Womanizer (Spoilt) (14 page)

Carol and Jesse were having breakfast when she arrived home. After catching up on her cuddles with Jesse
, she joined them at the table. Although her evening with Mitch had been pleasant, a slight smile touched her lips when she remembered his greeting. Isabelle still missed Jesse when she spent the night away from him.

“There’s another letter for you,” Carol said, her tone difficult to decipher. The words sent Isabelle’s happy mood retreating under a rock.

Glancing towards the letter and then her mother, Isabelle decided it best to read it without Jesse present. It had been weeks since the last letter and she had naively hoped he had gone away. It seemed naive was the right word.

“I’m just going to have a shower,” she said grabbing the letter on the way past. Full of nerves, she opened it.

Dear Isabelle,

I see you haven’t heeded my advice. I thought you were smart as well as beautiful, am I wrong?

End it with Mitch.

I won’t warn you again.

A

Isabelle gasped as t
he letter slid from her fingers and was caught by Carol who now stood beside her. After reading the letter she frowned.

“Warned again? You received one like this already?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?’

“I thought he would go away and I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You aren’t that naive, Isabelle.” Her disapproving tone made her feel five again.

“I didn’t know what else to do. I know I shouldn’t have ignored it.”

“You need to go to the police or at least tell Mitch.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Carol shook her head and mumbled something as she left Isabelle with her thoughts. Saying no to moving in with Mitch had been the right decision. Adding fuel to this weirdo’s fire wouldn’t be wise. Until the letters stopped
, or a solution was found, she couldn’t put Jesse or Mitch in any sort of danger. For now she would wait on any sort of move into his apartment.

The
next question was what to do about the letters. Isabelle didn’t know.

Chapter Sixteen

Anthony

With Mitch tucked away in his darkroom preparing for the gallery opening, Jesse at pre-school and Carol out, Isabelle decided to make the most of the quiet again.

Ref
lecting over - or more like agonizing over - her decision to say no to Mitch along with who could possibly be sending or dropping the notes in her letterbox, she ran the bath and added her favorite relaxing scent. She went over possible suspects and couldn’t imagine anyone she knew who would write the letters.

The writer certainly seemed to
know her. ‘A’ was all he signed - was this the initial of his name or did it mean something else? Racking her brain, she couldn’t think of anyone with A as an initial except Adele and Amber, and it couldn’t be them.

Shaking her head in frustration, she turned off the taps and was about to step in when a timid knock sounded, so faint she wasn’t sure she heard it at all. Retrieving her gown, Isabelle slipped it on and went to answer the door, wondering who it could be.

After she pulled the door open a crack, she saw a young handsome chestnut-haired man. His eyes lifted to meet hers and they were green and familiar. He offered a coy smile and his cheeks reddened. They studied each other for several moments before Isabelle broke the silence.

“Can I help you?”

“I hope so. Are you Isabelle Winters?”

“Yes.”

“Hi, um, you don’t know me but I think we, um … my name is Anthony Erikson.”

The name swam around her mind as she tried to
place it. Then a jolt of realization shot through her. How did she not place it straight away? Erickson had been Carol’s married name until she changed both herself and Isabelle back to her maiden name. Erickson was her father’s name.

“Who are you?”

Cautious eyes so like her own searched her face for a minute before he spoke. “I think I might be your brother.”

Laying back in the bath, Isabelle tried to sort through the barrage of emotions. After the initial shock wore off, Isabelle had invited Anthony in and they sat down on her couch while he told his story.

At twenty, he was the only child of Sandra and Gregory Erickson. Their family had been close and his childhood happy and fulfilling. This had been difficult for Isabelle to hear. This should have been her life, but despite this, her curiosity built for
the young man who was her half-brother.

The previous year Greg had passed away and Sandra revealed that Greg had been married before and fathered a child, a girl. At first Anthony was appalled by his father’s lack of interest in his sister’s life and angry that he’d done nothing to support her over the years regardless of a legal obligation. Isabelle told Anthony that Carol lost track of Greg and therefore received no monetary support. As it turned out they’d moved to a different state and severed all ties with family. Isabelle remembered how his eyes flashed with resentment when he told her how upset he was at his father for not sharing the news of Isabelle while still alive. Anthony couldn’t believe the same man who had been such a loving and kind father could be responsible for abandoning his first family.

Though Anthony had let go of the hurt, he still felt betrayed that the secret had gone with Greg to the grave and that he had to hear it from his mother. When he discovered Isabelle’s name and tracked her down, it took weeks of doubt before he’d had the courage to knock at her door.

Isabelle sighed and sank further down in the fragrant bubbles. All this time she had a little brother and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about this.

They’d decided to take it one step at a time and discussed meeting for lunch the following week to learn more about each other and find a connection. The larger family she longed for appeared as a younger brother. She’d studied the contours of his face, his green eyes and saw herself in his features. There could be no doubting they’d come from the same father, his chestnut waves the only difference, which he’d inherited from his mother.

When a new thought leapt into her mind Isabelle sat up abruptly. The letters she’d received were signed ‘A’. W
as it a coincidence that a half-brother appeared around the same time as the letters? She shook her head. She was being paranoid. Why would he write the letters and then appear on her doorstep, unless the arrival was a guise, a way to deter suspicion? What if he harbored resentment for her too? The anger he felt towards their father could be projected on to her.

The k
nowledge of her shattering his illusion of a caring father, exposing a secret he’d kept from Anthony his whole life, didn't sit well with her. Could it be a coincidence or a clever ruse? Her head spun from the swirling thoughts, so she lay beneath the water and tried to shift the uneasiness settling within. She couldn’t talk to Mitch about her confusion because he didn’t know about the letters, and she intended to keep it that way. Carol was the answer and would hopefully help to sort through her myriad of emotions.

She settled back and tried to enjoy the quiet before Carol came home.

Carol’s return home also brought with it another letter. Isabelle’s suspicions surfaced again, first Anthony and then a letter in the same day.
Another coincidence?

Dear Isabelle,

If only you could acknowledge me in your life. See the error in your decisions, the terrible choice you make by continuing to see a man who is no good for you. You should consider Jesse’s future as well as your own.

Think very carefully for your lives depend on it.

A

A chill ran up Isabelle’s spine as she read aloud to Carol. Was this a thinly veiled threat? Would whoever was leaving these letters do something unthinkable to Jesse? She considered for a moment that perhaps she should do as suggested and call it off with Mitch but this thought intensified her fear. Living without him as well as dealing with this was too much to consider.

“You should go to the police, Isabelle,” Carol said.

“What do you think they can do?”

“I don’t know but wouldn’t it be bet
ter to have them investigate than wondering how serious this person is.”

“The letter isn’t the only surprise I got today.”

Carol raised her eyebrows in her ‘well get on with it’ kind of way.

Isabelle told Anthony’s story
, and when she’d finished, Carol’s response was a furrowed brow. She allowed Carol time to take it all in before speaking again. Her pale face indicated the effect of the unexpected visitor.

“I’m worried that these letters and his turning up here are connected,” Isabelle said.

Carol snapped out of her reverie and stared at Isabelle. “It’s possible that it isn’t just a coincidence,” she said. “What are you going to do? I think you should tell Mitch about the letters too.”

“No!”

Carol shook her head. “I think you’re making a mistake. You need to take this seriously.”

“Just give me some time to think about what to do. With Anthony, the letters, work, Mitch, worrying about Jesse
... everything, I need time to work through it all.” Even as she said the words, Isabelle knew how they sounded. Foolish. Yet the idea of going to the police didn’t sit well with her either. Although the letters hadn’t said as much, going to them could be unwise and aggravate the writer further.

With another frown and her mouth set, Carol looked as though she wanted to speak but thought better of it
, and instead got up and disappeared into the kitchen. Isabelle slumped down on the couch, her mind dizzy with confusion and her chest tight with worry but also something else, something new. She had a brother. This, regardless of her suspicions, filled her with excitement. She glanced at the number she’d written on the notepad on the table and smiled. What would it hurt to call and get to know him better? Perhaps her suspicion was unfounded and it was purely a coincidence. Isabelle hoped so. It would be nice to have a little brother.

Lying entwined together later that night, Isabelle told Mitch about Anthony, leaving out the conversation with Carol and her suspicions. The idea of telling Mitch about the letters still made her uneasy. She’d thought about what Carol said but still couldn’t bring herself to mention them. Not only that, she’d received several letters now and Mitch would be concerned and hurt she’d left it so long to tell him. Added to all this was the upcoming wedding and gallery opening. She didn’t want to put a dampener on the exciting times ahead, so she remained tight-lipped while guilt nibbled at her conscience.

“Wow, what a surprise,
Izzy,” he said when she had finished.

“I know. I
t’s all quite surreal.”

“Are you going to ring him?”

“I think so.”

She silenced further conversation with a kiss as she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. It made her uneasy and t
he guilt over her secret kept threatening to suffocate her. She soon became lost in his mouth and warm in his embrace, and thoughts of letters and brothers were forgotten.

Chapter Seventeen

Wedding Day

The sun rose bright and warm on the morning of Mitch’s little brother’s wedding. He woke with Isabelle in his arms and knew he couldn’t be happier. All he needed now was for them to be living with him permanently. Patience. The time would come when she would be ready, he told himself. After speaking with her about the move, Mitch had placed his apartment on the market and began searching for a house. The perfect place had presented itself the day before the wedding. He now awaited confirmation as to whether his offer would be accepted. All going to plan, he would be able to move in the week after the exhibit. He knew about her reservations but resolved to prove she had nothing to worry about.

He was rushing things again -
he knew this - but he loved her and wanted them all to be together, to give her the security she longed for. Why have her family living in that cramped apartment any longer? The house had four bedrooms, so there was plenty of room for them all. It also wasn’t located in the city but near the coast, overlooking the ocean. A large house, it wasn’t ostentatious and he hoped Isabelle would love it as much as he did. He was contemplating the idea of their life together and how to approach Isabelle with the subject again when he felt her stir before turning her gaze to him.

“Good morning. You look deep in thought there.”

“Just thinking about Jared. I still can’t believe he’s getting married today, and before me too.”

“Well
, he is a lot more serious than you are,” she said, poking him in the ribs. His automatic reaction of laughter died as fast as it started. He wanted her to know how serious he could be.