[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

directed at Tristan, or Stan as she called him. He thought he should feel hurt, bitter or angry.
But none of those emotions would come to him. Tristan had taken something out of him with
his rejection. Perhaps it was the ability to feel.
Their flight was called. The flight attendants were expecting the twins and their guards
to board early to avoid the masses. Gabriel followed where he was led, barely
acknowledging the move from the terminal to the plane, sitting at a window seat next to
Tristan, or listening to the flight attendant begin her well-practised speech.
BROKEN Sage Whistler
76
The engines rumbled to life, the plane started to manoeuvre down the runway, and in
moments, they were in the sky. Gabriel held his hot-chocolate which had long gone cold and
stared out at the clouds flying by. His eyes drifted shut as the first spasm of pain speared
through his body. He didn t want to feel.
But he would.
The trouble with dreams is that, eventually, you have to wake up.
BROKEN Sage Whistler
77
Chapter Ten
The outside of the house wasn t what Gabriel remembered. It used to be white, or off-
white, because the siding had been old and dingy. Now the new siding was the blue of a
robin s egg. He hated it instantly. The bright new colour did not reflect the memories he had
here.
Gabriel hesitated on his way up the steps. Brogan, Mitch, and Jules waited outside
dutifully, ready to respond to any type of physical harm that came his way. There was
nothing they could do to stop what was hurting him now though.
Tristan walked in front of him but turned around when Gabriel stopped. Without
saying a word, Tristan held out his hand, seeming to know what Gabriel needed without
words: The strength to go on, to face the past, and possibly look into the face of the woman
who d born him but didn t love him at all.
He took that hand, more grateful than he could say, and followed his brother, his
strength, through the door. Inside was what he remembered, and with every step, Gabriel
felt like the rock star was stripped away until there was nothing but the frightened young
man he had been. Nothing had changed inside, not the hideous, flowered wallpaper, dark
wood furniture or ancient coffee-coloured carpet. The house even smelled the same, like
Pine-Sol and tobacco.
 How could you have stayed here?
Gabriel didn t realise he had said the thought aloud until Tristan answered.  I don t
know.
Tristan led him through to the den, where family members and friends nibbled on
finger-food, cried nosily into tissues and hovered around a tiny little woman with grey-
streaked blonde curls that sat in a LaZBoy, their father s LaZBoy.
Samantha Stalling looked older than her forty-nine years. Gabriel couldn t even recall
seeing the first strands of grey in her hair when he d left seven years ago or the lines that
now bracketed her eyes and mouth. Worry lines. Frown lines. Her shoulders were hunched,
BROKEN Sage Whistler
78
like something in her stomach hurt and she was trying to protect against a blow hitting that
area. Her nose and eyes were red from crying. The hand holding a tissue in her lap trembled.
Always wanting to please, a trait she had passed on to Tristan, Samantha was dressed
behind the times, in a polka-dotted dress that came well past her knees, a cream-sweater
better suited for a ninety-two year old and plain black, low-heel shoes. Her clothes were the
ones her husband had approved of. Gabriel wondered if she d dare to change now that he
was gone.
She looked up about the same time that everyone else spotted Gabriel and Tristan
standing in the middle of the den. Samantha s face showed surprise then relief. She got to her
feet, ignoring the helping hands that tried to aide her. Samantha Stalling came to her son. The
only one she claimed.
How his mother knew the difference between him and his brother, especially after
Tristan s makeover, Gabriel couldn t say. Mothers always seemed to have that intuition in
the face of their children. Samantha certainly didn t hug him. She fell into Tristan s arms and
cried like her heart was broken.
Each sob, echoed inside Gabriel s chest, hurtful, loud like nails on a chalkboard. Other
members of the family, Gabriel s aunts, Wendy and Susan, and his cousin Keith looked on
him with sympathy. It was Aunt Susan who moved forward to embrace him.
She murmured into his ear.  We re happy to have you home, Gabriel.
We? Indeed.
* * * *
The dinner table was quiet except for the sound of forks scraping against plates.
Tristan s two aunts had tried to stir up conversation, but other than Keith and Uncle
Bradford, no one seemed inclined to join in. For his part, Tristan didn t know what to say.
Sadness and anger built up inside him until it threatened to spill over. He d known their
mother had disapproved of Gabriel s lifestyle, but he hadn t expected her to be so indifferent [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]