The Wright Brother

Copyright © 2014 Marie Hall

Cover Art by Regina Wamba and maeidesign.com

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This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

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Published in 2014 by Marie Hall, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America

To my husband, Matt. I still remember the day I first saw you walk into my geometry class sophomore year of high school. We’ve been a part of each other’s lives for over nineteen years now, it doesn’t seem possible. I couldn’t do any of what I do without you.

Marie Hall, author of the Moment Series, has released a new Contemporary Romance. Set on two continents and a three-decade love affair full of pain, joy, and the knowledge that sometimes even destiny needs a helping hand.

From the moment I opened my eyes I could only see the world in shades of gray. There was no noise, no sound, nothing. Deaf and colorblind, I was a loner. My world was bleak, silent and empty, until her. Until I met my neighbor, Elisa Jane Adrian. I want her. I need her. The fractured part of me feels whole when she's around. Like the world isn't so dark, isn't so bleak, and so still. I know it's impossible, but when I look at Elisa I swear I can see color, can hear the gentle inhalations of her breath. I know she feels it too, this magic, this desperate desire...

I first saw him when I was three. Julian Wright was different than any other guy I'd ever known. He sees the world in a way I know I never will. But he intrigues me. The way he looks at me with his sea green eyes, how he hypnotizes me with his smile.

It's dangerous these feelings I have for him. Reckless and stupid. I'm so much older than him, I know better. And I'll fight these desires; no one will ever know how I feel. I'll even pretend to myself that I'm not as hooked on him as he is on me.

I'll move away to Ireland, I'll forget him, but that's the thing about the Wright's, they have a way of getting under your skin, into your soul, and no matter the time or distance, once a Wright sets their eyes on you, there's no going back...ever.

Three tiny little bundles stared back at Elisa Jane. Their faces were scrunched and red as they shuddered and wiggled beneath their monkey-print blankets.

They were sorta cute, in an ugly kind of way.

Two of the babies looked back at her. Cooing and making funny noises.

“Aww.” Her tiny heart melted as she reached out her hand to let one of the babies latch on to her finger, but she couldn’t shove her hand through the bars far enough to get to him. “Cute.”

Leaning up on tiptoe even higher so that she could get a better look at the triplets, Elisa held tight to the edge of their crib.

“Elisa.” Mum glanced up from her spot on the couch. “You be careful, young lady.”

“Okay, Mum,” she said dutifully, wondering why Mrs. Wright’s face looked so splotchy.

Sometimes Elisa’s face would go splotchy too. Like when she’d fall off her bicycle and scrape her knees. Or that one time she accidentally touched the hot stove. Her face had gone really splotchy then, too. There were no scrapes on Mrs. Wright’s knees, so maybe she’d gotten burnt.

Pressing her lips together, she turned back to study the babies.

They were grunting and scrunching their noses, and their fists had wormed their way out of the snuggly blanket.

“You’re ugly,” she murmured and then quickly glanced back at her mother. Mum would be mad if she heard her calling babies ugly. But they were.

Their faces were so red, and they had no hair. “But pretty eyes,” she said as a consolation, even though their eyes weren’t all that pretty. And Daddy had told her once that boys weren’t pretty, they were handsome. But she didn’t think they were handsome, either.

One of the babies sneezed. And that was cute. It tugged a smile to her lips.

All year Elisa had been so excited waiting for Mrs. Wright to have her triplets. And now they were finally here and that was nice. Of course it wasn’t fair that they weren’t girls. Because boys were dirty, and sometimes mean. But as long as they understood that they couldn’t be mean to Elisa, then she’d be okay with that, she supposed.

But it would take a while before they could play with her. Elisa would be three soon. She was the biggest of the big girls and they were just really small.

Two of the babies were blinking huge owl eyes up at her. But the third baby was looking at the wall of the crib with a weird stare. Elisa had been trying for the past ten minutes to get that baby to look at her, but he just wouldn’t.

It made her cranky. Obviously he didn’t like girls.

“Mum?” She looked up at her mom, who was deep in conversation with Mrs. Wright.

“Yes, Elisa?” Mum asked, sounding
e-zas-per-tated
.

That was a big word that Daddy was teaching her. He said that Elisa always made them
e-zas-per-tated
.

She huffed the blonde lank of bangs out of her eyes. “What names?”

Instead of Mum answering, Mrs. Wright did. Her smile was watery as she said, “Christian. Roman. And Julian.”

She dabbed at her eyes when she said Julian’s name, and Mum wrapped her up in a big hug.

Elisa frowned. Grown ups were so weird sometimes. Turning back around, she smiled at the boys.

“Hi. I’m Elisa.”

Christian and Roman cooed. But Julian still wouldn’t look at her.

“Julian.” She singsonged his name. “I’m here. Hello, baby.”

But he still wouldn’t look at her. Maybe he just couldn’t hear her or sumthin’. She shoved her arm through the bar, but again she couldn’t reach them. Annoyed, she decided the only way to get Julian to pay attention to her was to get in there with him.

It would be kind of tricky, but she was a good climber. Daddy had taught her how to climb the great big elm in their back yard. Glancing over her shoulder one more time to make sure Mum wasn’t watching, Elisa stuck her shiny, black-slippered foot on the outer edge of their mattress and stepped up.

Mum and Mrs. Wright had gone into the kitchen to get some more snacks. Which was good, because then Elisa could climb without Mum worrying that she’d do something wrong.

“I coming, baby Julian,” she grunted as she shimmied her way up the white-painted metal side of their baby crib.

But Elisa had overestimated her climbing abilities. Her arms were shaking only halfway up and when she went to pull her leg over the side of the crib she lost her balance and fell hard onto Mrs. Wright’s wooden floors.

Fire exploded down her side and this time it was her turn to shriek.

In seconds Mum had scooped her off the floor, hugging her tight to her breast. “Elisa Jane Adrian, what have you done? Are you okay?”

But Elisa couldn’t talk because her arm hurt so bad and now her face was all splotchy. She wrapped her arms around her Mum’s neck and cried, feeling bad because the babies were crying too.

Mrs. Wright was over there, picking them up one after another, patting their backs and telling them she loved them.

“I’m sorry, Loribelle, I think we’re going to go now. But if you need anything at all…” Mum walked over to Mrs. Wright and gave her a side hug. “You don’t hesitate to call me, got it?”

Mrs. Wright sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. “Thanks, Bethy. I will.”

Mum’s hand was big and warm as she rubbed Elisa’s back, already her arm was feeling better. She wished she’d had a chance to say hi to Julian too.

Christian and Roman were still squalling, but Julian was where he’d always been, just staring at the wall of his crib, like he’d never even heard her fall.

Elisa decided right then that she didn’t like Julian Wright much at all.

5 years later

The sea was calling to Elisa today. The sky and water were so blue. Seagulls circled above her sandy playground, crying out loudly. Obviously smelling the hot dogs and hamburgers Daddy was grilling up. The grown-ups were further up shore; Mrs. Wright would occasionally cast an eagle eye in the direction of the boys, who played along the coastline.

It was the fourth of July; tonight there’d be fireworks. This was really Elisa’s favorite time of year. The fireworks looked so amazing when they shone off the darkened reflection of the bay.

Not to mention no school. No homework. Just fun.

With her boys.

Roman and Christian came running up to her. Their five-year-old legs churned up the grainy sand in their wake. Roman was missing his front tooth and his smile was huge as he wildly waved his prize high in the air.

“Lisa. Lisa!” Roman jumped up and down; his turtle-themed water shorts flopped around his legs as he did. He had a habit of dumping mounds of wet sand down his shorts. “Look what we found!”

“Well, I found it.” Christian stepped in front of his brother, shoving him gently out of the way as he pointed at his little bird chest.

The boys weren’t identical triplets. But the two of them still looked sort of similar. Roman was a little darker, his hair and eyes a pretty dark blue. Christian was just a little bit lighter. Looking more like Mrs. Wright with his sandy blond hair and slightly brighter blue eyes. Julian, on the other hand, looked just like Mr. Wright. Inky black hair, with the most striking and vivid set of bluish-green eyes that always reminded Elisa of the tropical waters she yearned to one day see in person.

Julian was the one that really didn’t look like he was one third of the triplet gang.

Which at least made it easy for Elisa to tell them apart.

She laughed, eyes widening as she stared at the broken bit of shell. Holding out her hand for it. Once Roman placed it on her palm she turned it around and around after. The outside was dark and gray looking, full of green moss and other yucky bits. But the inside gleamed like mother of pearl.

“Oh, that’s pretty,” she cooed, patting their heads. “Good job,” she chirped when Christian snatched it back, hugging it tight to his body.

It never really bothered her that she was almost three years older than the boys. Well, technically, she was two years and five months older, but that was a bunch older than them.

Still, they were sort of like her brothers. She loved them, kind of. Not when they were being buttheads and tripping her feet out from under her and stuff. But she was the kind of girl that loved fishing, playing down by the docks, and swimming like a little fish. She guessed because she was more of a tomboy the boys thought she was all right, too.

“Where’s Jules?” she asked, shading her eyes as she searched the cove for any sign of Julian.

Christian and Roman both sighed in unison.

“Julian!” Mrs. Wright’s voice was a sudden shrill that rent the peacefulness of the afternoon. “Julian!”

She came running up, her pale face and normally artfully arranged sandy blonde hair that now tumbled haphazardly around her shoulders attesting to her panic.

Yanking them each by the arm, she gasped, “Where is he?”

Christian’s eyes grew wide. “He’s…he’s over there.” He pointed to a sharp area of rock.