SORROW WOODS (20 page)

I look up at him and nod. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for them.

They must have put on such a brave face whenever people saw them. I’m surprised it didn’t kill

them.

Before I can say anything else, I hear the front door being opened. I stand up, bracing myself

as the sound of heels click across the floor. Angela Scott bursts into the kitchen and marches straight to me before I have a chance to explain myself or say sorry. I’m waiting for her to hurl abuse at me but instead, she starts to sob and throws her arms around my neck and kisses my cheeks.

“Thank you,” she says over and over again. “Thank you so much for what you did. You

brought our little girl back to us.” She pulls back and looks up at me with her red eyes. “I will never forget what you did and I’ll always be grateful.”

I don’t know what to say, so I bend my head down and hug her back. I was expecting anger

and an argument. I was expecting a slap across my face because I’d seen her in the café and not told her that I knew her daughter was alive.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, “for not telling you that day.”

She nods. She knows what I’m talking about. “You had your reasons, Kaiden. I respect how

you handled the situation and ultimately, I don’t really care how you did it, you got my daughter back.”

Angela pulls back from me, squeezing my arms with her hands and that’s when I see her

standing in the doorway watching us. For an instant, my heart stops beating. At least that’s what it feels like. The blood in my veins stops, my chest ceases rising and falling, and my limbs refuse to do what my brain is telling them.

I’ve thought about this moment a lot. I’ve thought about it until I couldn’t think about

anything else and felt like I was on the verge of going crazy. I haven’t dared to sleep in the same bed as Anastasia because I constantly dream about Serena and worry about calling out her name whilst I sleep.

Angela steps aside and grins at me.

“What have you done to her?” I hear myself whisper.

“Do you like it?” asks Angela, stepping aside and grinning at me. “Serena wanted to go to the

salon and have her hair done and get her nails painted and stuff, so that’s what we did.”

I blink. Is that it? How have they turned that pretty, wild girl into this stunningly attractive

woman with just a haircut and a lick of colour on her nails? I shake my head. They must have done something else. I walk towards her and have to fight my eyes from staring at the cleavage that her dress has created. Her legs are silky smooth. Must have been waxed, I think, and I briefly wonder if they’ve waxed anywhere else.

I look down and notice the nails on her toes that are painted bright yellow. The white of her

dress makes the green of her eyes look brighter and her tanned skin look even more flawless. As I near her and smell the coconut-scented shampoo that they’ve used, I realise I’m in big trouble.

“Hello, Serena,” I say, as smoothly and calmly as I can.

She blinks at me and smiles shyly. “I’m sorry I hit you the other day.”

I nod. “It’s fine. I get it.”

“What?” asks Auden. “She hit you?”

I nod. “She’s got quite a right hook on her.”

“Serena,” says Auden, “you shouldn’t hit people.”

She rolls her eyes. “I know, Kaiden told me the same thing. I won’t hit him again.”

“Why did you hit him in the first place?” he asks, still looking shocked.

She raises her hand and pushes her hair behind her ear, and that’s when I notice she’s

wearing the bracelet I got her. “I was angry with him.”

“Why were you angry with him?” he persists.

“Because he’s the reason I’m here,” she says bluntly.

Angela steps forward, frowning. “Do you not want to be here?”

Serena looks up and blinks. “I want my Mother and my Sister,” she says, dead pan.

I freeze. Angela is speechless. Auden is the only one that seems to have the strength to keep

calm and respond to her.

“I know you can’t see it now, Serena, but that woman destroyed your life and ours. You

could have had all of this,” he waves his hand around, indicating the house. “You’d have had lots of friends, gone to school, had boyfriends, probably had brothers and sisters, but she took all of that away from you and from us. She took something that wasn’t hers to take and led you to believe that she was your Mother.”

Serena starts to cry. Not the sobbing, shoulder-shuddering cries like Anastasia does, where

she sobs and screams like a child. I always think she looks ugly when she cries. Serena just lets two hot tears trickle down her cheek, making her look even more beautiful than she’s ever looked

before.

“Why didn’t you have any more children?” she finally whispers.

I’m itching to step closer to her and wipe those salty tears from off her cheek, but I remain

where I am. I don’t think she’s going to let me near her for a very long time.

Auden takes a deep breath. “I wanted more, but your Mother wouldn’t. She said it would

seem like we were giving up on you.”

Serena nods, accepting his answer.

“It’s been hard, Serena, I won’t lie to you. And it’s still hard now, even though you’re back

with us. We love you, but you don’t know us. We’re trying our best here. We’ve spent every single day wondering where you were and what you were doing or even if you were alive. We’ve grieved

for you over and over again. No parent should ever lose a child, whether it’s on a permanent basis or a temporary one. It broke us, Serena. It literally tore us in two. Our marriage only just survived in the early days because the grief and hurt of losing you destroyed us to the point that we didn’t recognise each other anymore. We feel like we owe this boy our lives. We can’t begin to explain to you the

gratitude we feel towards him right now. He’s saved us. He saved you.”

Serena and Angela just stand and stare at Auden. I shuffle on my feet, feeling awkward. I

don’t feel like this is something I should be witnessing. I can’t believe that’s how Angela and Auden feel about me. It’s a little overwhelming and something that I wasn’t prepared for. I can feel my mouth hanging open as I just stare at them.

“Kaiden did what any other person would have done,” Auden continues, “if they would have

seen you and recognised you. He acted on instinct. You can’t punish him for that. He’s human.” He steps forward and places his hands on both of her arms. “I know you love Elodie and she loves you; I can understand that. So just think about how you would feel if Elodie had been stolen from you. If every single day you cried, you screamed, and you searched for her. Then after fourteen years, you were able to see her again. At that point, she didn’t recognise you and didn’t love you, but held feelings instead for whoever it was that took her away from you. You’d know in your heart that she didn’t belong with them. She was your sister. What would you do? What would you do, Serena, if

you came upon her and saw her living a life that wasn’t really hers?”

She looks up into his eyes as another tear trickles down her face. She stares at him for what

feels like an hour before she finally says, “I would go in there and get her. I would have searched for her every single day until I had found her.” She swallows and looks over to me. “I would have done what Kaiden did.”

His head droops down but Serena doesn’t take her eyes off him. “I’m sorry,” she sniffs. “I’m

sorry, Dad.”

Auden snaps his head up. He begins to cry and wraps his arms around her tightly, pulling her

close to him. Angela is also crying, but she doesn’t interrupt the two of them. She looks over at me and smiles. I’m assuming that was the first time Serena has ever called him Dad.

When Auden finally lets her go, Serena turns around and hugs Angela. “I’m sorry,” she

whispers.

Angela puts her hands on either side of Serena’s face and kisses her forehead. “You don’t

have to be sorry for anything, sweetheart.”

I step back and lean against the counter. Serena turns and smiles shyly at me. She takes a

step forward and then runs straight into my arms.

I squeeze her tight before releasing her. I want to say something, but I don’t trust my voice

enough to speak. Now I am being a wimpy boy.

“I’m sorry for hitting you and for being mean to you.” She blinks away another fresh tear

before looking up at me and smiling. “Thank you for the bracelet.”

She bites her lip and looks up at me through her lashes. I have to look away. I can’t watch

her doing that without wanting to grab her and kiss her until I can’t breathe. I nod to let her know that it’s okay.

“Can I see my bedroom now please?” she suddenly asks, looking at Auden.

He looks as if he might weep again. I still can’t quite believe that I’ve just watched hunky Mr.

Scott, who could probably bench press me in one go, crumble and cry like that. He nods and clears his throat.

“I’ve only just finished it. The paint might still be wet so I’ve opened your doors to let the

breeze in and hopefully it will dry quicker.”

Serena nods and grabs my hand. “Come on, Kaiden,” she says with a smile. “Come and see my

bedroom.”

Serena

I drag him up the stairs and into my bedroom. Instead of looking at the pink painted wall and the shelves that have been built, I just stop and slump down against the door.

“What’s the matter?” he asks, bending down in front of me. I look at him. I’d almost

forgotten just how handsome he is. When I watched him hug Angela, I couldn’t take my eyes off the way his face creased up when he smiled or how different he looks now that he’s styled his hair and shaved his face. As I stood in the doorway watching him, a strange feeling started to wriggle in my belly, kind of like thousands of tiny butterflies were flapping around in there. I recognised the feeling, not because I’d ever experienced it before, but I’d read lots of books where the heroine felt these same butterflies and they were always caused by a boy.

“I really am sorry I hit you the other day,” I say. “I was just angry about what you’d done, but

I guess I hadn’t really thought about what I would have done if it was Elodie.”

He smiles. “It’s fine. Honest.”

“And I really loved those few days that you spent with us, Kaiden.”

He keeps his head down, but looks up at me through his long, black lashes with his big,

brown eyes. His lips pull up at the sides. “I enjoyed it too, Serena.”

We stare at each other for a few minutes before I let out a deep breath. “That was tough

down there. It was hard hearing how upset they’d been, but I’m sort of glad they finally said it to me.”

“I’m sure it was hard for all of you,” he says sincerely.

His eyes move away from my face and I watch him as he takes in my new pink and white

bedroom.

“It’s not what I expected,” he says. “I didn’t figure you for a girl that liked pink.”

I smile and shrug. “I’ve never been able to have what I wanted and I’ve always liked pink.

You don’t really see that colour when you live in the woods.”

He nods. “I guess I can understand that.”

I get up from off the floor and take his hand again. It feels nice. He’s got big hands and when

mine join his, I feel safe. Like I know he’s going to protect me and be my friend forever. I pull him over towards the opened double doors and step onto the sun-drenched balcony.

“I love being able to look at this,” I whisper, soaking up the view. “It’s a nice change.”

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. I watch how the sun hits his skin, making it

sparkle. I turn my face towards the sun and close my eyes and feel the heat being absorbed by my

skin. It’s not as hot here as it was in the woods, where I would have to sit in the shade when the sun was at its highest point in the sky or else suffer sunburn.

“I live along the beach,” he informs me.

I open my eyes and follow where his finger is pointing towards a set of houses in the

distance that edge the bay.

“I can see your bedroom from my balcony,” he says.

“I didn’t realise you lived so close. It’s strange how you knew all about me and it was you

that found me.”

He nods. “I’ve thought about that. If it was anyone else from any other state, they probably

wouldn’t have recognised you. But because I’ve been involved with your parents and the campaign

to find you, I’ve probably seen your face more times than you have.”

It feels weird to think that he knows so much about me so I close my eyes and decide not to

think about it at all. The sounds of the ocean and its unique smell make me feel relaxed. I could stand here all day with him. Then a thought suddenly occurs to me. I barely know anything about

Kaiden. I open my eyes and turn towards him.

“What’s your story, Kaiden?” I ask.

He turns and blinks at me. “What do you mean?”

I shrug and step forward, wrapping my hands over the rail. “You’re contradictory.”

He laughs. “In what way?”

“I’m not stupid, you know. I know that you have a story, and it’s not matching up to the way

you are when you’re with me.”

He makes a face. “What did your parents tell you about me?”

I feel myself frowning. “They haven’t told me anything except that if I hadn’t been stolen,

then we would have probably grown up together because our parents are friends.”

He sighs. “Then what do you mean? Why do you think I’m contradictory?”

“You were in my woods with a gun, you smoke cigarettes and I’ve read enough books to

know that sixteen year-old boys who have tattoos must be bad in some way or another. But when

you’re with me, you’re not bad at all.”

He smiles. “You’re very observant, but I’m not sixteen. I’m seventeen and I’ll be eighteen at

Christmas, actually.”

Oh
. “But you’re still too young to get a tattoo.”