“The airport,” Evie said, looking out the window with tears brimming in her eyes.
“Where you headed?” he asked, pulling out into the heavy traffic.
“I’m going home.”
Chapter 21
The taxi pulled up in front of the small house. It was well-maintained with a pretty, grassy yard and spring flowers blossoming, lining the white picket fence.
Evie got out of the cab while the driver got her suitcase. Taking it from him, she turned toward the house then headed up the sidewalk. She bent down next to a decorative rock, and turning it over, she located the key Beth had promised to leave for her.
Evie unlocked the front door and stepped inside, pausing inside the doorway to turn on the lights since the shades were all drawn.
“Welcome home, Evie,” she said out loud to herself, staring around the empty house.
Beth and Lily had cleaned out all their things, and Evie had signed the papers the day before she left for Texas.
“Enjoy your trip?” Evie stiffened when she heard the voice behind her.
Turning around, she kept her face an expressionless mask. “Brooke, what do you want?”
“Can’t I come by and say hello to my sister?”
“You’re not my sister.”
Her fake laughter sounded off the empty walls. “I saw your taxi driving by as I was coming out of the church. Not much goes on in this sleepy, little town, does it?”
“Then leave. Go back to New York. Hell, go home to Georgia; I’m sure Mom misses you.” Evie was proud of the lack of resentment in her voice.
“Aren’t you getting too old to still be jealous of mine and mom’s relationship?”
“I’m not jealous at all; you two are just alike.”
“Let’s not start that again. I came by to say hello. It’s time we started being sisters again. Twins are supposed to be close.” Her hand rubbed over the baby bump that had grown in size since she had left.
“We may have been fraternal twins, but we have never been close. You made sure of that, Brooke, not me.”
“Don’t tell me you’re still holding a grudge?”
Evie’s face whitened. “It’s because of you I was raped! Did you think I would ever forgive you? You had Thompson wrapped around your finger. He was the one who egged those men on when we got back to base.”
“I did not.”
“Don’t fucking lie about it anymore, Brooke. He told Shade the truth. The dumb fuck would have done anything to make you happy. He called you when we got back to base, told you how the men were treating me. Then, when they started drinking, you told him to take his friends to my quarters. You told them I put out enough in high school that I would enjoy it.” Evie was practically screaming at her.
Brooke’s face didn’t change expression, but Evie could see from the malicious gleam in her eyes that she was accomplishing her goal of upsetting her. Brooke had always pushed her buttons; she did it deliberately to get the reaction she wanted. Her twin was sick; that was why Evie had joined the Navy, to escape her influence when her mother had refused to see the truth.
“I was a virgin. You knew that, yet you sent those men after me.”
“How was I to know you were still a virgin? You and Shade were constantly together in high school. You joined the Navy together. You, Shade and Levi. The three of you were together all the time,” Brooke mocked her, the hatred she felt blazing from her eyes.
“You couldn’t take it, could you, Brooke? I told you there wasn’t anything between me and Shade. You knew I was in love with Levi, that we were going to get married when we got out of the service.” Evie briefly closed her eyes.
The friendship the three had shared had been strong. Evie and Levi had been high school sweethearts. When Shade had come to their school their junior year, he and Levi had become friends. The three of them had become close, going on double dates, sharing dreams, and graduating together. Afterwards, the three of them had decided to join the Navy together.
“But it was Shade you were constantly talking to, it was his shoulder you cried on when you were raped, and it was his house you went to when you were discharged.” Brooke was almost screaming at her, her face turning an ugly color of red.
“How could I go home, Brooke? You had already convinced Mom it was all my fault, that I had made those charges up. After Levi died, I had no reason to go back to Georgia, did I?”
“You’re going to blame me for Levi’s death, too?”
I’m not going to lose control, Evie kept telling herself over and over.
“No, that was his fault. I told him to stay away from Thompson and his friends. I warned him they wouldn’t fight fair, and they didn’t. Thompson sucker-punched him; his falling and hitting his head was an accident.”