“Me too,” she whispered. She hadn’t realised just how much until that moment. She’d held things against her for so long that she’d closed off her heart. But the truth was, she longed for her sister to be part of her life. She simply didn’t trust her, and how could she let her back into her heart without trust?
Five
Charmaine walked along the street,a book tucked beneath her arm. A cool breeze whistled along the footpath, raising her hair from her neck and giving her goose bumps. She pulled her cardigan more tightly around her thin frame and shuffled closer to the dark shop fronts. She still wasn’t used to the storms that sprang up out of nowhere and the wind that often buffeted the eastern-most parts of the island. However, tonight the wind had hit Kellyville on the western side of the island, and the sky was cloudless. Hopefully she’d be able to walk home from book club later without getting soaked to the bone.
The café was dark when she passed by the windows, apart from the faint glow of lights from the bookshop next door. She hurried around the corner to the bookshop’s front door and pushed it open. The bell jangled above her head, and she looked up in surprise for a moment, her nerves making her forget that it always rang when she walked into the shop.
She shouldn’t be nervous. It was silly to be scared of attending a book club. Readers were generally nice people—at least in her experience. But they were new to her and she was new to the club. She was always nervous when she went anywhere unfamiliar.
“Chaz, you made it!” Evie rushed to embrace her.
Charmaine blushed. “Thanks for inviting me. I’ve been looking forward to coming.”
“We’re glad to have you. The more the merrier. Come on in and get yourself a drink. Dinner is ready.”
Charmaine made her way through the group to the drinks table. She couldn’t believe how many people were there. Evie had suggested it was a small gathering and that she’d know everyone in attendance. But there had to be twenty people in the room, and to Charmaine’s way of thinking, that wasn’t small.
She reached for a glass and poured punch into it from a large bowl in the centre of the table with a ladle. Then she took a sip as she turned slowly to see who was there.
Bea sat in a chair against the wall, drinking a glass of wine and laughing with Taya and Penny. Bea’s brother, Bradford, was there too. He was deep in conversation with a man she’d never seen before. Both men were tall and athletic. Bradford noticed her staring and offered her a wave.
Heat radiated up her neck and into her cheeks. She waved back and headed immediately for the empty chair beside Penny. She slid into it and continued sipping her drink for several seconds before Penny noticed her.
“Hi, Chaz. It’s nice to see you,” Penny said.
“Hi, Penny.”
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Me neither, but I saw Evie a few days ago and she suggested it, so here I am. I didn’t realise it was going to be so big.”
“There’s not much to do in Kellyville on a Wednesday night,” Penny explained with a giggle.
Charmaine noticed a woman talking to several people on the other side of the room. She caught Charmaine’s attention because her face was identical to Evie’s, although more heavily made up. Her hair was blonde and straight, unlike Evie’s red curls. But otherwise, she looked so much like Evie that if Charmaine hadn’t already greeted Evie when she walked through the door, she would’ve sworn on her life that the blonde was Evie.
“Is that Evie? But I saw Evie earlier… Did she put on a wig since I arrived?”
Penny laughed. “It’s Evie’s twin sister, Emily. Uncanny, huh?”
“Evie has a twin sister?”
Taya spun in her seat. “Can you believe it? I haven’t seen Emily in years. I wonder what she’s doing here. Brace for impact!”
“What does that mean?” Charmaine frowned.
Bea spoke up. “Leave Emily alone. I’m sure she’s changed. She’s in her late forties—she can’t possibly still be a wild child.”
“Some things never change,” Penny muttered beneath her breath. Then more loudly, she said, “I’m getting another glass of wine. Anyone?”
“I’ll come,” Taya called, raising her glass over her head and then hurrying off with Penny.
Bea slid into the seat beside Charmaine. “Isn’t this fun? I’m definitely submerged in the island lifestyle if I’m excited about a book club, I know. But I do love it.”
“I’m sure it will be fun. Only, I get a little nervous around strangers.” Charmaine chewed on a fingernail. She wasn’t sure why, but she always opened up more to Beatrice than she ever planned to. There was something about the older woman that enticed her to feel comfortable and safe. She almost couldn’t help herself — the words simply tumbled from her mouth whenever Bea looked at her. Maybe it was the motherly aspect to Bea’s personality.
Bea patted her on the leg. “You’ll be fine. And anyway, most of us aren’t strangers to you anymore. Are we?”
“No, you’re right, of course. I should relax.” She drew a deep breath into her lungs and forced her shoulders to lower, letting the tightness dissipate.
