She was silent when she returned from another – miserably lonely - vomiting session.
She was silent as he exited Joan's office.
"I told her you'll drive me home." He murmured, finding her arm.
She was silent as she guided him from the building.
She refused to speak as she dropped his hand to the hood of the car. "Annie?" He pleaded.
Only when she shut the door and put the keys into the ignition did she turn to him. "You have a sister."
He sighed. "Yes."
Annie started the car, shoving the gear stick into reverse with more force than necessary, relishing the jagged, granular gnashing of gear teeth. Peripherally, she saw Auggie wince at the sound.
"You never told me." She muttered, slightly more sulkily than intended.
"I don't like to talk about my family." No hesitation. He spoke quickly, without pausing to think, analyse, interpret. Such open candor, without resistance, was rare.
However, those point-blank answers also indicated his aversion to the subject.
She pummeled the car into first. "But I met Liam. And his daughter. You talked about them."
"I think you'll recall that he also showed up on my doorstep."
Annie snorted, nodding in agreement as she remembered Liam's desperation over his estranged daughter's incarceration in a DC jail, and his pathetic begging for Auggie's help – which turned out to be a need for cash, of course.
Second and third gear were far more fluid. "Is Helen like him?"
"No." His reply was instantaneous. He closed his eyes and leaned back; a lousy attempt to disguise the anguish so readily evident in the stark white knuckles as he held his cane, the rigidity of his back, the pull of the tension on his forehead… all these tiny, miniscule clues Annie constantly had to search for to read him.
"Do you not like her?" She pressed, swallowing repeatedly as another bout of nausea coursed up into her throat.
"Of course I do, she's my baby sister."
Annie exhaled loudly, willing the sickness to pass. She gulped.
"You OK?" He asked, his fingers brushed her thigh.
She nodded, swallowing again. "Nausea. Anyway." Annie hesitated, before diving in. "So tell me. About Helen. "
He sighed. "I love Hen – that's her nickname, by the way. Lovingly bestowed on her by Grace."
"The same Grace who's got a criminal record?"
"No, that's Gloria who went to jail. Grace is Cale's daughter. Cale's the eldest."
Annie sighed. "I'm going to need you to draw me up a diagram or something. There are just too many of you."
"Helen's the artistic one. She'll make it look damn pretty."
"Is she married? Kids?"
Auggie scoffed. "She's gay, Annie. One reason she went half way around the world. Trying to escape the perpetual scorn from our parents. It didn't help their social standing to have their only daughter so brazenly out of the closet. Especially in a place like Glencoe. Naturally, she never really conformed to the whole Glencoe prom queen bullshit thing, which of course just pissed off Mom and Dad."
Annie filed the implications of his confession away. "Hardly the crime of the century."
He inhaled a shaky breath. "You're a lot like her."
She shot her gaze to him, briefly, and despite the distraction of the traffic around them, and her need to focus on everything else except Auggie, his words thrashed those last few scraps of skepticism leftover since the discovery of Helen.
He was really trying to open up to her. About his family, nonetheless.
"In a good way, I hope." She mused.
"Definitely." She could hear the smile in his voice. "She's not afraid of anything."
Slowing the car down to seep into the morning rush hour, she waited.
"Helen's the baby. The poor girl had her work cut out for her, being subjected five older brothers. She learned how to fight." He chuckled. "In the Anderson kids' food chain, she was the bottom. But as we grew up, things changed, we matured."
"Danielle and I were like that. Hated each other as kids."
"She's quite the hippy. She was so disgusted with this country that she upped sticks and emigrated. First to France, then Britain, eventually settling near the sea somewhere. Owns her own little store selling her art. Made a point of not coming home for the holidays or anything like that. I think she finally found her little niche."
"You ever go out to visit?"
He shook his head. "No. Helen's asked me, a few times. Hell, even Joan's suggested I go decompress out there."
"But?" Annie suggested.
"But nothing. Just never happened."
Annie glanced back at him, catching the shadow of some repellent thought. She opened her mouth to enquire further, but refrained – a second cursory glimpse confirmed the window of opportunity had indeed passed.
Instead, he continued: "I read her in, not long after my accident. She didn't take it too well."
Annie nodded, wholly understanding of the predicament; she hadn't forgotten her own experience reading Danielle in. "But you did fix it out, didn't you? I hope you're not telling me you've not spoken to your sister in like 10 years?"
She caught his wince from the corner of her eye – whether at the truth of her statement, or the proclamation of a decade of blindness – she wasn't sure. She bit her lip, casting another furtive glance his way.
A half smile played on his lips. "Of course we fixed it. Well, she fixed it mostly. She's too much of a control freak not to."
Annie gently laughed. "Sounds like she and I will get along swimmingly."
"Trust me Walker, that's not what I'm worried about."
Annie considered his statement, placing her hand on his knee briefly. "What is it, then?"
"That you'll want to meet the rest of my family."
Annie opened her mouth, more than willing – and more than ready – to assent. But at that very moment, just as they were on the precipice of a very welcome discussion, his damn phone rang.
And a lengthy discussion with Barber ensued; at least Auggie was adamant about staying home.
By the time he hung up, the car was approaching their home. The conversation was entirely out of the window.
Pulling into their driveway, Annie spotted the silver Taurus parked near the house; by the time she'd parked, Helen was waiting on the passenger side, giddy with excitement. Annie warned Auggie as he exited, who just rolled his eyes and succumbed to an encompassing bear hug.
Helen was beautiful, Annie couldn't deny it. Tall, and willowy, her lithe frame was draped in a long, chunky sweater and floor length skirt. Her chocolate hair, fixed with the same manic wave as Auggie's, was haphazardly piled atop her head, decorated with a plum coloured flower. As Annie stood up, Helen trotted around the hood of the car and embraced her too.
"Oh wow," She gushed, releasing and holding Annie at arm's length. "It's so lovely to finally meet you." Although genuinely American, Annie detected the faint peppering of English pronunciation in her speech, which added to her helter-skelter, erratic charm. Helen retreated back to her car, draping a small duffel bag over her shoulder. "Hope you've got milk, I've brought you some proper tea. And a teapot."
"Never a fan of the tea, Hen, you know that." Auggie mused, draping his bag across his chest, cane extended, beginning his journey to the house. Without missing a beat, Helen reached his side and casually brushed her hand against his, undertaking the role of sighted guide without hesitation or aversion.
His brother had been unwilling, or incapable, of even asking.
Annie paused, watching the pair approach the house, Helen giving Auggie a blow-by-blow account of her journey to the airport at home – apparently there was an incident involving a deer – and the hassles inherent with international travel. Annie smiled.
Then a cold shiver passed over her as the contents of her stomach reached her throat. Annie beat a hasty retreat into the house, excusing herself profusely as she ran inside.
She barely heard Auggie's joke about his culinary skills.
Sorry it's taken so long - hectic few weeks, culminating in a brick through my car window. Not impressed!
Hope those reading enjoy, and thank you for the kind reviews so far, they're very appreciated.