Page 30 of A Twist of Fate

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

For three weeks I pulled double duty going back and forth between Permanent Marks and my sister’s soon-to-open photography studio. During that time, Ever tried to approach me a few times, more so in the past week than all the rest. I don’t know why I was so scared of that initial confrontation, but I was. Kane was always there to step between us and send her on her way though. I could tell his interference was putting a strain on their friendship, and I didn’t want that to happen.

“Has anyone been in to ask about the help wanted sign yet?” I asked my sister as she moved her background hanger to a new spot.

“Yes and no. No one I would hire has been through those doors.”

“That’s good.”

Beth stopped and turned to me. “What do you mean by ‘that’s good,’ Gretchen.”

I tried for nonchalance as I shrugged my shoulders. “I think I’d rather work here and just go visit the guys once in a while.”

“What? No. What did that girl do now?” When I didn’t say anything my sister quite literally got in my face. “Gretchen! What did she do? I thought they had a talk with her about giving you some space for a while.”

“They did. I’m sure they think it’s been a while already. Listen, I know it’s stupid, but I’m scared. I don’t want to know if she hates me, blames me, or…”

“Come on, be honest with me. It’s none of those things.”

“I’m afraid the moment I talk to her all of the hurt and pain is going to come back and just swamp me, Beth,” I finally admitted out loud. “I can’t go back to that place. It felt like I was dying every single day only to wake up and go through it all over again without being reunited with my loves.”

“Aw, sister of mine, come here.” Beth took me in her arms and held me for a few minutes. “I agree that I don’t want you back in that dark place, but are you sure you really want to give up your job over there? You love it.”

“I do, but is it worth it if I’m always on edge, waiting to fall apart again?”

“If you want the job, you know it’s yours.” My sister didn’t want me dwelling on the darker emotions anymore, I could tell, because she had agreed way too quickly. “Can you carry these out front? It’s all stuff that needs to go out front in the lobby.” She then proceeded to pile boxes up in my arms until I felt like I was balancing a jumbling tower of shit that would fall if I breathed wrong. “There you go. Look at that, you’ll be able to do it in one trip while I finish this box for my inventory.”

“Yeah, okay,” I grunted as I moved from the back room to the lobby just as the bells over the door sounded. I guess we hadn’t locked the door behind us when I’d come in earlier. “Hi. We’ll be right with you,” I huffed out to whomever had come into the shop. Then I proceeded to nearly faceplant with the boxes as I tripped over the bulky electrical strip that ran across that portion of the room. Damn it.

“Do you need help with that?” The voice wasn’t much above a whisper, but I knew it was a woman in here with me now.

“No, I got it. Just,” I puffed out as I stumbled one more time for good measure before knocking the middle box in the stack against the counter that I couldn’t see. “Give me,” ah shit, the top box was going. I felt it. I zigged when the box tried to zag and somehow managed to save the damn thing. Beth was an idiot for trying to make me get this all out here in one trip. I hoped it was all breakable and fell even after my heroic efforts to keep it up. It would serve her right. “A sec,” I finally remembered to finish my sentence for the woman still waiting on me to get my shit together and stop juggling boxes like a circus freak.

As soon as I was able to rid myself of my burden, I plastered a smile on my face and turned to properly greet whomever had come in while I’d been busy. That fake-ass smile slipped immediately when I turned to see Toby’s little sister standing there gaping slack-jawed back at me. “Anna?”

“Hi, Gretchen. How are you?” Her sweet, soft-spoken voice took me back to the memories of the times she would sneak away to hang out with Toby and me. It wasn’t often, but often enough that I felt like our secret romance wasn’t such a big damn deal.

“I’m okay,” I told her before realizing that Anna appeared strange for some reason. Why did she… Oh my God! She couldn’t be. I took in her belly. It wasn’t that she was fat, or even that far along in a pregnancy, but Anna was a tiny girl like me. It wouldn’t take much for her to start showing. How had this happened. Toby was going to kill someone! That thought stopped me short. Toby wasn’t here to do that anymore. Giving myself a little internal slap, I gestured toward Anna’s belly. “Is that what I think it is?” She tipped her head up and down slowly while chewing at her bottom lip. I could see the sheen of tears starting in her eyes, and suddenly my worries about seeing any of Toby’s family were forgotten, and I wanted to kick my own ass for not being there for Anna. “Oh boy, I think we have a lot to discuss.”

“We do, because I thought you worked at Permanent Marks with Ever,” she told me as I gestured toward the couches that made for comfy seating in case someone had to wait in the lobby.

“I do. This is my sister’s studio. She had so much work on her books that she finally had to give in and rent studio space, plus ask for help.”

“That’s why I’m here, actually.”

“I don’t understand. Maybe you should back up and tell me how that happened.” I told her as I once again pointed to her belly. “Then you can tell me why your family is making you get a job while you are in this condition.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’m all ears. We aren’t open until next week.” I remembered the unlocked door and didn’t want the chance that someone might interrupt this time with Anna, so I moved to go lock up. “Sorry, that should have been locked to begin with. I’m glad it wasn’t in this case though.”

“Me too,” she agreed. Then she told me all about how Toby’s death had made her see that life wasn’t promised and instead of listening to the advice he had given her before he died, she went after the prospect, Evan. Now, he was a fully patched member of the club and went by Joker, he also managed to get her pregnant before he found out she had lied about her name and hadn’t corrected his assumptions about her age. My heart broke for her. I remembered when Toby first talked to her about waiting until she was 18. He had been so worried that she wouldn’t listen and would end up starting a shitstorm. I lifted my head up toward heaven as Anna spoke. ‘Look what a mess I made by ignoring your family. Maybe I could have reminded her of the promise she made you.’

By the time Anna got to the part about how she had a nightmare shotgun wedding and her husband ended up in a compromising position with another woman the same night, I was fit to be tied. “If Toby were here, he would have kicked that man’s ass and strung him up by his balls until he saw the error of his ways. What the hell was your dad thinking? What are Ever and Deck thinking to keep letting you stick it out there?” Anna became agitated, stood, and began pacing back and forth in front of the couch she had just been sitting on. “Maybe you should take Ever up on staying with her for a while. I’d tell you to come stay with me, but I took over the apartment above Permanent Marks after Ever left, so I don’t have much room.” In truth, I hadn’t even been staying there for months and I didn’t know if the guys had saved that space for me. It hadn’t occurred to me to ask them. I had been staying with my sister for the most part since she came back to town after my life fell apart.

“It’s okay, Gretch.”

“No, it’s not. You should be overjoyed right now with the blessing you’re carrying, not worried about how you’re going to be able to save money for when the baby gets here.” Tears swam in my eyes at the thought of her being able to hold her baby in the way that I was never able to hold my own. “Have you felt the baby move yet?”

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