A Twist of Fate (20 page)

The nurse let us pass.  "We came as soon as we
could," I said, softly.  "How are they?"

"They're fine.  Maddie's exhausted, but she's totally
elated.  Hunter's no different.  It's actually pretty nauseating to be around it. 
I can only handle them in short spurts."

"Are you going to come in with us?" I asked Aliah,
when I noticed her hesitation.

"I'll walk you there, but I think maybe it's time for
me to run."

I flashed a serious glance at Edwin and he lifted his
eyebrows in recognition of my concerns.  Aliah led us to the last room on the
right.  Edwin knocked lightly on the door and then peeked inside.

"Hey, guys.  Come on in," Hunter called, softly.

Aliah waited in the hall.

"Congrats," Edwin said, reaching his hand out for
a shake.

Hunter seemed rattled as he struggled to free a hand with Darien
in his arms.

"It's all good, brother,” Edwin said, withdrawing his
hand.  “I'll get you later."

Hunter smiled with appreciation.  "Thanks."

I walked right up to Maddie's bedside.  "How are you
feeling?"

"A lot better than I look," she admitted, with a
soft smile.

"Stop," Hunter said, catching everyone's
attention.  "You look absolutely radiant.  Tell her she looks beautiful,
Edwin."

"You look beautiful," Edwin conceded, smirking.

I leaned over the bed to take a peek at the tiny bundle of
sweetness in her arms.  "And who do we have here?"

"This is Melody Rae.  Isn't she an angel?"

I took the baby’s little hand in between my finger and
thumb.  "Oh, is she ever.  I thought you were having boys."

"What can I say?  Things change," Hunter confessed.

"These two definitely change everything," Maddie
added, sharing a gentle glance with Hunter.

Aliah stomped into the room in misery.  "Okay, I've had
enough of this.  Will you two stop with the whole everything's changed bull
shit?  I don’t care if you spit out a couple of kids, it doesn’t make Hunter
yours.”

Darien started to cry from Aliah’s harsh tone and Hunter’s
reaction made everyone step back from him.  He turned on his smile for his
baby, as he gently bounced with Darien to soothe him.

"It's okay, buddy.  Please don’t cry.  She didn't mean
to upset you," Hunter cooed, then planted a kiss on the baby’s forehead.

"Oh,
I
upset him?" Aliah squealed,
dramatically.  "I'm out of here.  And maybe while I'm gone you should reconsider
what’s most important to you.”

The twins that bound Maddie and Hunter together with
happiness were tearing Aliah apart.  She fled the room enraged and, as soon as
she was gone, the calm returned.  With Hunter not making any move to chase
after her, I hurried into the hall and ran after Aliah myself.  I found her jabbing
at the elevator button, as though it might make the door open faster.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a little breathless.

"I'm getting the hell out of here.  He doesn't want me
here anyway.  I'm just getting in the way of their little family."

"You're giving up?  That's not you," I stated.

"And you think that's Hunter in there?  Maddie's
right.  Everything has changed.  Hunter's not the same person he was
before…before that whore got knocked up."

"He still loves you," I reminded her.

"I don’t doubt that he does.  But I can see that Maddie’s
obsessed with stealing Hunter from me, and I know for a fact that Maddie told Hunter
she loves him.  And you know what, Abby?  He didn't even tell her to back off. 
I overhead them when they were naming the babies.  Then he tells her how
beautiful her voice is.  Ugh!"

"I’m sorry."

"Like I said, he's changed and I'm fine with that."

I was having a hard time believing her.  "Are you
really okay?"

She sighed and nearly lost it, tears welling in her eyes. 
"I was acting okay and I thought I was doing a damn good job of it, so
don’t interrupt my performance, okay?" she croaked, trying so hard to keep
it together.

I reached my arms out to her and tucked her head onto my
shoulder.  "Stop tormenting yourself and just let it out.  You don't have
to be so strong all the time.”

Aliah lifted her head, and I knew she was locking her
emotions away in a vault.  "I appreciate what you're trying to do here, and
maybe if Hunter gave a damn about anyone other than Maddie it'd be worth a
tear.”

Just then, Hunter spoke, appearing out of nowhere.  "This
has nothing to do with Maddie, so let’s leave her out of it.  You know I love
you, Ally.  But these babies are my blood.  They will always be my number
one."

Aliah spun around, jerking out of my arms.  Hunter remained
a few steps away from her, retaining his emotional distance.  She scowled at
him, pulling her vulgar attitude back out.  "And I suppose that will make
Maddie always your number two.  Where do I fit in?" she demanded, so loud
I'm sure Maddie and Edwin heard her.

He turned his eyes to the floor and conjured up the words.  "I'm
sorry…"

"Stop," Aliah hollered.  "Save it.  That's
just not gonna fly with me.  I deserve better than that."  Aliah was
barely hanging on to her anger, with other more feminine emotions starting to weave
back into her voice.

Right on cue, the elevator door opened.  She stomped inside,
forgetting I was even there, and instantly hit the close button.  "Have a
good life," she said, coldly, as the door closed between them.

Hunter stood in front of the stainless steel doors, staring
straight ahead at his scattered reflection, and voiced a deep sigh.  He lowered
his head again and closed his eyes.  When I rested my hand on his shoulder and
gave it a squeeze, he looked up at me through guilty eyes.

"It was unintentional.  I didn’t mean for her to get
hurt like this,” he said, with a sigh.  “Honestly though, this is the happiest
day of my life and she couldn't even spit out a congratulations."

I grabbed onto Hunter's elbow and pulled him back down the
hall.  There was nothing I could say that would ever undo what had just
happened between them.  I wasn’t even sure that it was worth it for them to try
and put the broken pieces back together.

“I’m going to grab a coffee,” Hunter said, just as we
reached the room.  “You want one?”

“No, thanks.  I’m good.”

Hunter strode off and I returned to the room to give him his
space.  The first thing I saw when I walked in the door was Edwin standing
there.  Big, powerful, Eddie.  And he was holding a baby.  My heart lurched at
the sight of him brimming with cheer, admiring Darien only a few inches from
his face.  I could see the love, and sense his pride from helping Maddie with the
brand new baby.

"He's so precious," I said, as Edwin enveloped the
tiny baby in his arms.  Seeing Edwin in that moment was a dream come true,
digging at my innermost desires and displaying them before me.  My heart
swelled in my throat.

Suddenly Edwin’s eyes grew wide and I feared that he was
having a panic attack.  "Uh, oh," Edwin announced, making a sour face. 
"I think it's your turn to hold Darien."

I gladly scooped the little guy from his arms and quickly
realized why Edwin was so eager to pass him off.  "I think you need your bum
changed," I said, to the adorable baby boy.

I carried Darien to the bassinet and carefully laid him down
on his back.  Fresh diapers were stored in plain sight and I was fully prepared
to change his adorable little bottom.  But when Hunter stepped in and saw what
I was doing, he took over territorially.

"I've got this," he said, nudging me away with one
hand, his other on the baby’s tummy.

"Wow, that's a good daddy," Maddie chimed.

"Daddy.  That sounds good on you," I said, as I moved
out of his way.

His smile was double the size of mine.

“You’re in trouble now,” Edwin teased.  “You change this one
butt and you're sealing your fate, brother."

"It's not that bad," Hunter insisted.  "I
already changed Melody Rae once."  He quickly swaddled Darian back up and
joined Maddie at the other side of her bed.  He protectively glanced over his
babies, with love shining in his eyes, as Melody Rae slept peacefully in her
mother's arms.

They looked like a cute little family, and what a pair they
made.  Hunter and Maddie were both entirely exhausted, all of their arms fully occupied,
and yet it didn't obscure the happiness emanating from them.

"It looks like you're going to be pretty busy from now
on," I said to them.

"Nothing we can't handle together," Maddie
replied, glancing up at Hunter.

There was so much love in her eyes.  Hunter’s answering
smile showed that he was equally as smitten.  Maddie had finally gotten what
she wanted.

THE PHONE WAS RINGING off the hook,
but I sure as hell wasn't going to get up to grab it.  "Are you going to
get it?  They're obviously not giving up," I said, slamming a pillow over
my head to hide from the blaring phone.

After a long sleepless night, neither I nor Edwin were in a
particularly good mood to take any early morning calls, but Edwin rolled out of
bed anyway.  Moaning he picked up the phone.

"This better be good," he moaned, then quickly
changed his tune.  "Really?  You're kidding."

I ripped the pillow off my face and sat up, instantly taking
notice as he listened carefully and stared back at me with disbelief rampant in
his features.

"Let me know if there's anything we can do.  I'll let
Abby know.  She's right here.  Okay, thanks for calling."  Edwin hung up
the phone and returned to the bed, sitting next to me without spitting out the
news.

"You'll let me know what?" I demanded, knowing it
had to be serious.

"It's Samantha."

"What does she want?" I asked, not catching his
drift.

"She's dead."

An overwhelming sense of shock and alarm overcame me, as he
told me what he knew.

"I guess she was in the bathtub and passed out.  She
slipped under the water and drowned."

"No."  I gasped and covered my mouth with a
trembling hand, my entire body catching the jitters.

Just the other night we were partying together and I had
shared more than one backstabbing comment about her.  Never did I believe that karma
would actually take her out like this so suddenly.

"Apparently Taylor called Sam's mother last night, since
Sam didn't show up to work yesterday.  Her mother went to her apartment to
check on her and found her in the bathtub."

"Oh my gosh."

"You okay?" Edwin asked, petting my arm. 
"You're sure you want to hear this?"

I nodded, but my stomach was already roiling like a reckless
tornado.

"She said it looked like there was foul play because
Sam was covered in blood and had bruises on her neck, but the coroner explained
to her that the injuries are always magnified in a drowning.  They’re saying she
could have died up to 24 hours before they found her."

"No!"  That would take us back to the night of
Cameron’s party.

"What's worse is her mom still believes she was strangled
and intentionally drowned.  The police have already tagged it as an accidental
death, but are doing an investigation to appease her."

I grasped at my side, as a sharp pain wrenched my insides. 
"I think I'm going to be sick."  I ran down the hall and flipped open
the toilet seat.  I couldn't handle thinking of Samantha’s lifeless body,
bloody and bruised in her bathroom.  Even if I hadn’t ever taken a liking to
her, I wouldn’t ever wish that on anyone.

Moments later Edwin joined me in the bathroom, finding me
crouched over the toilet.  He rubbed my aching shoulders.  "It'll be
okay."  Then he helped me to my feet and wrapped me in a warm embrace.

Who, out of all the people we know, is capable of murder?

Edwin led me back to his bed.  "Are you sure you’re okay?"

I wasn't, but I knew what holding in my feelings did to me. 
"I’m shocked.  Wouldn't she have choked and woken up before she
drowned?"  I tried to think logically while so many illogical thoughts
tumbled through my head.

"If she had been startled awake, she could have
suffered a heart attack from a heart condition."

"A heart attack?  At her age?  Not
likely, unless..."  My eyes grew wide with alarm from my
grim
discovery.

"What?  What is it?"

"Jenny," I whispered.

Edwin cocked his head sideways.  “Really, Abby?  You have to
stop with that.  I get that you miss her, but your mind is obviously playing
tricks on you."

"Eddie, just hear me out. 
There were
no signs of struggle.  If she had been drinking and passed out, that's
believable.  But what if she awoke to darkness?"

“You mean to the red-eyed monster,"
Edwin answered, skeptically.  “You think she was scared to death."  He did
not sound convinced by my theory.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's
not impossible."

"Actually, Abby, it is.  Jenny's dead.” 
He paused, to let it sink in.  “The police have listed the death as
undetermined, but there’s no evidence to suggest she was murdered.
"

"In other words, she drowned and that's good enough for
them.  Maybe that satisfies your curiosity."

"Abby, it's a tragic accident.  Let’s leave it at
that.  If you start telling people your two cents, they'll probably lock you up
in a mental ward.  You can't seriously believe your dead sister is out killing
people."

"My nightmares have become pretty intense lately.  I
thought it was because it's getting close to our birthday."

"Maybe that's why your hallucinations have been more
frequent, but that's all they are, Abby.  Hallucinations.  I was here the other
night with you.  Jennifer was not here.  I think I would have noticed another
woman in the room."

I narrowed my eyes at Edwin, knowing exactly how crazy I sounded. 
"Edwin, she was here.”

***

THE INVESTIGATION FOR SAMANTHA’S
death came and went as fast as her funeral service.  The sadness was crushing,
and yet I was unable to shed so much as a tear.  After the church service,
everyone made their way to the cemetery to say their final goodbyes.

Edwin parked his truck and waited for me to
grasp his arm, before we followed the long line of mourners.  The wet ground
was soft and my spiked heels sunk into the mud, aerating the lawn with each
step.  A group of people had already begun to congregate around the raised
casket in a u-shape.  As we neared the shiny waxed box, we found the open grave
surrounded in a carpet of flowers.

I glanced up at the patchy, grey sky.  It
looked like the clouds were going to open up and drop a storm on us.  That's
exactly how my insides felt.

The burial was terribly sad and I actually wanted to break
down and cry, but I couldn’t for fear that it would only fuel Jenny's
unidentified motives. 
After the priest said his last word, the
women in Samantha's family were handed a single red rose.  Taylor asked for two
yellow roses and handed one to me.

Wasting no time, I released Edwin's arm and
approached the deep, dark hole.  I stood at the foot of the casket and stared
into that hole; the pit that would soon be home to Samantha's cold, dead body. 
An eerie breeze urged me to be quick, so I tossed the long stem rose from my
fingers.  I had aimed for the casket and it rested there for a moment, but then
slid off the side and dropped into the hole.

I leaned forward to see where it had landed
and found Jenny's lifeless body lying in its place.  I covered my mouth and let
out an anguished shriek.  The other bystanders assumed I was grieving
Samantha's death, and I was clearly upset about that too, but I was more
worried that Jenny had something to do with it.

Without a single blink, I stared at Jenny's
pristine body.  Then I glanced over my shoulder to check if anyone else could
see what I was seeing.  No one seemed to notice.  I turned back to the hole and
all of a sudden Jenny opened her eyes.  They were glowing red with resentment
and I could sense an unhealthy rage seething within her.

"No!" I screamed.

Everyone stared as Edwin came to my side. 
He held me tight in his arms and kissed my hair.  Taylor joined us too,
reaching out for a hug.

"It's okay.  We're all going to be
okay," she said to me, between sobs.  She gently rubbed my back and it
seemed to soothe me.

I let them all believe I was grieving and
in a way I was.  I was heartbroken and traumatized that my twin sister was
being so unforgiving and committing deplorable crimes for my attention.

Taylor looked into my dry, bloodshot eyes. 
"There's a social gathering over at Sydney's Place after this.  Are you
two coming?"

"We'll be there," I whispered,
listlessly.

Edwin led me away, while the casket was
lowered.  All the women cried.  All but me.  I stared back with a steel gaze,
unable to feel anymore.

Later, at Sydney's Place, we joined our friends.  Edwin took
a seat next to Maddie, who had sandwiched Hunter in between herself and Aliah. 
Even with a sleeping baby in her arms, Maddie managed to pull out a dramatic
display of grief.  I wondered how long she had practiced that one in front of the
mirror this morning.

Maddie handed her baby over to Edwin, as emotions spilled
from her.  Hunter rubbed her back and eventually fell to her act.  He handed
Darien to Aliah, and consoled Maddie, who now had her face buried in her hands. 
The second Hunter caved, Maddie threw herself into his arms and cried on his
shoulder.  Aliah didn’t believe it either, but it looked like she had already
given up trying.

I looked away from their troubles, hoping for a change of
scenery.  Off in the distance I saw Cameron sitting with some of Samantha’s
extended family.  Not the change I was looking for.  At first I thought maybe
he'd rather grieve alone, but I soon realized that he was actually observing us
inconspicuously from afar.  He was watching
me
.

Subtle or not, he couldn't fool me and I wasn't even sure
that he was trying to.  He delivered me pointed glances of affection, while
attempting to maintain a blank expression on his face, but his adorably
wrinkled forehead shared his despair with anyone willing to figure him out.  It
pained me to be on the receiving end of all that disappointment.

In desperate need of some fresh air, I excused myself from
the table and headed for the door.  A few stray eyes watched me leave, but no
one followed.  As I left the dining room, I noticed Owen in the corner of the
lobby by himself.

"Owen?" I said, walking up behind him.  "Everything
alright over here?"

He cleared his throat, but refused to look at me.  "I'm
fine.  Don't worry about me."  He had clearly been crying and was
embarrassed by it.

I rested my hand on his back.  "You two were close. 
It's okay to be upset."

"This is messed up," he admitted, his eyes
reaching mine.  They were red and filled deeply with sadness, thickening the
air between us, until it became difficult to breathe.

Upset for my own reasons, I pulled him into my arms and
smoothed my hand up and down his back.  He squeezed me with all he had, as he
broke out in tears.

"She was so alive, Abby.  I barely got the chance to know
her, and now I never will."  Owen released me from his arms and smeared
away the tears.  "I must look like a total chump.  You aren't even crying
and you’ve known her way longer than I have."

I pressed my lips together in a firm line.  "I think I
must have emptied my reserves."

"I was starting to wonder if you were even human,"
Owen said teasing, but it hit me on a guttural level and I nearly toppled over
from the pain stabbing at my insides.

The room started to spin around me and I felt like I was
about to fall into a bottomless pit.  Tears were on the verge of spilling and,
at the sight of Cameron appearing in the small lobby, they did, twisting my
insides and dropping me into another man’s arms.

Owen held on tight, bearing all my weight, my toes barely
touching the floor.  "I'm so sorry.  I didn't mean to upset you.  Shit."

Cameron rushed to our side and reached for me.  “Come here,”
he ordered, and I couldn’t deny him that.

Feeling dizzy, I lifted my head from Owen’s shoulder and
found Cameron waiting for me with open arms.  My first sob escaped my mouth as
I crashed into his chest.  "Oh, Cameron," I cried, gripping onto him
like my life depended on it.

Owen stood there, stunned, as Cameron pet my hair and dropped
a kiss on my head.

“It's okay.  I'm here now," he whispered, wrapping me
in his warm, familiar arms.

Even more tears fell, my confusion overpowering my heart, now
beating out of my chest like an African drum.  Broken breaths cut off my air
supply, as I lifted my head from his chest, overcome with my mistakes.

"I don't want to hurt you," I choked, pulling out
of his arms, refusing to make eye contact.  "I have to go."  I ran
off, bursting out the exit, knees still weak, cheeks still wet.

Cameron stared blankly at the door, then looked to Owen for some
guidance.  Owen only shook his head side to side, knowing exactly what Cameron
was thinking.

"I have to," Cameron explained, then dashed
outside after me.

***

SADNESS HUNG OVER THE office for
weeks, and Miller couldn’t bring himself to hire a new secretary.  We all threw
ourselves into work, hoping to make the unnerving vacancy go away.  Nothing
made the vacancy go away.

After five long weeks, it was time to get back to some sense
of normalcy.  I met Aliah at the Westmount Fit Club, ready to burn off the extra
calories I had put on over the past few months.

"You and Hunter, you’re good?" I asked Aliah, as I
huffed and puffed on the elliptical trainer.

"I just needed time to lick my wounds," Aliah
admitted, not putting in half the effort I was.

"Things are back to normal then?"

“Normal,” she stated, reflecting on that single word.  Aliah
stopped what she was doing and turned to face me.  "Honestly, I don't
think our relationship will ever be
normal
again.  Hunter’s changed.  He
used to be all about me and making me happy.  Now it's always Darien this or
Melody Rae that.  And don't even get me started on Maddie.  I know the twins are
adorable and he wants to spend time with them, but he's being distant.  It's
like he's there with me, but he's not actually there, you know?"