I turned off my car, but I didn’t get out. I sat in the silence and studied my sister sitting on the cement with her legs crossed and her back resting against the front door to the dance studio. There was a suitcase beside her, and I knew then her relationship had ended. This was her return. Her eyes met mine and even in the limited lighting, I could see the dark circles under them. Her fair skin was more pale than normal. Phoenix was dealing with hurt as well. It was clear in her eyes.
I wanted to curl up and cry until I was too tired to cry anymore, but my sorrow would have to wait. I could see without hearing her say a thing that my sister needed me. She was carrying her own pain inside and like always she was coming to me to unload it. I’d have to listen, advise, and give her a shoulder to cry on. My tears had to be put on hold. Taking a deep breath, I wiped away what was left of them on my cheeks and did the best I could to compose myself and get a firm lock on my emotions before getting out of the car.
Phoenix stood up as I walked toward her. She had lost some weight which was unnecessary and made her appear fragile. My sister was not a fragile person. She was headstrong, determined, outspoken, extroverted, and at times mean as hell. She was by no means fragile. However, right now she appeared to be and that worried me. I had never seen her like this.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked her as I stopped in front of her and then grabbed her chin so I could study her thin, pale, face closely. When she didn’t jerk away from me with a smartass comment, I knew this must be bad. She was not okay. This was not my feisty sister.
“I’ve been sitting on that hard concrete for two hours and my butt is sore. What’s wrong with you?” was her reply. That sounded more like Phoenix even if she didn’t currently look like the smartass she was, at least there was fight left in her.
“I fell in love with a man who doesn’t love me, he had secrets, I knew he did, the secrets came out tonight, he ran off without a word, I don’t know when I will see him again. Now what happened to you?” I knew my sister well enough to know she’d evade answering until she had the Cliff Notes on why my eyes were red and swollen. I wasn’t a crier.
She frowned. “You fell in love with Eli Hardy?” she asked, sounding shocked.
“Yes, but I didn’t tell you his name,” I pointed out.
“Nate told me you were seeing him,” she explained. Then she sighed so heavily her thin shoulders lifted dramatically before falling back into the slump they were in before. “He was married,” she said.
Yes, I had heard Eli was married. The woman outside Live Bay had said as much. How on earth did Phoenix know that? “How did you know about Eli’s marriage?” I asked confused and suddenly feeling even more lost.
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Holy shit,” she said then continued to gape at me. My confusion was mounting. “Eli Hardy is married?”
“Wait . . . you didn’t know Eli was married then who were you talking about?” I asked, realizing then she hadn’t been talking about Eli when she had stated he was married. Even as I worked through it all in my head, it began to become clear. “Oh no,” I said, understanding now what Phoenix had been telling me.
“Yeah, he told me yesterday morning. When I walked into the apartment to find his wife there. She was surprising him. Her and their two little boys.” Phoenix’s voice sounded void of emotion, but her eyes told a different story.
“Bastard,” I said angrily, thinking of how he’d not only used my sister but he’d cheated on his family. There was no reason to continue this outside. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her against me in a hug before unlocking the door and opening it for her to go inside. “Is that suitcase all you have?” I asked her as she picked up the handle to roll it.
“It’s all I took the time to get.”
I didn’t press her for more. Once she was inside and headed for the loft entrance, I locked the door behind me and followed her in silence. My broken heart still throbbed painfully in my chest. Tears still clogged my throat as I thought of Eli and the desire to see him. Hold him. The fear I may never get a chance to do that again gripping me so tightly in my chest it hurt to breathe.