Kat lets out an irritated huff. “That’s not what I mean and you know it. I’m worried about you, Eli.”
My eyes lift from the paper and I try to soften my features. I don’t want to hurt her, but that’s all I seem to be doing lately. My baby sister has done well for herself and here I show up, threatening to ruin it all. I did what I could while we were growing up to shield her from the shittiness of having two parents who never really got the hang of parenting, did their own thing, and put their children at the bottom of their list of importance. I helped her with her homework, packed her lunch, and made sure she had something good to eat for breakfast and dinner, threatened any boy who came sniffing around for a date, shielded her from the drunken fights our parents always had by taking her out for ice cream, helped her pick out a dress for her first dance, and always made sure I was there for her when she had questions or needed advice. When our parents took their selfishness and excessive partying too far and got themselves killed, I worked my ass off to make sure she never suffered. To make sure she always had what she needed and never forgot how much she was loved. She moved on from me and found herself a good man in her husband, Daniel Evans. One who I can tell just by being in the same room with them for five minutes would give up his life to make sure her and their daughter were safe. I hate that I wasn’t here to see this happen, to see her turn into such an amazing woman, wife, and mother. I hate that so much of our time was stolen from us, and I hate that I have to be the one to knock her back down again.
Kat would never tell me how hard it was on her when she thought I’d been killed. She’d never admit how much it broke her and how difficult it’d been for her to keep moving forward and get on with her life without me in it, because she wouldn’t want to hurt me. Daniel, on the other hand, had no issue with sitting me down over a beer after Kat had gone to bed a few nights ago and laying it all out on the line for me. He didn’t treat me like I was a piece of glass, ready to shatter if I heard something upsetting, and that made me like him even more. He was protective of his wife and he worried about how strong she was trying to be for me, when he was there with her five years ago, holding her up and letting her cry on his shoulder when she’d thought she lost me. Making her get out of bed every day, shower, and face the world. Telling her I would kick her ass if I knew she was wasting her life, spending every day crying over me.
Daniel Evans is the exact opposite of me, and I thought for sure when I first met him, I’d hate him. With his slicked-back, perfectly styled, short blond hair, expensive three-piece suits, and evidence of his fancy college background hung in frames in the hallway among family photos. He might dress like a spoiled rich boy, he might do business with all the spoiled rich folks in this county that I despise, but he worked hard to get where he’s at. He gave my baby sister a nice home in a private, gated community with a sprawling, manicured lawn, and he treated her like a princess—all the things I dreamed of for her when we were growing up.
Yeah, I liked Daniel Evans.
I liked him even more when I confided in him about the report I received anonymously in the mail and how I confronted Georgia Eubanks with it right before she shipped me out of the country, and Daniel became protective of my sister once again. He wanted me to make absolutely certain I had all of the facts before I told Kat. He wanted me to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that everything I was suspecting was true, before I gave this heavy burden to her. He wouldn’t let anything, even her brother who was back from the dead, hurt her or upset her in any way. You gotta respect a man for that, even though I know she’s going to kick my ass for keeping it from her for so long.
“I don’t want you worrying about me, Kat. I’ll be fine. It’s gonna take some time, but I’ll be fine. I hate that this letter is going to make things hard for you guys,” I explain, tossing the paper across the table angrily. “It’s bad enough you have to put up with me; now you gotta put up with this shit.”
Kat’s eyes follow the letter as it skates across the top of the table before fluttering to a stop right before it falls off the other side.
“Eli, we need to—”
“Hon? You home?” Daniel calls from the front of the house, the sound of the door slamming closed behind him and his dress shoes smacking against the hardwood as he heads in our direction.
I give him a confused look as he rushes into the kitchen, nods in my direction, and bends to give Kat a peck on the cheek.
“Sorry I’m late. Damn meeting with an investor took a little longer than I thought it would,” he explains quickly, pulling his suit coat off and flinging it over the back of the empty chair next to Kat as he sits down. “Did you tell him yet?”
He loosens his tie with one hand as he scoots his chair closer to Kat and slides his other arm over her shoulder, pulling her close to his side.
Even though it pains me to know I wasn’t around to take care of my sister, at least the mix-up with my death provided them with a good nest egg they could both build on, and that gave me a little bit of comfort knowing I had helped her in some small way while being imprisoned for five years. Daniel did right by her, and I owe him everything for it. Having to sit here in their beautiful kitchen, with all new appliances, in their home that he worked so hard to give her and discuss that damn letter is not what I want to be doing right now.