Toxic: Logan's Story (Torn #4)(34)

Her mouth dropped open for a split second before her eyes turned cold. “Jade?”

I nodded.

“You have some nerve coming back to this town after all this time.” Her voice was cold but calm.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Look, I’m not here to explain myself to you. I’m just looking for my sister. Do you know where she is?”

She stared at me for a minute. I expected her to threaten me with the police if I didn’t leave.

Instead, she called out to someone behind her, “Bethaney, can you come here, please?”

A few seconds later, I saw a young girl come into view.

She barely glanced at me before turning her attention to the woman. “What do you need, Marie?”

“Someone is here to see you.”

My sister’s eyes shifted to me. Once she got a good look at me, she stumbled back with her mouth hanging open. She opened and closed it a few times, but no words came out. I knew how she felt. All I could do was stare at my baby sister, but she wasn’t a baby anymore.

She’d always been tiny like me, but she’d obviously hit a growth spurt sometime in the last six years. She was taller now, probably close to five foot seven. Her hair was the same light blonde it had always been, but it was cut short now. When I’d left, it had hung halfway down her back. Now, it barely brushed her shoulders. Her build was slim, like our mom’s and mine. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown as mine. It was something else we’d both inherited from our mother.

“Beth?” I finally managed to get out.

My voice seemed to snap her out of it.

Her mouth finally closed, and she took a step closer. “What are you doing here, Jade?” she asked quietly.

“I came back to find you. I’ve missed you.” I glanced at Marie, who was still glaring at me, before looking back to Bethaney. “Can we talk? Alone.”

Bethaney nodded as she walked past Marie and closed the front door behind her. She walked over to a porch swing and sat down without taking her eyes off of me.

I sat down in a chair that was across from her. I wanted to grab her and hold her tight, but I wasn’t sure if she’d be okay with that. The way Marie had greeted me made me think that maybe I wasn’t wanted, even by my sister.

“You look different,” I finally said.

“You do, too. Well, kinda. You still look like hard-ass Jade, but you’re more grown-up.”

“You’re all grown-up, too. I can’t believe it. I’ve missed you so much, Beth. I wanted to come back so many times, but I was afraid that David and our mom wouldn’t let me see you. I planned to come back as soon as you turned eighteen, but then we signed with the label and went on tour. This is the first chance I’ve had. I’m so sorry that it took me this long,” I said in a rush.

She snorted, and her eyes burned with anger. Besides shock, it was the first emotion she’d shown since she saw me. “Yeah, I’m sure it was hard to find time for me while you were off playing rock star. Do you know how horrible it was for me to have one of my friends tell me they saw you on TV? My own sister, and I didn’t even know. I spent so many years worried about you, praying that you weren’t dead! All that time, you were off playing your f*cking drums and having the time of your life while I was here, all alone!”

Logan cleared his throat, and I glanced over at him.

“I’m going for a walk. Call me when you’re ready,” he said.

I nodded, and then he turned and walked back across the yard. Once he was out of sight, I turned back to my sister. She was staring at the spot where Logan had been standing earlier.

“Who’s he? I know he’s not from your band. I’ve watched your videos online, and he was never in them.”

“He’s my…he’s Logan,” I answered lamely.

“I thought for sure you’d be with that Drake guy. Lead singers were always your thing.”

I shook my head in disgust. “Drake? Not a chance. He’s family.”

She sneered. “Family means nothing to you.”

I frowned. “I wanted to call a million times, Beth, but I knew they’d never let me talk to you. What I did to you is the only thing I’ve ever regretted. I’ve hated myself for leaving you behind when I left.”

“You mean, when you ran away!”

“I had to! You have no idea what he was like toward me! It was horrible.”

“You’re right. I had no idea what you went through until after you left. Then, I got to live it.”

I stopped breathing. No. He wouldn’t. Bethaney had been David’s pride and joy. “What are you talking about?”

“When his favorite punching bag left, he found a new one. You left me alone with him. What did you think would happen?”

“No,” I whispered. “He wouldn’t do that to you. You were his.”

She laughed, but it was humorless. “It didn’t matter to him. Dad had anger issues, and he had no outlet after you left. He left me alone for a few months, but then I became the new Jade.”

“I’m so sorry, Beth. I never would have left if I knew he’d start hurting you.”

“Too little, too late, Jade. It doesn’t matter now anyway. What’s done is done, and there isn’t a damn thing either of us can do about it. Besides, I moved in with Lily a year after you ran off.”