Luna nodded.“And now she is all I have of Collette.”She had a tear running down her cheek, but she wouldn’t wipe it away.She went on in a flat voice, “That fucking Gauntlet...Whitaker, he didn’t even give my sister a proper burial.He just left her body behind.”
“I’m so sorry for all that you went through.I know that it must haunt you.”
“Well, you telling me this woman who came here has no memory and was told she had a baby?It really brought all that back to me.I will always regret not finding her before Gauntlet killed her.”
“I know and I don’t know how to help this girl.Right now, the timing of her arrival sucks.My Uncle Ray might be after me now to shut my mouth and I got another uncle coming here to take me back to Italy to marry someone I don’t even know.”
Reaching out, Luna patted her hand.“You can’t help her much.Just allowing her to stay here and being supportive is about all that you can do.”She looked up at Charli and asked, “Where is she?”Her eyes looked overly bright now and her hand shook as she raised her coffee mug to take a sip.
Charli watched Luna closely now as she set her mug down.With a heartfelt sigh, she took her hand in hers and gazed into her eyes.“Luna, you need to think about this.I mean I know that you have wondered what happened to your sister.But I really don’t think that she would just show up here out of the blue.”She paused as she knew she needed to choose her words carefully.“She told me some of what she went through and she’s sort of messed up because of all that.”
“I know how that feels.I know that I will never get over my sister’s death.I should have been able to help her.”Luna shook her head as tears glimmered in her eyes.“My sister had always been a gentle soul.I was the opposite but I always tried to protect her when we were growing up.When she was taken, my dad had me locked into my room for three days, no food and no water until he unlocked that damn door.But by then she was gone and I couldn’t find her.He thought he broke me and while I might have stayed quiet, it wasn’t because he broke me.No, I was pissed.I had to be smarter than him until I knew where she was.It took me a year to find her and on the night I was gonna leave that house forever, I found the report that said she died.And yes, that about broke me right there.You see I felt that I failed her.I failed to find her in time to save her and suddenly she was beyond my reach.”Shaking her head, she went on, “And I hated my father so much.I hated him with a passion I couldn’t handle.That’s why when he told me he was letting his minion have me I ran from both of them.I wasn’t going to become a checked box on the coroner’s table, because I knew that’s exactly what happened to Collette.So the morning Deuce found me, I was running from not only my father but the creep he sold me to.”
“So you think by helping this woman, it will help you?”
Luna shrugged as she swiped a fallen tear from her cheek.“Maybe?But I do know that you all helped me.And I at least understand how she feels.”
Charli tilted her head at her.Then she stood from her chair.“Just be careful, you could be stirring up more than you realize.Just take it easy and slow, ok?”she advised.“Just listen to what she has to tell you before you tell her anything.You have to listen to not only her words but her feelings too.She’s been broken, abandoned and thrown away like her life meant nothing.I watched her eyes this morning when she began to remember.She’s bound to remember more now and I don’t know how she’s gonna handle that.But that is one thing you can do, listen to her and just be supportive.Since your family was broken apart too, maybe you can help each other?”
“W-what if she’s...”Luna shook her head.
“...your sister?”Charli stared at her.
Nodding, Luna bit at her lip.
“I don’t know, but try not to be disappointed, Luna.”
“I will try.Maybe I can help her and therefore help myself.The injustice of what happened to my family...”She sighed.“And Whittaker didn’t suffer enough for what he did to Collette.”
“I know, his death was way too quick.”Charli got up and motioned for her to follow her.She walked down the hall and stopped at Ben’s old bedroom. “Please be gentle with her.”
Luna nodded then reached for the door.Opening it slightly, she went inside leaving the door open as she moved toward the bed.She paused at the side of the bed and studied the woman sleeping there.Then she reached out and turned her head so that she could see her face.She gasped.Then she pushed up the sleeve of the PJ top the woman wore.There was a long scar there on her forearm.
The room was full of a tense silence.
Luna fell to her knees and whispered her name, “Collette.”
Charli went inside and knelt beside Luna.“Are you sure it’s her?”she asked as she felt shocked.
Luna nodded as tears ran down her face.She reached a hand out to brush a strand of her sister’s hair away from her face.“She got that scar on her arm because she fell while we were both running away from our dad when we were twelve.She hit the ground and rolled onto a piece of broken glass.He grabbed us and hauled us up to our bedroom and locked us in for two days before he unlocked the door.He didn’t know she was hurt but I patched her up and he never knew about the cut.”Luna’s whisper echoed in the room and when she paused, her words faded into silence.Then she whispered, “She’s alive and she came back on her own.I have my sister back and this time no one can take her away from me.Come hell or high water, I have her back and she’s going to stay.”
