Chapter 0316
Dylan gave Logan Natalie’s number, and after hanging in with Dylan, I took Logan’s phone into the quest bedroom to make the call. Logan offered to join me, but I refused.
“This is between sisters,” I told him.
He seemed to understand.
Alone now in the bedroom with the door closed, I sat on the edge of the double bed and made the call.
Natalie didn’t answer right away. The phone rang and rang so long that I thought I might have to leave a message. Yet, just as I was thinking what to say in a voicemail, she picked up.
1 always knew you’d come crawling back,” Natalie said, her voice low and sultry.
I was confused for a moment, until I realized I was calling her from Logan’s phone. Of course, she thought I was him.
“Did you miss me, baby?” she asked.
“Natalie, it’s me.” I said.
She went very quiet. I could have called her out on her blatant flirtations with my husband, but knowing that would derail every inch of goodwill I’d hoped to gain with this call, I let it slide this time.
“You have a lot of nerve calling me,” Natalie said, when she’d had enough time to recover. She didn’t need all that long. She must have known, deep down, that Logan wouldn’t actually call her again.
“I was hoping we could talk about what’s happening,” I said.
“Oh? You mean about how you humiliated our parents so badly that they kicked me out of the house,” Natalie snapped, her voice filled with ire.
“They kicked you out?” I didn’t understand. “You were the favorite”
“That didn’t matter when this bullshit truth came out. They said their friends were talking about them. They didn’t have a choice but to cut me out.”
our
Even hearing her explain, the words didn’t sink in. For our entire lives well, since the adoption parents had treated Natalie like the only one who mattered. She was adored, held up above anything and everything else.
To find out that those feelings weren’t real…
God, why did they adopt at all?
“I’m homeless now and it’s all your fault,” Natalie snapped.
As much as I disliked my sister, I didn’t want her to be out on the street, especially because of Mr. Hatfield Senior’s spite against Logan and me. If she’d fallen out of favor with our parents on her own, I might not have minded as much.
Although… Natalie, as terrible as she was, was my sister. It was hard to turn my back on her, even when she deserved it.
1/3
Chapter 16
“Where are you now?” I asked. Listening closely, I didn’t hear any noises that would hint she was outside somewhere. In fact, a television was on low in the background. Perhaps she was crashing at a friend’s house? As long as she was safe, I’d be satisfied.
“None of your damn business,” Natalie said. “You are probably thrilled by all this, aren’t you? You finally have all the attention you’ve always wanted.”
“I never cared about the attention.”
“Bullshit.”
I only ever wanted to be cared for and loved.”
“Get over yourself,” Natalie said. “You couldn’t be happy for Chance and me. You stole Logan away. And now you are trying to burn down my whole life. Why don’t you admit that you’ve always hated me? Every act you’ve ever made has been against me.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Yes, I was jealous of how much our parents doted on you, but I never hated you until you started treating me as something subhuman. Even then, I didn’t want to shit on your life. I just wanted one of my own.”
Natalie scoffed like she didn’t believe me. “Did you know about all this? That we’re adopted.”
“No,” I said, “I only found out today with everyone else.”
They say our birth mother was some kind of drug addict.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“What a sick joke,” Natalie said. “Fucking us up as bables and now fucking up our lives again from beyond the grave.”
This wasn’t our birth mother’s fault. All of what was happening to us now was on the shoulders of Mr. Hatfield Senior. I didn’t know how to properly explain that without getting into more detail than I was ready to share with Natalie.
“I don’t think she’s responsible…” I offered weakly.
Before I could say anything else, a voice spoke up in the background of the call.
“Babe. I’m going to the store. You want anything?”
Wait. I knew that voice. Was that… Chance?
“Get me those chocolates you know I like,” Natalie said.
“Anything for you, babe.”
The sound of a closed mouth kiss came through the speaker.
“I’ll be back,” Chance said.
So Natalie had gone back to Chance, then. Likely staying with him.
Honestly, it was a relief. She had a roof over her head and someone to dote on her. The two deserv each other.
Chapter 0316
“I’m glad you are okay,” I said.
I’m so far from okay,” Natalie insisted.
“Sure,” I replied. Then with a smirk, I added, “Enjoy your chocolates”
Natalie groaned. “Why did you even call?”
“To check on you.”
“Okay. Why did you really call?”
I paused a moment, thinking it over. “You’re the only one in the whole world who knows what I’m going through right now.”
“Don’t lump me in with all that,” Natalie said. “Our birth mother was a drug addict and our adopted parents are assholes. This isn’t a bonding experience.”
in
this, I
It kind of was, but I couldn’t argue with her rejection. If she didn’t want to stand beside me couldn’t make her.
Maybe calling was a mistake after all. Though I was glad to know she was safe.
“I should go,” I said.
“Don’t call again,” Natalie said and hung up.
Looking at the phone, I wondered when I had truly lost my sister. Maybe I never really had her at all.
When I leave the bedroom and return to the living room, Tammy had moved beside Logan on the couch ,and they were looking at something on her phone. They all looked up at me as I came closer.
Logan stood at once and pulled me into his arms for a tight, full–bodied hug. Sighing, I sagged against him, letting the warmth of his comfort and support prop me up again.
Gently, he traced his hands up and down my back.
When I was ready, I stepped back from him and gave him a small, shaky smile in thanks. He nodded, as if to say, anytime.
Together we returned to the couch.
Tammy turned her phone toward me. “We’ve been doing some research into Farhaven.”
She had a map open on her phone. With so few streets, it must have been a small town.
“There’s only one cemetery in town,” Tammy said. “We looked into it and they have the graves marked…”
Was she suggesting I go visit my birth mother’s grave?
I looked at Logan for answers.
“It’s only a half hour drive, and not too far out of the way on our drive home,” he said. “I thought it might help bring you some closure to see it. To know she lived.”
Tammy encouraged me. “If you are looking for answers and for guidance, you might find it there.”
