult enough, the child services would understand that sending Emily away was a far better option than keeping the family life that threatened her beloved Sophie.

Later, Emily had found out that things were never as easy as that, her stepmom’s threats as empty and shallow as the look in her eyes during their confrontation. She could not send her off like some kind of a burdensome package or do any of the other horrid things she said she had planned. But at fifteen and traumatized with too many bad things happening in the span of a year, Emily had been gullible enough to take it all at face value and comply.

For years, she had hated herself for her submission, never quite recovering from the realization that one could get away with lies and hurt others without suffering any consequences. She watched Sophie and her mother, wanting to scream at the top of her lungs that Marlene was blind and utterly deceived by her wonderful, angelic daughter. The sensation paled over time, as she pushed it aside whenever her memories threatened to return in full force. What happened in the past was done and gone, she thought unhappily, unable to shake the feeling that she had failed not only herself but also others who were trapped in the net of lies.

‘
I am sure it will be a great evening, sis.’ Sophie spoke again, her voice cheerful and full of expectation. ‘I mean, I don’t think things will go too far. He seems way too decent for that.’

‘
Do I sense some regret here?’ Almost grateful for the distraction that once again allowed her to lock away her dark memories, Emily grinned mischievously. ‘Would you rather he swept you off your feet right away and ravished you there and then, in the restaurant?’

‘
I wouldn’t complain if he did.’ Sophie smiled, her eyes dreamy. ‘But yeah, I think he is one of those
take it slow
type of guys. Still, it won’t hurt to dress to the nines and put on this new set of underwear I got last week. One can never be too prepared, right?’

‘
You tell me.’ Emily smiled, her eyes glued to the darkness outside, watching for the stray dog or cat that might want to cross the road where the light of the streetlamps barely penetrated the fog. ‘You’re the dating expert in the family, Sophie.’

She drove carefully, avoiding the potholes in the road with an ease born of familiarity. Soon the house appeared on the left, the bulky dark shape almost forbidding in the rainy, cold night. Pulling into the wide driveway, she watched Sophie push open the car door. A fresh gust of cold, moist air-cooled off the car’s interior.

‘
Have fun.’

The other woman ran to the house, a careless wave of her slim hand the only answer before she disappeared behind the solid oak entrance door. Emily restarted the car immediately, knowing that if she allowed herself to stay in place even a second longer, the familiar ache of regret would take hold of her as it had so many times before. She was glad to have moved out and wouldn’t have it any other way, she told herself as she drove back to the main road, accelerating slightly on the otherwise empty street. Only, it still hurt sometimes to see Sophie walk up the old stone steps leading to the door that should have been hers.

Logic had nothing to do with one’s heart, she thought bitterly, almost grateful for the increased traffic as she reached the city. To be preoccupied was better, she mused, angry at her sudden and unexpected attack of weakness. She had thought she was over that, accepting the fact that to leave her ancestral home and find her own four walls was her choice. Nobody had forced her to do it. Nothing in Marlene’s behavior had suggested that she had hoped to get rid of her stepdaughter in any way. With the ability to afford a housekeeper, both Marlene and Sophie enjoying a rather privileged lifestyle, and the question of more work seemed non-existent. She was the one who had decided to leave. The last three years she had spent in the house, after the drama that shook the walls of their home with a force of a natural disaster, had suffocated her with regrets and guilt.

In the end, Emily had managed to silence the stubborn little voice that refused to be discarded and demanded answers. That was the beauty of living downtown, she thought as she parked on the street, the hubbub and lights of the busy district welcoming her like a good friend. She fished in her bag for her house key and promised herself she would call Sophie tomorrow morning before meeting at the hospital. They were picking up Marlene at nine, the surprise brunch that would follow a part of their plan for her welcome back to real life. Knowing Sophie, Emily would be lucky to catch her sister any time before ten to nine, as she would most probably be sleeping off an exciting evening out.

Well, she would have time to worry about it tomorrow, Emily thought as she walked up the stairs, her tired body longing for a warm bath and a soft bed. Everything else could wait.

She woke to the persistent ringing of her phone, her bleary eyes going to the alarm clock and reading the glowing numbers. Two o’clock. She groaned and stretched her arm to reach her phone. Who in their right mind would call her at that ungodly hour? Her whole body protested the sudden interruption. She had been having a wonderful dream about a sun-drenched landscape where she was biking with her father. He seemed happy and young, just as she remembered him from the times before her mom’s accident.

‘
Yes?’ She braced herself for an apology about the wrong number. It wouldn’t be the first time.

‘
Em? Are you awake?’

She sat up straighter, as she heard Sophie’s voice, excited and audibly giddy.

‘
God, I need to talk to you.’

‘
Now?’ She stifled a yawn as she made herself a mental note to hammer it into Sophie’s head for the future that calling people at two in the morning for a chat was a definite no-no. ‘Can’t it wait ‘til the morning? I will see you in about six hours, Soph.’

‘
No, it can’t. God, I am so excited.’ She was laughing, and for a second Emily had a suspicion that she was drunk. Something in her usually collected voice was not adding up. Her next words provided the explanation. ‘Em, I’m engaged! To James! Can you believe it?’

‘
I don’t think I can,’ she answered, her brain much clearer. She got out of bed, unable to lie down while discussing that type of news. ‘How did it happen? God, Sophie, you just met him.’

‘
I know, isn’t it amazing?’ Another giggle followed before she added, ‘I mean, I didn’t think anything like that would happen, Em. But James is absolutely amazing, just as I told you. We had the most wonderful, romantic evening together, and he proposed. He said that he couldn’t take a chance to let me out of his sight. Isn’t it amazing?’

Sophie was abusing the word ‘amazing,’ Emily thought as she struggled to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Sophie had met her mystery man just two days before, gone on one date, and had become engaged. The speed at which her relationship was progressing left Emily breathless and dizzy, wondering why anyone in their right mind would skip all the steps and go straight for the ultimate goal.

‘
Isn’t it a bit of a rush, Sophie?’ she asked hesitantly, as she walked to the kitchen and turned on the light. She would not be able to sleep after news like that. She searched her tea cabinet for chamomile. She would need all the help she could get, she mused as she popped a bag of the herbal tea into a mug and put the kettle on to boil. ‘You don’t even know him properly. ‘

‘
I know a lot, Em. Plenty more than last evening, when we spoke.’ There was a defensive note in her voice, and Emily could almost see her full lips pouting as she defended her choice. ‘He’s thirty four, single, his parents passed away, owns a house in London and one in countryside, runs his own business. Should I go on?’

If she hoped to shut her up with all that info, she had another thing coming. Emily carried her mug to the living room and set it carefully on the coffee table.

‘
Very generic,’ she retorted, smiling as she noticed the audible gasp of outrage on the other end of the line. ‘Do you have any idea what kind of a person he is? His character, his ex-girlfriends, his flaws? Don’t tell me you did all your detective work in a span of a few hours.’

‘
You have missed your vocation, Em,’ came the crisp response, the excitement replaced with reproach. ‘You would make a great policewoman, dear. No, I don’t know all those things, obviously. But I will find out whatever I need as we are together, Em. I’m thirty and finally have met someone I really like a lot, so don’t try to spoil it, all right?’

‘
I thought you liked Peter.’ She couldn’t help herself, suddenly angry with her sister’s obvious talent for distorting reality according to her needs. If she didn’t know any better, Emily would believe her story of a romantic thirty-year-old woman searching for love. But she did know better, and Sophie’s brash lack of even the slightest attempt to cover it up irked her.

‘
I was wondering when you were going to bring him into the equation, Em.’ Her voice positively frosty, Sophie laughed bitterly, as if amused. ‘I have never talked to you about it because I wanted to spare your feelings, but if you really need to know, it was Peter who was running after me like a puppy, not the other way around. I wasn’t interested for a long time, Em. He was pestering me all the time, telling me how much closer he felt to me than you. Sorry, but you asked for it, sis.’

‘
Funny thing, I thought the feeling was mutual.’ Emily was so angry, her hands were shaking. She had to put down her cup, afraid she would burn herself with the scalding liquid. ‘And no, it isn’t about Peter at all. All I’m saying is, you fall in and out of love pretty often, Sophie. What makes you think this will be any different?’

‘
James is like no one else.’ The dreamy note back in her voice, she was melting once again. ‘He seems so sure of things, so proactive. I have never met anyone like him, Em.’

‘
Are you at his place, or he is at yours?’ It felt awkward to discuss these things with the mystery man hovering somewhere in the background, most probably naked and sexually appeased.