Page 120 of Kings & Queen
Once she was ready, she sauntered over to me. The lavender sundress looked stunning, caressing her every curve. I pulled a blindfold from my pocket, and she gave me a suggestive look before presenting herself to me. Her eyes lowered first, then her breathing picked up, and the rise and fall of her chest had me groaning. The dress had a plunging neckline, and her breasts were calling my name.
Softly, I tied the blindfold around her head, kissing her cheeks before taking her hand and leading her to the table. Once she was seated and her plate of pancakes was placed before her, as well as the flowers, I removed the eye covering. She squealed and leaped up, wrapping her arms around me.
“They’re so pretty.”
“I picked them myself. The yellow roses, with their soft, vibrant petals remind me of how radiant, warm, and happy you always are.” I tucked a piece of errant hair behind her ear. “The alstroemerias are a reflection of your gentle nature, and they glow just like you are right now.” Tears filled her eyes as I spoke. “And the purple iris blooms just spoke to me. I know it’s your favorite color. And with their velvety deep hue, it felt symbolic of the depths of my feelings for you. When you look at them every day, I want you to be reminded of me. These speak of hope, forgiveness, and love. I hope you like them.”
She dissolved into tears, which I was expecting and prepared for. Rocking her in my arms, I waited for her to get it all out.
“I had Chef make you pancakes. You made them several times a week in Seattle, so I figured it was safe.” I pulled back from her and pushed her over to her chair.
“Sit with me,” she said, taking her seat and wavingto the other.
I took it but didn’t make myself a plate. Instead, I studied her as she poured the syrup and began cutting small bites. In the playful way that screamed Kinsley, she fed me a few bites. She swayed in her seat as she happily ate. Once she was done, I gave her my hand and pulled her into my arms.
Hugging her to my body and hearing her sigh contentedly warmed me inside. I leaned back and held up the blindfold again. She gulped but allowed me to tie it. Leading her down the hall and toward the stairs was comical.
In typical Kinsley fashion, she kept asking me a hundred questions, all of which I ignored. Once we reached the library, a burst of nervous energy ran through me. I realized how much I wanted this to go right. Nothing had ever been as important to me as this moment with her, and I took a deep breath to steady myself.
I led her deep into the room and got her settled on the leather couch. Her posture was ramrod straight, and it was as if she felt everything I was struggling with inside. I took several more measured breaths to stem my desire to flee and forget all about the plan. Right on cue, my mother entered. Her face was soft and melancholy. In her hands, she held all of her carefully preserved memory books and photo albums of our family.
Inside each one were writings and pictures. All the intimate hopes, prayers, and mementos a mother held in her heart for her children. They were filled to the brim with what our lives were like before tragedy had almost torn us apart. Her hands trembled as she handed them off. Tears filled her eyes, which caused my own to follow.
When I explained the reasoning on why I wanted to share them with Kinsley, she cried in my arms. Admitting to my mother the hurt and pain I’d caused the woman sitting on the couch hadn’t been easy. After her initial shock, her entire demeanor toward Kinsley changed. It helped they’d bonded the night before. My mother nodded and slipped from the library.
I returned to Kinsley’s side and laid out the albums on the coffee table in front of her. I picked up the first one; it was Alek’s. It seemed fitting that we start at the beginning. I laid it in her lap, and her hands immediately touched it, trying to figure out what it was.
“Little love, I want to share my world with you in a way I’ve never done before. Can you close your eyes for me?” I whispered before carefully untying her blindfold.
Her eyes were squeezed closed, and her heart thumped hard in her chest. I kissed her eyelids.
“Good girl. Now open them and take a journey with me.” Thick black lashes fluttered open, and her striking gray blues met mine before falling to the book in her lap.
“These are the memories of our family. We’ll start with Alek and work our way through. I want to introduce you to my sister. I want you to know her, as I knew her, as we knew her. As a daughter through my mother and father’s eyes, as a sister through mine and my brothers’. Because to know her is to know me on a different level. While the world has forgotten she ever existed, these remind us that she once lived a good life.”
She hugged the book to her chest and cried. I moved to her side, and she choked out, “Will you sit with me and tell me everything?” She patted the seat beside her. Once I was settled, she reached out with trembling hands and brushed her fingers over the cover of Alek’s book.
We spent the entire morning poring over the photos and memory books. With each story told, my burden felt lighter and the closer Kinsley and I became. After the last pages were turned, the memories and our conversation settled between us like a cozy, warm blanket. She rested her head against my shoulder, her hands gripping my book. Her voice, soft and quiet, broke the stillness.
“Do you think she would have liked me?”
I considered her question. My heart swelled with all the emotions I had stuffed down for years. In that instant, it was like Vanya was there. Her presence was so strong I took several deep breaths as the sensation stole over me, causing goose bumps to erupt across my arms.
I’d only shared the happy memories with Kinsley at this point. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go down the dark road ofafterwith her. My sister’s spirit made the decision for me. I knew without a doubt how my sister would have felt about her.
“Come with me, please.” I had to pry the book from her hands, she was gripping it so hard. I laid it down with the others and pulled her from her seat.
With her hand in mine, I led her out of the library and raced down the stairs. When we got to the second-story landing, I took her over to my sister’s old bedroom. I hesitated for a moment, getting my emotions under control. My heart was heavy with memories, but I pushed it open.
“Is this…?” she asked, her voice breaking as she stepped inside the room that had been frozen in time.
The walls were painted a soft lavender, and posters of some of my sister’s favorite grunge bands adorned the walls. The maids dusted in here weekly but left everything as it was the night she left. She’d only taken a bag filled with someclothes and a family heirloom and left everything else behind. On the dresser sat her MP3 player and headphones, the ring Sebastian had given her, as well as a picture of them from their mock wedding.
The bed was still neatly made and stood against one wall. The black-and-purple plaid comforter had been a compromise my mother had given in to. One of her favorite teddy bears that Sebastian had won at a fair sat in the same spot it always had—the center of the bed. On the nightstand, her diary lay closed.
“Mother couldn’t bring herself to touch a single thing. If you take a deep breath, you can smell her still. I swear, sometimes I think she comes in here and sprays Vanya’s favorite body spray. We’ve kept it this way, knowing she’d haunt us from the afterlife if we got rid of her favorite things.”
Her desk was cluttered with trinkets and mementos, and a bookshelf stood in the corner, with all the novels she’d loved so much. Kinsley’s eyes widened in awe. Her hand left mine, and emotions flickered in her gaze—sadness for someone she’d never known, pain for my family over missing her. She walked over to the bookshelf but didn’t touch anything.