Healing Haven - Book 2 in Haven Series [Complete]

4| - Blurred lines

Shock was a jolt up Alyssa's spine and the words 'Who are you?' bubbled up inside of her. This woman standing before her in a pixie cut and oversized button-up, battered jeans and converse. Her face pretty but plain, and large tawny eyes bright and unjaded.

Nothing about the present reality jived with past memories, and when the two layered overtop the other, the edges blurred—not quite lining up. Not quite exact. Too many things were different. Changed.

But entirely unfazed, or thrown off, smiling through tears, Eva threw her arms around Alyssa, dragged her close. The first lurch of feeling happened in Alyssa's heart, the second—her gut. A tangled mixed of emotions, all hot and cold and complicated went to war inside of her. How was she supposed to feel after all this time?

Alyssa pulled back, tried to smile but her face felt tight. Forced. "You look...different."

They'd both had waist length hair once. Their mom had refused to cut it when they were kids and they'd both maintained that glossy length as women. But Alyssa's had lost hers to chemo—and she'd had hopes to grow it back out to its former glory. To return to normal and the way things were.

"So do you." Laughing Eva stroked a finger across the stripe of purple in Alyssa's hair. "Isn't this a violation of the corporate dress code policy? I thought people got fired for less."

Ice shot through the heat, cooling whatever good mood seeing her sister again had sparked.

A snap of a camera sliced through the moment, loud as a gun fired by Alyssa's ear. Startled, she turned to see a woman—breathtaking, stunning—a few feet away with a professional grade DSLR in hand. Sun burst in through the back windows, haloing her fiery red hair—the colour deepened in a salon—and fell to the center of her back in a wild, glorious length.

Which now accounted for the voices she'd heard above the music when Marshall had ducked out with the dogs.

"Sorry, didn't mean to break the moment. It was just too perfect." The redhead looked up, her eyes, a searing shade of grey softened with happy tears. "I wanted to document this first meeting for Eva. I'm Jenelle. Your sister by marriage, soon enough."

Crossing the room, Alyssa expected a handshake or maybe a more metropolitan kiss on the cheek, instead—much like her brother—Jenelle went in for a fierce, bone-cracking kind of hug. Pulling back, Alyssa was forced to tip her head up to meet her gaze. At a paltry five four, Alyssa was used to being dwarfed, but this woman had more on her than just inches. She had a presence about her that was all runway and Amazonian goddess bundled into a sensual package.

Keeping a white knuckled grip on her purse, Alyssa forced another smile, this one a lot harder to manage. "I didn't know there was anyone else here."

"I couldn't wait to meet you. And we had to finalize a few details for next weekend. We wanted to have a little kind of party. A celebration, you know?"

Alyssa must have paled because Jenelle leapt in quickly to add, "Nothing crazy. Just a few near and dear. My parents of course, Eva's friend Claire Willows and her daughter Sam. My brother Ethan, who works at the precinct, and my younger sisters are also here for the weekend—they're a couple of terrorists, but you'll love them."

Alyssa slid her gaze to Eva as Jenelle prattled off at least another half dozen names, her look full of silent imploring but found that the connection she'd so easily shared with her twin wasn't there. Once they'd been able to communicate without words and now...now it was like trying to learn a whole new language without the benefit of a translator to guide her.

They spoke around her, something about going to the kitchen for wine and Alyssa numbly followed along. Offering a nod or a smile where applicable. But a noise buzzed in her ears. Loud. Deafening. A glass was thrust into her hands, a chilled white wine. Alyssa brought it to her lips, sipped carefully. Slowly. Needing that crisp chill to soothe the ache in her throat.