Back to Me without you (Sibling Love Book 1) (2 page)

“September.”

“As in next year. Well, that’s okay. I think we’ll be able to plan a wedding in a year—”

“No, not next year. September, as in next month.”

Okay, so Abby could understand about an engagement after one month of dating, but planning a wedding in a month? Why was she rushing into marriage so quickly?

“I know that’s not much time, but this is why I’m telling you first. I figure you’d need a chance to get your head around it and plan. I want you at the wedding, as my maid of honour.”

As hard as it was to hear the news, Abby couldn’t blow off her sister’s wedding. Jessica would never forgive her if she did that. “Of course, I’ll be there, and I am honoured to stand beside you as your maid of honour.”

“Good because Steven is going to walk me down the aisle. After everything that we’ve been through, I just want my brother and sister there for me on my special day. Do you think you’ll be able to take time off from work to be here for me? I know that you’ve got deadlines to meet but I need my big sister as well,” she said.

“I reckon I’ll be able to make it work. That’s the beautiful thing about my job. I can take it with me and still be able to make my deadlines.”

They talked for another couple of minutes. Jessica explained how she had so much to do in such a short amount of time. It would be worth it though; she couldn’t wait to get married.

Abby would be there for her. Maybe if she and Steven were all in the same place at the same time, then they might be able to talk some sense into Jessica.

Six days later, Abby sat on an airplane taking off for Sydney, Australia.

She hadn’t been home for almost a year. Her first time home since her parent’s funeral hadn’t been an easy time. Everywhere she’d looked, she was reminded of who wasn’t there anymore, and she’d vowed never to go back to Australia for another holiday again. She wasn’t good at facing her problems head on. She liked to skip them altogether.

Some good that did.

She loved Steven and Jessica. She did. But being in Australia was way too difficult. There was so much pain she wasn’t ready to deal with just yet. Besides, she had built a new life for herself in New York City. Steven and Jessica were always welcome there whenever they liked. They had already taken her up on the offer a couple of times.

Abby settled into the window seat with her carry-on. She hoped no one would sit beside her, but it would be rare to have a row all to herself, especially in economy. She put her reading glasses on and pulled her long, wavy, chocolate-brown hair into a low ponytail to secure it into place. It was something she always did when she had work to do.

She checked her e-mails one last time and sent hurried messages to Steven and Jessica to let them know that she had boarded the plane. She would be arriving at Sydney Airport in another 20 hours and 22 minutes. Then she switched off her device, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She was prepared for take-off.

Not a big fan of the take-off, she shut her eyes instead of looking out the window. With her eyes still closed, she felt someone sit down in the seat beside her when their arm bumped hers by accident.

She should have splurged on a first class ticket.

“Hello.” His voice was deep and American, not at all like her Australian accent. Abby instantly envisioned him as tall, dark and handsome, like one of the cover models on her romance books.

“You nervous about flying too?” he asked, seemingly unfazed by the fact she hadn’t yet opened her eyes.

Couldn’t he see she wasn’t in the mood to chat? She sighed, then prepared herself to force a polite smile. “No, I just don’t like the taking off part. My stomach feels as though it’s tied into knots.”

Opening her eyes, she found herself face to face with a blue-eyed, blond-haired man with the subtle hint of a five o’clock shadow. He couldn’t be more than 30 years old. He wasn’t tall, dark and handsome, but he was still gorgeous.

Oh, God, why do you like to torture me so much?

It was a question Abby often found herself asking. It seemed that when good-looking men entered her life, it was often for the wrong purpose—just looking for casual sex—or at the wrong possible time, like now. She had a wedding to try to stop. That’s what she was heading home for. But she managed to give him a smile.

“Hi,” she said. “Do you not like planes?”

He shook his head as he buckled his seatbelt and sunk into his chair. “No, can’t say that I do. They’re more my brother’s thing.”

“Have you ever been on a plane before?” She didn’t mean to pry into his personal life, but if he felt the need to talk to her first, then she may as well make small talk with him.

“In one word—no,” he paused for a moment. “I ’ve never had any need to be on one until now. But I guess you have. Your accent. It’s Australian, right?”

Abby found it strange that a grown man had never been on a plane until now. “What? No holidays via air? And yes, I’m Australian.”

He shook his head, and despite herself, Abby couldn’t help but notice his chiselled jaw. His eyebrows lifted. “Are you always this sarcastic? I’ve been on holidays, but I prefer the driving kind. What’s more, with my work, I rarely get time off. Are you going home?”

“Home? Australia? No, New York City is my home now. But my family lives in Australia, so I’m visiting them. What about you?”

“I’m meeting up with my brother and the rest of my family who are on their way there as well. By the way, I’m Sam.” He extended his hand towards her.

She didn’t accept the offered handshake. Instead, she just nodded her head. “I’m Abby.”

He gave her a charming smile that no doubt worked on a lot of women, but it wasn’t going to work on her. In her experience, men like Sam were only after one thing. And she’d had her share of experiences with gorgeous men. She was often told she was a stunner. She wasn’t sure that was true, but she seemed to attract extremely good-looking men. Once they got what they wanted, however, they ditched her for someone else. She was through playing that game and had been for a while now.

The flight attendant approached, advising them to buckle their seat belts and flashed a smile at Sam. Abby could have sworn she winked at him too as she offered him some peanuts and a drink.
Good lord
. Abby sat back in her seat and prepared herself for what would likely be an interesting flight.

T
wenty hours later, Abby’s flight had touched down at Sydney International Airport. After a long flight, she was happy to be walking through the terminal and far away from her seating companion, Sam.

She wanted to make sure she never saw his charming smile again.

During their flight, all had been going well. Abby managed to avoid talking to Sam by plugging her iPod into her ears and, turning the volume up loud enough to block out his voice. That was until she had asked for a coffee and Sam had somehow managed to spill it all over her good royal-blue top. To make matters worse, she couldn’t change her clothes because her they were in her checked luggage. So she smelled of coffee for most of the flight.

Abby made her way through the terminal, heading to the baggage claim area. Despite her reason for coming, she was finally home in Australia, and it felt good to be back. New York City might be where she now lived, but Australia was always home to her. She’d always be an Aussie girl living in the Big Apple.

Abby pushed through the busy crowd of people as she located her luggage. Once she found it, she made her way towards the exit, walking out into the cool mid-morning air. With her handbag on one shoulder and toting her other bag behind her, she hailed a waiting taxi along the side of the drop-off and pick-up bay.

As she made her way to the vehicle, a tall figure brushed past her in a hurry, climbing into the taxi she hailed.

“Asshole,” she said loudly enough for him to hear her. When he turned around and looked at her through the rear window, she saw Sam’s face. His eyebrows lifted in surprise as the taxi pulled away from the kerb.

“Yeah, that’s right. I was talking to you, asshole,” Abby growled, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her anymore. “I hope karma comes back to you with a vengeance.”

“Now that’s some fine gutter talk to come out of a lady.”

She turned towards the voice and saw her brother standing by the driver’s side of his utility vehicle with a cheeky grin plastered on his face, his arms folded over his chest.

“Steven!” She ran into his waiting arms.

“Same old Abby, I see. Remind me never to get on your bad side,” he said as they embraced.

Abby finally pulled away from him, slapping him on the shoulder. Even with her heels on, her head only came up to Steven’s chest. He towered over both her and Jessica. He got his height from their father, where Abby and Jessica were both short like their mother.

“You heard that?” she asked him.

Steven chuckled. “I can see your feisty attitude hasn’t changed much.”

“Believe me, he had it coming,” Abby muttered as Steven loaded her luggage into the back of his Toyota Hilux. She peered in through the windows, half-expecting to see her sister inside. “Where’s Jess?”

“Jess chose to go to university today. As much as she wanted to come and pick you up, she knew you wouldn’t want her blowing off lectures. I’m glad you didn’t get that taxi, or I would have wasted a drive here.” He raked one hand through his short scruffy hair.

“Well, maybe if I’d known you were going to be picking me up, I wouldn’t have made as ass out of myself.”

“Hey! Watch it! I’m sleep deprived. I just finished a shift at the fire station. I can leave you here to get a taxi if that’s what you want.”

“Oh yes, you’re so tired, and I’m assuming you worked hard fighting fires all night. I’m so proud of my brother the hero,” Abby joked.

“I am a hero. I’m told that all the time.”

“But I’m sure your shift consisted of you sleeping in one of the beds or watching television as you waited for a call to come in. Am I right?”

“I can’t say. Firehouse code. Come on, let’s get going. I do want to beat the peak hour traffic home, or we’ll be stuck on the road forever. And you know I don’t do well in traffic congestion.”

Abby missed these banters with her brother while she was absent. She laughed at his response as she climbed into the passenger seat of his utility vehicle while he loaded her belongings into the back.

Steven climbed into the driver’s seat. “Thank you for coming to pick me up,” Abby said as she buckled her seat belt.

“You’re welcome. I figured I’d surprise you. After all, I am a great brother.”

“You’re also my only brother, so I have no one to compare you to. But now that we’re alone without Jessica, I can ask you why you didn’t stop our sister from getting engaged.”

Steven should have seen this conversation coming as he turned the key in the ignition and started the engine. “What do you mean? I have no say in what our sister does. Nor do you. Jessica does as she chooses.”

Abby knew he had a point. For as long as she could remember, their sister was always doing what she wanted.

“And just so you know,” Steven added, steering the vehicle into the left lane. “I do not like it that Jess has only known him for two months. But it’s out of our hands. You know that when she has an idea into her head, there’s no stopping her. She has it in her head that she is about to marry this guy. All we can do is hope for the best and support her.”