Back to Me without you (Sibling Love Book 1) (6 page)

“Sam?”

Abby felt the eyes of the others turn toward her and Sam.

Jessica looked in confusion from her sister to Sam and then back to Abby. “Wait—do you know each other already?”

“I guess you could say that,” Sam said, tucking his hands into the pockets of what Abby could only assume were tailored pants.

Did no one in the Collins family dress casual?

“We met on the plane to Sydney. We were seat buddies,” he continued.

“And then he spilt coffee on my blouse,” Abby was quick to point out.

Steven ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “So I guess I should be thanking you for stealing my sister’s taxi then. I would have wasted my petrol had she gotten a taxi.”

“Wait—” Justin began. He was starting to realise his brother and Jessica’s sister had already met. “You spilt coffee on her? Nice move,” he said with one shake of his head. “And I thought I was the clumsy one in our family.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I felt bad enough as it was. I don’t need any more flak from you.”

He turned toward Abby, his vibrant blue eyes almost poking her in the face. Abby had the suspicion those eyes worked to get him just about any damn woman he wanted. Except for her.

“I didn’t realise you were the sister of the bride.”

“Well, of course you didn’t. My personal life never came up in conversation. Not that I would have let you know. You were a stranger,” Abby quipped back in response. “But yes, I’m Abby and I’m Jessica’s older sister. And it’s Abby spelt with a y.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind my sister. I promise she’s friendly once you get to know her, but now you can see why she doesn’t have a boyfriend. I’m Jess and it’s so nice to meet you. You’ve already met my sister but over here is my favourite big brother, Steven.” Jessica stood and pointed towards Steven.

“I’m also your only brother, Jess. Of course I’m going to be your favourite one,” Steven chimed in with one of his trademark smirks.

Abby watched her brother shake hands with Sam as she rose from her chair. “I’m ordering something to drink,” Abby exclaimed.

“Hold on, I’ll join you,” Jessica added. She got to her feet, draping her bag over one shoulder, leaving the guys to talk amongst themselves.

When they walked out of earshot, Jessica linked her arm with Abby’s, whispering with a slight snicker. “It’s amazing that you already know Justin’s brother.”

Abby didn’t like the sound of optimism filling her sister’s voice. It wasn’t a big of a deal, after all. He was just another guy she had met on the plane who also happened to be Justin’s older brother. It was nothing. “Why is it amazing?”

“Well, because he’s Justin’s best man and you’re my maid of honour. It’s crucial that you can like each other.”

“I wouldn’t say I like the guy. He was rude to me.”

“What happened is in the past. I know your first impression of someone stays with you, but for my sake, you’re going to tolerate him, right?”

“Why would I do that?” The question had slipped out of Abby’s mouth before she had a chance even to realise what she said.

Jessica dipped her head towards Abby’s shoulder, showing her puppy dog eyes. “You’re my big sister and you love me so much. You want the day to go as smoothly as I do. Therefore, you’re going to tolerate Sam.”

“Fine. For your sake, I will try to be civil with the guy.”

“That’s all I want,” Jessica said, wearing a dopey grin on her face.

Even if it killed Abby to make that promise, she meant it. She just wanted to see her little sister happy. If that meant she would have to make nice with the best man, then she would have no choice but to do it, whether she liked him or not.

After lunch, Abby left the cafe to go home with Steven, while Jessica headed to a lecture at the University. Before they went their separate ways, Abby pulled her younger sister aside. “Are you sure about this? Remember, there’s no rush.”

Jessica nodded her head, pulling her dark brown hair into a ponytail and sweeping it to the side so it wasn’t in her face. “I am. I had my reservations at first but now I know I’ve never been sure of anything in my life. I want to marry Justin. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. Besides, it wasn’t even his idea to get married. It was mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t want to let you know because I know you would think my heart isn’t into it, but I was the one to suggest to Justin that we get married. His visa expires in October, which means he would need to leave to go back. We’re both not ready for that to happen. He can only stay here if he marries an Australian citizen. Just don’t say anything to Steven. I haven’t told him,” Jessica pleaded with her sister, clasping her hands together and giving Abby a sad-eyed little puppy look.

“So this is why you’re getting married so early? Did he pressure you into it?”

Jessica vehemently shook her head. “No, it’s like I said. I asked him to marry me because I knew it was the only logical solution to our dilemma. He didn’t even go along with me at first. He called my idea ridiculous, but he also knew how much we both meant to each other and that we didn’t want to be away from each other.” Jessica drew in a deep breath. “I’m only telling you because I had to tell somebody, but I also don’t want to endure one of your lectures about how we haven’t known each other long enough to get married. Okay? We know each other enough to know that we wish to spend our lives together. That’s good enough for me and it should be safe enough for you. You’re my sister. You should be happy for me because I’m your sister. And the only sister you have.”

“Well, of course I’m going to be happy for you. You’re my little sister and you’re going to do whatever you want to do regardless of what Steven and I think. It’s what you have always done, but as your big sister, it’s also my job to look out for you and make sure you’re doing what you want to do.”

“I know that. And this is what I want to do. But thank you for looking out for me. I feel privileged to have you and Steven support me the way that you do. I have the best big brother and big sister.”

“We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Abby hugged her younger sister just as Steven joined them at the car.

“Aw, how sweet. Can I join your little sibling hug or is this just a sister thing? I mean, last time I checked I was an integral part of your family. I am a Collins, too,” Steven interrupted as he approached his sisters.

Jessica and Abby laughed and pulled their brother into the embrace.

“Oh, of course, you’re one of us, little brother,” Abby said.

“Yeah, you’re our only brother. No one else gets us like you.”

“Except for your fiancé now,” Steven said, wrapping one arm around his little sister’s shoulders. “At least I can now distribute the load of your chick drama to someone else. Justin and I can compare notes.”

Jessica thumped her brother on the arm. “Oh, you’re so funny, big brother. Is that all you’re happy about? Your little sister is getting married and you only care that you won’t be the only guy in the family anymore.”

“You got it!” Steven showed a crooked smile. “But I mean, of course I am happy that you’ve found someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, too. But you know that already. I told you that when you first told me you had gotten engaged.”

Jessica peeled her eyes away from her siblings to glance at the gold watch on her wrist. “Crap! I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late to class.”

“Will we see you tonight?” Abby asked her.

Jessica nodded her head. “Well, I will be home, but who knows about our womanising brother over here. He’s not usually home when I get back home from class.”

Steven surrendered his hands in the air. “You can’t expect me to sit at home all the time. I have a life to live. You won’t find me home tonight. I’ve got other plans. I’m going out for a beer or two with some mates from work to celebrate my sister’s news.”

“Oh, sure. You’re celebrating my news. Even if I weren’t engaged, you would be going out. Don’t use me as an excuse.” Jessica folded her arms over her chest with a grin on her face.

Steven showed his typical smirk, the one he undoubtedly had used plenty of times on women he wanted to hook up with. “Well, in my line of work, I view a lot of heartache and tragedy. I want to go out and have fun while I still can.”

“Enough with the banter. I will see you later,” Abby told her sister. “You need to go to class before you miss your entire lecture. We can’t have your grades suffering just because you’re getting married. I still demand to see my baby sister graduate and become a teacher. Besides, that’s why you have Steven and me here. We’ll help you plan the wedding.”

“Speak for yourself,” Steven argued. “I’m here to help my sister, but I am not going to engage in planning and making arrangements for flowers, dresses and things like that. I can think of better things to do, and besides, I have a job which requires me to fight fires and rescue people.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t use your role as a firefighter as an excuse for everything. We’ve heard it all before,” Jessica said with a little grin. “But I must be going now or I will be late to class, and you’re right, I do not wish to flunk out of university. I have a year and a half to go. I would like to become a teacher at some stage of my life. I would hate to think all this studying that I make myself do was for nothing.”

As Abby and Steven saw their sister off, Steven snaked one arm around his older sister’s shoulders. “So who expected the mystery man on your flight to turn out to be Justin’s brother. I seem to recall you throwing a few choice words his way.” He gave her a sly smile.

Abby gave her brother a gentle shove. “Stop teasing me. It’s not funny. How was I supposed to know? He didn’t have ‘Justin’s brother’ written across his forehead when he was sitting next to me on the plane.”

“Well, it is funny. You must realise that your little situation makes for an exciting month of wedding madness.”

Abby did have to hand it to her brother. He was right about one thing. The next month leading up to the wedding was going to be interesting. Unless of course she was able to make her sister see that planning a wedding in a month was just ridiculous.

L
ater that night, after their parents had retreated to their hotel room for an early bedtime, Sam was sitting downstairs with Justin in the bar of the five-star hotel they had checked into while they were staying in Sydney.

“I still can’t believe you’re getting married, you know,” Sam said, shaking his head as he drank the glass of beer in his hands. No matter where he was, there was no better way to unwind than with a tall glass of beer, especially if it had a good head on it.

“What, did you think all your years as a womaniser would rub off on me?” Justin asked his brother with a frown. “I know we may look a hell of a lot alike but I’m not you, Sam. I like being in love with one woman.”

Sam opened his mouth, but Justin beat him to the punch, thumping his fist down on the bar. “Save it. I already know exactly what you are going to say. It’s nothing I haven’t heard from my friends. You’re going to say I haven’t known about Jessica long enough to settle down with her. I’ve fallen in love with Jessica and sometimes you can’t help whom you fall in love with. She’s the one. When you know, you just know, and you have to make every effort to hold onto it. You of all people should know that.”

Sam took another swig of his beer, relishing it. In his line of work as one of the top cardiologists in New York City, he couldn’t remember the last time he even was able to drink a beer. He was usually always on call for surgeries. Sam should have seen his brother’s comment coming. Of course, Justin couldn’t let the past slide; he needed to rehash it for him over and over every damn chance he got. It was bad enough Sam was always reminded of it every time he went to work.