Chapter 3

I blink my eyes close and take a deep breath. A few stray tears trickle their way down my face that were too fast to catch. I stick out my hand, "Hi, I'm Chloe." Alyson takes my hand and shakes it. My voice croaks as I say, "Come on in." Alyson steps in and Mom and David walk over, giving me a chance to wipe my face.

Avi puts a hand on my shoulder, "You got this." I let out a sigh, shoving my emotions down as I look over at Alyson.

"It's so good to meet you, Alyson," Mom says, shaking Alyson's hand. "I'm Joyce, I talked with you over the phone." Mom puts a hand on David's shoulder and says, "This is my husband, David."

"Nice to meet you," David says sticking out his hand to shake Alyson's.

"The pleasure is mine," Alyson says with a nervous smile on her face.

Mom points to me, "Chloe, who greeted you, is my daughter and the other fine young woman is her best friend Avi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Avi says, stepping forward to shake Alyson's hand.

"You too," the taller girl says.

"Why don't we go sit down in the living room and talk?" Mom says as she gestures to the living room. Mom and David sit on the new loveseat and Avi and Alyson sit on the couch. I grab a dining room chair and pull it over, much to Mom's eyeroll. She lets out a sigh and says, "I know this isn't much, but this is where I call home."

"Don't worry about it," Alyson says, still sounding a bit nervous, "your home is nice. It's probably better than what I grew up in." She fidgets with her hands and says, "I'm sorry, I'm not super sure where to begin. I was so anxious to maybe meet some extended family that I don't think I actually thought about what to do when I actually met them."

"Did you not have any family around?" David asks.

Alyson shakes her head, "It was always just my mom, Mary Ann, my twin brother, Tyler, and me. My dad wasn't…really in our lives."

"Oh, you have a twin brother?" Mom pipes in.

Alyson nods, "Yeah, we're actually identical twins."

"Huh," David says, "never heard of a brother and sister identical twins." Alyson's eyes dart nervously as David asks, "Why didn't he come?"

"He wasn't too fond of the idea of reaching out to family," Alyson says. "Our mother always painted her family in a bad light. She hated her mother and I guess her father by proxy. I didn't even know he existed until really recently when we found a letter while going through our mother's house. I guess he felt like if she hated him, why would we want to reach out to him?"

"What made you decide to?" Mom asks gently.

"I think I just crave to be connected to someplace besides the tiny town that I grew up in," Alyson answers.

"Welcome to my life," I say with a chuckle. Mom shoots me a glare and I look down but notice Alyson giving me a small smile.

"Have you lived in Alaska your whole life?" David asks.

"Yep, born and raised…and basically never have left the same town," Alyson says with a sigh. "Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and I love the state. There's just…a lot of baggage in that town that my brother and I bear." She looks down for a moment before looking back up at Mom and David, "What about you guys?"

"I've lived here basically my whole life," Mom says. "My mom moved here when I was little and she worked at the diner in town. She taught me everything she knew about cooking and I ended up working at the same diner and have been there ever since. It's where I met Chloe's dad and David."

"I've been all over the place," David says. "I was in the military and then landed here when I retired. I met Joyce and then started as a security guard at the academy in town.

"I was stuck in this town until Avi came to save me," I say as I lean over the chair. "I've had so much crap happen to me here that I'm grateful to be out of here."

"And by save her," Avi pipes in, "she means saved me. I'm the only one who didn't step foot in Oregon until I was kidnapped and brought here and Chloe saved me. We just recently moved out and live in an apartment near my parents in Florida now."

"Florida?!" Alyson asks. "You guys came a long way just to meet me."

"Well, that's what we do for family here," Mom says. "Right?" Avi nods and I bite my tongue. I may want to give Mom an earful but Alyson doesn't deserve that, I think to myself.

"I think I need to take a drive and clear my head," I finally say, going to stand up. "You coming, Av?" I ask as I glance back at Avi who looks between me, Alyson, and Mom, unsure of what to do.

"Well why don't you take Alyson too?" Mom chimes in. "You girls could get a chance to get to know each other. You are cousins after all." Mom gives me a nervous, almost desperate look.

I let out a sigh, giving my mom a subtle look. "You want to ride with us too, Alyson?" I ask.

"Sure," Alyson says as she and Avi get off the couch and follow me out the door.

"Alyson, you can sit up front if you want," Avi calls out as I shut the front door. I give her a look as she whispers to me, "Trust me. I think she could use someone in her corner." I let out a sigh as I walk with her to the car and unlock it. We pile in and I pull out of the driveway.