Page 114 of Wanted

MANDY

I heard whimpers from upstairs as we entered the vacation home from the backdoor.

“Is everything okay up there?” Weston called, but there was no response from Valentina.

I couldn’t panic. I stepped away from Weston, and without making a sound, he shot me a questioning glare. I couldn’t. What if something was wrong with the baby?

On our way up the staircase, I bumped into Weston. I cursed under my breath. We rushed upstairs, and we had to switch on the lights because the sun had gone down. Weston pushed Aris’s door open, revealing a man standing in the middle of the room. The blinders were still up, and no lights were on in here. I could only see his shadow in the minimal light.

Immediately alert, I recollected where I stashed my backpack.

“What’s going on here?” Weston asked. “Who are you?”

The cackle that followed gave me goosebumps until I realized that it was a familiar sound. “Loosen up. It’s only me. I came to see my sister.”

I gulped down my shock, instant relief washing over me. Weston asked, “How did he get in here?”

“Yeah, how did I get in here?” Ryan asked. He stepped aside, revealing a shell-shocked Valentina. She didn’t move from the spot.

“I-I let him in,” she blurted out.

“Let’s have a coffee downstairs?” I suggested, ignoring the pain in my gut. “We weren’t expecting you. Where have you been, Ryan?”

Weston stared at Valentina, seeing something that I couldn’t detect. To me, she appeared fine. Her uncombed hair messed up her otherwise splendid outfit, but who could blame a pregnant woman for having strange hair? One glance at the unmade bed, and I knew that she’d spent the day enveloped in her husband’s old sheets.

“I’ve been around. What are you guys having for dinner?” Ryan asked. I could faintly see a grin on his face. It startled me.

“We’re not having anything for dinner. We already ate,” Weston revealed coldly. “Next time, announce yourself.”

“I’m allowed to visit my sister,” Ryan argued. Delight glazed his timid voice. “And Mandy. I missed you. We need to catch up.”

“Definitely,” I replied because it would’ve been rude to leave his statement in the air like that.

“Can I have an orange juice?” Valentina asked out of the blue.

I responded, “Yes, of course.”

An orange juice? I didn’t recall Valentina ever asking for OJ. Frowning, I led the crew out of Aris’s old room. Every step that I took helped my body, but it made me wince in discomfort. I had to move, though, or else I’d suffer even more consequences. I had to get my blood flowing.

“I’ll get the drinks,” Weston offered as soon as we reached the living room. His angry eyebrows and troubled gaze concerned me. I figured that he still hadn’t got over his animosity with Valentina’s brother.

“I’ll have a cappuccino,” Ryan said, taking a seat on the sofa with his legs spread wide. His posture attempted a manly look; if one could define a manly look, that is. With a puffed out skinny chest, Ryan gazed at his sister with baggage of emotions.

Weston cursed under his breath, disappearing into the kitchen.

“I have something I want to show you,” I told Ryan. “Let me get my backpack.”

“No need,” Ryan intervened. “Stay here with us. I haven’t seen you in so long.”

My eyes followed Ryan’s gaze that was fixed on Valentina’s swollen belly covered by one of Aris’s button-down shirts, probably from school. We all caught ourselves staring at Valentina’s belly sometimes, wondering what was going on in there. How was the baby feeling today? What would she look like once she was out?

Ryan’s eyes didn’t carry such questions.

“Why aren’t you guys staying at the palace?” Ryan asked. He trailed Valentina with his eyes as she took a seat on the other end of the sofa.

“We needed a timeout,” I said. Valentina’s eyes were lifeless, and I didn’t know what to do about it. She and Weston weren’t entertaining Ryan because they had their issues with him, but I couldn’t help but feel responsible for making him comfortable here. He’d come all this way to see us. “The palace gets so busy sometimes. Weston thought it’d be best for me to recover in the South Side.”

“Why is my sister here?” Ryan asked, and the twitch in his eyes made me shift in my seat.