Chapter 10

"Here you go," I say to Kyla as I hand her a box of Kleenex.

She hasn't fully cried yet but it's always good to be prepared.

That's what I learned when I was a Girl Scout.

I was the best Girl Scout ever!

They even named an award after me.

Ok, ok, they totally didn't, but I was pretty awesome.

Fine!

Here's the what really happened…

I was kicked out of Girl Scouts when I accidentally lit a few tents on fire during a camping trip of ours. They completely overreacted in my opinion.

I really wanted to get my fire making badge but I was struggling with it big time. So I might have snuck in some lighter fluid to assist me in my quest to beat Sally "Know-It-All" Jenkins for the most badges in our troop.

I guess I used too much of the stuff because the next thing I know there were flames everywhere and all the girls were screaming their heads off.

I was kicked out of our troop and the organization as a whole the next day.

And that's the conclusion of my tragic foray in the world of Scouts.

It still hurts to talk about.

I did look pretty smoking in the uniform though.

Yeah I did!

"Thanks," Kyla replies and I must say she looks quite apprehensive.

I would be too in her shoes.

Speaking of shoes, I got a chance to check them out a few minutes ago and I'm happy to report they are not at all sensible enough to classify her as a lesbian.

Don't get me wrong, I love gay people, obviously, but now I don't have to be concerned that she'll make a play for me.

What?

I was only kidding.

Mostly.

I'm fairly sure though that Kyla is not a fellow sister, if you catch my drift.

She is Ashley's sister though.

Still weird!

I almost offered her a glass of water because that's what people tend to do when someone is upset or they've just suffered through a tragedy.

I don't really know why that's the case.

I mean its water!

Now, if I was being offered a big stiff drink that would be another story.

That's the only stiff thing I like being offered by the way.

And I'm done.

Back to Kyla, and back to the serious situation I find myself in.

I wonder where Ashley went.

Kyla takes a few Kleenex to wipe her eyes.

Aw!

She's making to so hard for me to stay neutral.

I really want to give her a big hug but I'm not sure that's the best thing to do.

I don't really know what the best thing to do in this situation is actually.

I'll let my wise mind guide my decisions.

I'm so screwed!

Not literally because we all know what happened there.

"I guess I should introduce myself," I say to Kyla when she appears ready to begin.

That's right; I'm going to be Serious Spencer.

She hardly ever comes out to play.

"I know who you are," Kyla replies and that gives me the coldest shiver.

Oh my god!

She's some crazy stalker of Ashley and she's going to kill me so she can have Ashley all to herself!

Oh my god!

Where's my pepper spray?

Where is it?

Oh my god!

Kyla chuckles and I swear it's the evilest chuckle I've ever heard.

She's going to chop me up in a million different pieces and they'll never find my hot body!

Oh my god!

"It's funny, I was a really big fan of Ashley's before I found out she was my sister," Kyla announces while I continue to search for my pepper spray. "Don't worry; I didn't have a crush on her or anything."

Oh my…

Wait.

What?

Ew!

That's such an odd and disturbing thing for Kyla to say.

She thinks so too, because her mouth is immediately covered by her hands and her face turns the same color as the Spencermobile.

"Oh my god!" Kyla exclaims in horror. "I can't believe that just came out of my mouth!"

Me either you crazy, psycho, weirdo who's about to murder me.

Me either!

"I'm really nervous," Kyla admits and I'm almost back to liking her again. "What I meant was, I am a big fan of Ashley's and because of that I saw you guys pictured together all the time."

Oh!

That makes sense!

I think.

I'm still not a hundred percent convinced she's firing on all cylinders.

I finally remembered that my pepper spray was in my other pocket, so I have my hand wrapped firmly around it, in case I need to fend off Kooky Kyla.

That makes me feel better.

For the most part.

"You guys make a really cute couple," Kyla tells me with a sweet smile.

Aw!

She's totally right.

Ashley and I were voted cutest couple in a magazine.

I can't recall the name but I when I heard the news, I squealed like I was in high school.

That was an awesome day!

"Thanks," I reply in a cool, detached sort of way. "What are you doing here?"

Whoa.

I sounded a lot harsher than I meant to.

Kyla seems wounded by my tone but she doesn't say anything to that affect. "That's a fair question." She inhales sharply before continuing. "I grew up not knowing who my father was. My mom told me he took off on us as a kid and that's all she'd say about him."

Stay strong, Spencer.

Stay strong!

Unfortunately my heart doesn't want to listen because it's already hurting a little and Kyla hasn't really revealed that much yet.

"A week ago I turned eighteen and was already planning to move out to L.A. by myself." Kyla has an odd expression on her face that I can't read. "I always dreamed of being a rock star even though my mom was completely against the idea."

I nod my head as she speaks but I remain silent otherwise.

I have a ton of questions in my head that will have to wait.

"She couldn't stop me because I was eighteen and I already had some money saved up." Kyla's voice cracks, and that leads to me coming up with even more question in my pretty head. "And that's when this letter arrived."

She hands me the ripped pieces of paper in her hand.

I scan over its contents and when I'm done, my stomach clenches.

I've looked over enough legal documents in my career to know when something is legitimate or not.

This letter is very legitimate, no matter what Ashley believes.

Ay Caramba!

Sorry about that, I started Spanish lessons the other day.

What?

I did!

I know, I know you thought I already mastered the Spanish language, but surprisingly I was mistaken.

Kyla doesn't notice the discussion I'm having with myself. "I was completely shocked. I still am, too be honest." She has Ashley's eyes and some of her mannerisms. Which is odd considering they didn't grow up together. "My mom confirmed the content of the letter and I was so blown away it delayed my trip out here for a few days."

I notice something in the letter that isn't fully explained. I point to it and then look up at Kyla. "What does this mean?"

"I was uh, just getting to that part," Kyla anxiously replies. "It seems, uh, Raife, uh, had this clause in his will that didn't take effect until I turned eighteen."

Intriguing.

I wonder if this is going to be a good surprise or a bad one?

"One of his lawyers got in contact with me and explained everything," Kyla explains. And what would be the reason they didn't get in contact with Ashley? "I guess Ashley was set up with a trust fund when uh, Raife, passed away but that wasn't her full inheritance. Uh, now that I'm eighteen she does, and uh, that means, we both get half of his twenty-five million dollar estate."

Kyla sure does use the word "uh" a lot.

She should probably use her part of that twenty-five million dollars on speech…

Whoa.

Did she just say twenty-five million dollars?

And Ashley gets half?

That's…

Hold on…

Give me a minute…

Twelve and a half million dollars!

Holy shit!

That's a lot of money!

Which means a lot of designer purses for me!

Ok, ok, I'm not really that shallow.

I'm just stunned!

Absolutely stunned!

Plus, Ashley and I are already rich.

Her wonderful career plus my business savvy have lead to us never having to worry about money again.

But still, twelve and half million dollars is nothing to sneeze at!

I'll make sure we donate a large portion of it to charity.

And then I'll be able to hit the shops without feeling any guilt!

Wait.

If Kyla has that much money too, why is she dressed so normally?

I would have gone out and revamped my whole wardrobe if I was suddenly a millionaire.

Actually, I did do that.

Perhaps her first priority wasn't money when she found out who her dad was and that she suddenly had a sister.

Oh voice, I knew there was a reason I kept you around!

"The only address the lawyer gave me was Christine's." Kyla is back to talking again so I should pay attention. "I had no idea what she was like or I wouldn't have gone to her to find Ashley."

Hmm, poor girl.

Huh.

That's not a really accurate statement anymore.

Because Kyla is far from poor now.

"I always wanted a sister," Kyla says with a lot of sadness in her voice. "I should have thought things through more but I was so excited to find out that I had one."

Aw!

That's so cute.

I believe Ashley should be the one hearing this but I have a feeling she wouldn't be able to listen with an objective mind.

Not that I blame her.

I wonder how long before she calls me.

Why did she say she'd call me in a few hours?

Did she fly somewhere?

Is she killing B.M. and then hiding the body out of state?

My thoughts have been awful dark today.

I knew I shouldn't have watched that many episodes of Dexter back-to-back

"Wow," I exclaim when I think Kyla is finished.

Kyla laughs softly, "I know, that was pretty much my reaction. My mom is the only one who knows about this, I didn't even tell my best friend."

"Wow," I exclaim again because that's all I can say apparently.

"I guess Ashley isn't as happy with the news about me that I was about her." Kyla hangs her head and my heart goes out to her even more.

"I'm sure she'll come around," I assure her.

I hope that's the case.

I can usually judge people very well and my gut is telling me that Kyla is good people.

But, she's brought with her a firestorm for Ashley to deal with.

I know my girl; she's not going to care one iota about the money.

She's not going to care that she's finally gotten the sibling she'd tell me she often wished she had when she was young.

She's not going to care that this girl is just as lost as she is feeling.

She's not going to care about any of those things.

All she's going to care about is how her presence has changed so many things she thought were true.

I can only imagine how she's probably questioning her dad as she tries to deal with Kyla's existence.

Ouch.

It has to hurt that he never told her about Kyla before.

Maybe he would have when she was a bit older, but he died when she was seventeen.

Maybe he wanted to wait until Kyla was older.

Maybe Kyla's mom wanted to keep his existence a secret and he was only going along with her wishes.

Because from what Ashley has told me, and from what I've heard about Raife Davies from other people, he wasn't an asshole.

A shitty parent perhaps, but not an asshole.

"I'd really like it if she does," Kyla replies with a shrug. I don't think she is holding her breath for that to happen. "Can I leave you my number? Tell Ashley if she ever wants to call me, I'd love to hear from her."

For an eighteen year old, Kyla seems pretty together.

She must be pretty brave if she was going to move here before she had money.

I think I like the cut of her jib!

Now the only thing I have to do is convince Ashley that she doesn't deserve her anger.

Yeah, that's going to be easy.

Not!

"Do you have a place to stay?" I ask without really thinking about the implications of that question.

Kyla hesitates for a few seconds. "Not really, I don't know anyone out here. I was going to stay at a hotel or something."

Rut roh.

I fear some words are about to come out of my mouth that I cannot stop.

"You can't stay alone," I am fighting for control but I don't think I'm going to win. "We have an extra room."

No!

Why did I say that?

Ashley's going to kill me!

Not literally of course!

She loves me too much to hurt me.

Unless I ask her to!

But that's a story for another day.

Kyla looks unconvinced. "I don't think Ashley would like that very much."

Ok, smarty pants, no need to show off.

I already figured that out.

But there's no way I'm letting this sweet girl go out into the concrete jungle that is L.A.

My mom would freak out if found out I did.

That's it!

I'm a genius!

A gorgeous genius!

She can stay with my mom and dad!

There's plenty of room in their house and my mom would love to have the company.

I sound convincing.

Right?

"Just give me a sec." I tell Kyla before I head back inside the house.

I wonder what the best way to bring this up to my mother is.

"Hey mom, Ashley's illegitimate half-sister showed up out of nowhere and has no place to go. Ashley's freaking out otherwise she'd stay here. So, what do you say? Can I bring her over right now?"

Or should I go with Plan B.

"Mom, you don't look a day over forty. I have a small favor to ask you. Remember when you told me how much you miss having us kids around? Well, I have a solution to that problem…"

Both those ideas are good ones.

And if neither of them works, I'll use my powers of negotiation to get her to say yes.

Whatever happens, as soon as I've taken Kyla to my mom's I need to find Ashley.

Because the longer I don't hear from her, the worse I think things are going to be.

And that makes me nervous.

Ya lo creo!

And that makes me nervous!