Page 37 of Whispers in the Dark

My tone was a bit clipped, and I reminded myself to play it cool. It didn’t help that her mammoth beast of a dog was eying me in a suspicious way. I couldn’t blame the pup. I’d always heard that animals and children were very intuitive, even more so than an adult, which is why I normally kept my distance from both.

Brynn emerged from the kitchen once more, this time carrying a tray. Remembering my manners, I rose from my seat and quickly grabbed it from her. Lug Nut rose to his own feet and continued to stare at me until Brynn smiled at him. From there, he dropped back down to lay on the floor right at the foot of her chair.

“I wasn’t sure if you preferred to butter your own bread or not, so I put it on the side,” she told me after grabbing the small plates of cornbread and placing them down in front of us.

“Either way is fine,” I replied as I took my seat.

I looked down at the food, and I realized it was the first time I’d ever had it prepared this way. Stifado was a common beef stew back home in Greece, only it had different spice notes and an abundance of pearl onions. It looked good nonetheless, so I cut through the awkward silence when I picked up my knife.

After buttering my cornbread as she had put it, I took a bite of it first. It was actually very tasty. Normally, I spent my time eating things familiar to me, but there had been a few different American dishes I’d tried over the years that had tasted very good.

After chewing my bite of bread, I decided to dig into the main course. I felt her eyes on me the moment I picked up my spoon. I glanced upward at her, then lowered my gaze once more tothe stew. I got a hearty bite on my spoon, then brought it to my mouth. While not the same spices, it did bring me back to the days when Aria and I would spend the weekends at our Yaya’s house.

I didn’t want to think about my twin sister, so I focused on the food. By the time I finished it, I realized she was still looking at me. I arched a brow, but before I could ask her if something was wrong, she smiled brightly at me.

“How is it?”

I could hear how nervous she sounded in those few words, and wanting to set her mind at ease, I scooped my spoon in for another bite. “It’s delicious. Do you cook often?”

That made her relax considerably, and we spent the rest of the meal making small talk between bites of food. I ate more than I usually did, actually finishing the entire bowl as well as two pieces of her homemade cornbread. I’d even eaten the salad which was sometimes my entire meal when alone.

The lifestyle I lived didn’t lend itself well to home-cooked meals and pleasant companionship. I’d been a loner for as long as I could remember, but that had been slowly changing. If nothing else, the damn Christmas trees in both my office and penthouse were proof of that.

“Are you finished?” She asked me when I pushed the empty plate and bowls into the center of the table.

“I am. The meal was very good.”

It was all I said, but it pleased her. I could feel the happiness radiating from her, and in that moment, bringing her this kind of pleasure was almost as good as a different sort. Almost.

“Let me help with that,” I told her when I noticed her piling the empty dishes back onto the tray.

“Thank you, but I can do this on my own.”

“I insist?—”

“You’re my guest. I will clean up,” she hurriedly said as she placed the last spoon onto the tray.

“Very well,” I said, then watched as she returned to the kitchen.

It was then when I noticed a few decorations for the festive season. Just seeing my own was enough to make me growl most days, but somehow or another I was struck with the desire to see Brynn’s Christmas tree.

Sure that it was in the other room, I rose to my feet, then ignored the pit bull that was still staring intently at me. I should’ve been happy that she had such a protective beast to watch over her, but I also knew he could sense that something wasn’t right with me. If so, he was either biding his time, or not as protective as I expected him to be.

I ignored Lug Nut, then walked into the other room where I did notice the large tree off in the corner of the room. It was placed strategically so one would see the brightly colored bulbs from the street when passing by.

My eyes began to wander, and I walked toward the wall where she had some art work. Having donated money to various local artists, and even displaying some of it on various floors at BT, I recognized the names of some of those artists.

I continued my perusal as I walked around the perimeter of the room. I took in the style of furniture she preferred which was more traditional compared to the modern pieces I had in my own place, but it not only fit the house, but the woman herself. Brynn was very beautiful, and always possessed an air of innocence to her. She had timeless features and could be the girl next door in almost any neighborhood in America.

Noticing her fireplace, I then saw a quartet of photographs on top of it, just above the two stockings. They were red, and had a “B” on one, and a “L” on the other. It was not the festive stockings that had my attention, but the desire to see her.

I walked closer and picked up the first one which was of Brynn with her beast of a dog. They both looked so happy in it. I picked up the next one which had an older man in it, and someone with a bit of resemblance, and I assumed the man was her father. I placed it back on the mantle, and when I picked up the third one, the room began to spin around me.

“Blair,” I whispered softly as I saw the woman beside Brynn.

I blinked rapidly hoping it was all an illusion, but when I focused back in on the picture, two familiar faces were smiling back at me. There was more to it, though. As I dropped my gaze to their necks, both had almost identical matching necklaces.

There was no denying that these women were sisters. Brynn had told me about losing her sister, and I hadn’t pried at the time to find out how, but I knew now. I quickly tried to place the frame back onto the mantle, but due to the shakiness in my hand, it fell over as soon as I released it.

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