Alice Cove

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

17.

JOSH.

I stood there, in the city apartment I rented for the next couple of days. I was in the bathroom, hunched over the sink just staring at myself. This was all wrong.

There was no way Elody was the girl my brother claimed she was. She was beautiful, inside and out, and I love her. I f*****g love her.

Like I want to marry this girl, there was no way she was the she devil herself that broke my brother, ruined his life. Our connection is real, it wasn’t meant to be, but it is. And if she had this terrible past I knew she would have told me by now, she would know that we could get past anything. This wasn’t a new relationship for us, we were together just over a year ago, before I even had a solid relationship with my brother, and didn’t know her apparent second life. I found her on my own and she found me. So who did I have more loyalty to? Who did I trust more?

My brother is half the same blood as me, we had that bond. But he did just get out of prison, granted it was not his fault, the courts had legally deemed that, that they were wrong the first time and brought to justice.

He was a victim, but a victim to Elody? I wasn’t so sure. She was a spitting image of the girl in the photos he’s shown me, but that didn’t mean that it was solid evidence. I remember going to the court case with my parents and seeing his ex fiancé on the stand, damn I even looked straight into her eyes for a moment but I didn’t really look to closely at her, but I could still remember. And even then I wasn’t too sure.

I washed my face with cold water and went back out to the living area, collapsing on the couch. I still had a few hours before I was to meet with my brother and I was torn. Did I want to tell him that I found her?

I laid there, staring at the ceiling wondering what to do. It was too hard not to dwell on this.

But Elody was right, the s*x that we had before I left hadn’t left my mind for a second, it was always there. I had already helped myself out multiple times with my hand thinking about it, about her. I put my hand below my track pants to relieve myself once more.

I thought of her pink lips, her tanned skin, her beautiful breasts, her bright eyes. I thought of the indents on her hips as I pin her to the bed. The way her hair smells as I suck on the back of her neck. The way our bodies move in rhythm together. That was all I needed and I quickly grabbed some tissues from the coffee table and cleaned myself up.

I laid back on the couch and checked my phone, still no reply from Elody, She had told me she wasn’t sick anymore, but she was strong willed and independent she wouldn’t tell me if she still was or not. I thought about calling her again, but hopefully I’d make my way back to her tomorrow. I’d give her space until then.

“Brother,” my brother embraced me as I opened the front door to the apartment.

“Jackson, how does it feel to be a free man,” this was the first time I had seen him since I spoke to him a couple months ago, we talked on the phone weekly while he was in prison, but I hadn’t seen him in the flesh. It felt weird.

He looked much older than I remembered, he had a scar on his left cheek that spread from the corner of his lip up past his eyebrow, I didn’t even want to know how or why he got that, his forehead had a permanent crease and his eyes looked old.

“It feels good,” he looked past me and out the window to the city view, contemplating. He still didn’t look happy.

He then looked back at me and put his arms on my biceps, “but look at you! All grown up.”

I was still taller than him and he had to look up slightly. I couldn’t see any resemblance between us. I was 10 years younger than him but he still looked like he could be my dad. I could not imagine him with Elody.

I was not oblivious to her beauty, it was what drew me to her to begin with after all, and I know she could have any guy that stepped into Alice Cove, or Harbour Hills or Kensington for that matter, why would she choose Jackson?

Maybe prison did change him, I could see that he could be a good looking man.

“How was the trip?” Jackson could see that I had my mind elsewhere.

“It was long,” I laughed, snapping back to reality, “let’s sit.”

I motioned him to the island bench and he sat down at a stool.

I went over to the fridge, “you want a beer?”

He pondered for a moment and then nodded, “just one. I’m a light weight considering I haven’t had much of a drink in almost 6 years.”

I grabbed two beers and opened them, passing him one. He looked down at it for a while before taking a sip.

“God it still tastes good,” he laughed.

I smiled, it was like watching a child find his footing for the first time. I leant against the bench across from him, still standing. I didn’t feel like sitting anymore.

“So how have you been?” I asked. I knew he wanted to get straight down to the nitty gritty and I kind of did too, but we were both playing nice.

I think he wanted to assure me he wasn’t using me. But I definitely thought that, I wanted to get to know my long lost brother, but it seemed all our conversations always went back to the Melody. And then Elody when he seemed to piece it together. For someone to have such a vast conspiracy theory and to start to make me believe it, so yeah, I had my doubts.

“I’m good man, got my estate back finally, so I put my house up for sale, I can’t go back there with all the bad memories. Know what I’m saying?”

“Yeah for sure,” I nodded, “Melody and her family didn’t try and claim it?”

He shrugged, “she has no bounds to it, plus, she’s in hiding living her life with you.”

“That’s Elody,” I stated.

Jackson rolled his eyes, “sure, Elody.”

It made me angry.

It made me angry, and pushed me further to not believing him.

“I think she would of told me the truth by now,” I told him. We loved and trusted each other, but I didn’t tell him that.

He chuckled, “she killed our unborn children and blamed it on me, so you really think she’d tell you she’s a murderer and sent an innocent man to prison?”

No.

“See that’s my point,” I started, “this girl I know, I could never see her doing that. She’s pure….and not to mention tight.” That last part slipped out.

Jackson laughed, trying to play it cool, but I saw him tense.

Was there something still there? He flinched as soon as I said tight, he wasn’t just wanting to know where she was, he wanted to see her.

“That may be all true, to you. But she’s a blatant liar, a manipulator.”

“Melody may be, but Elody isn’t,” I stated. I could see him getting even more tense.

“Fine, where did you say she lived?” Jackson asked.

“I didn’t,” my jaw was so tense it was twitching.

My brother could see that and I could see defeat in his eyes. But there was no way he was going to give up.

He sighed, “what has happened these last few months that made you change your mind? You didn’t have a conscience before.”

“Because I believed you before,” I tried to say smoothly, “but now I have doubts.”

“You love her don’t you?”

I said nothing. And then all of a sudden a beer bottle went flying and smashed into the fridge.

I looked at Jackson wide eyed.

He got up, “I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to do that. It’s just frustrating to me, this is what she does. She gets under your skin. She doesn’t love you. I just went to protect you from her.”

I said nothing, just went to pick up the pieces of broken glass off the floor. He made my choice for me, I wasn’t helping him. And with a temper like that at a flick of a switch who knows what he’d do to Elody, let alone the real Melody. Seems him and the real Melody were made for each other.

“Why don’t you just tell me where she lives and I’ll go see for myself,” Jackson crouched down to help me with the glass.

“I don’t think I should do that,” I said, not looking at him, “not until I’m sure at least.”

Jackson sighed, “why don’t you ask her if it’s true? See if she reacts or not, you’ll be able to see it in her eyes.”

We put the broken glass in the bin.

“Yeah I’ll do that,” I said.

And just like that Jackson was done with me.

“Well I’ve got to go, lawyer meetings and all that boring bullshit,” he laughed, patting my shoulder.

“No worries.”

I walked him to the door and we stood in the door frame for a moment.

“I think I might know where she lives, I remember her family use to holiday somewhere,” he began, just as he was about to turn away.

“Oh yeah?” I looked at him quizzical.

“Alice Cove, have you heard of it?” He looked at me intently.

He was trying to gauge my reaction, or my realisation, but I just shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

Well f**k.