10. Ryder

The sun beats down on the bustling streets of our small town as Chloe and I make our way through the crowded sidewalks. Chloe"s hand is securely clasped in mine, her laughter ringing out like music in the warm afternoon air. It"s moments like these that make everything else fade into the background, the worries and stresses of everyday life melting away in the warmth of her smile.

As we stroll through town, my eyes catch a glimpse of a familiar figure in the distance. It"s Gia, walking with purpose down the street, her graceful stride carrying her effortlessly through the throngs of people. But as I watch her, I realize that there's someone following her.

I follow Gia"s movements with a watchful eye, my senses on high alert for any sign of danger. But as she disappears into a nearby store, I catch sight of someone lurking in the shadows, a figure dressed in baggy clothes and a baseball cap pulled low over their eyes.

With a quick glance around to ensure that Chloe is safe by my side, I discreetly take out my phone and snap a picture of the figure, capturing their image without raising suspicion.

But even as I do so, my heart clenches with fear for Gia, knowing that she"s unaware of the danger following just behind her. With a silent prayer for her safety, I steel myself for what"s to come and head into the store after her, determined to keep a close eye on her until the threat is neutralized.

We find Gia browsing the aisles of the store, her attention focused on the items lining the shelves. With Chloe in tow, I approach her with a smile, my heart pounding in my chest as I try to suppress the fear gnawing at the edges of my consciousness.

"Hey, Gia," I greet her casually, trying to hide the urgency in my voice. "Fancy seeing you here. What brings you to town today?"

"Gia!" Chloe squeals excitedly as she rushes to her.

Gia giggles as she bends down and scoops my daughter up into her arms.

"Oh, hey Ryder! I was just running some errands. How are you guys?"

"We"re good," I reply with a smile, relieved to see her safe and unharmed. "Chloe and I were just picking up a few things from the store. Hey, why don"t you come over for dinner tonight? We would love to have you."

Chloe chimes in eagerly, her eyes shining with excitement. "Yeah, Gia! Please come over! We can play games and have fun!"

"Sure, Chloe. I"d love to come over. Thank you for inviting me."

I notice that the figure is no longer following Gia.

Where did they suddenly disappear to?

Am I just being paranoid because of everything that's happened so far to her recently? Was that person really not following her?

I blow out a breath and shake my head.

My gut is telling me that someone is following her and that she's in danger. My gut is never wrong.

I'm going to have to do some investigating into this.

Does she really have a psycho ex that's stalking her?

Gia follows behind us in her car as we drive back to the house.

"Gia hasn't met all of my friends yet. Can I take her around and show her everyone?"

"Absolutely. I'm sure she would love that, baby," I grin at her.

As soon as I put the car in park and unbuckle Chloe, she's racing to meet Gia at her car door.

"You have to come with me and meet all my pets. We'll go to the barn. You haven't been there yet."

"There's a barn?"

"You didn't notice it when you were in the pool?"

"I noticed it. I didn't realize it was yours."

"Chloe's," I laugh. "All Chloe's."

My daughter grabs Gia by the hand and excitedly tugs her around the house as she's talking a mile a minute. I laugh as I bring the groceries inside and then meet them at the barn.

I can"t help but smile at the sight of them together. Chloe"s laughter rings out like a melody in the warm evening air as she shows Gia the eclectic range of pets that call our "farm" home.

Gia"s eyes light up with delight as she takes in the menagerie of animals, her curiosity piqued by Chloe"s infectious enthusiasm. She asks Gia question after question, her genuine interest shining through with every word.

"This is Boo and Bubba," Chloe says with a flourish as she introduces the pigs.

"Daddy always tells me he's going to turn them into bacon because they won't stay in their enclosure."

"Is that so?" Gia laughs.

"They get out, a lot," I explain. "They're impossible to catch."

"The yard is fenced in though, where would they go?"

"Bubba can squeeze through that fence as though he thinks he"s a cat."

"I would love to see that," she laughs.

"Stick around long enough. You will."

"What's out there?" Gia asks as she points to the greenhouse/bird enclosure.

"How do you feel about birds?" I laugh.

"I love them."

Chloe tugs her forward.

"Shit, pretty girl!" Pete exclaims when we walk into the enclosure. "Hello, beautiful."

"Did that bird just talk to me?"

"Damn it, Jackie," Kelso calls out.

"Meet Pete and Kelso. Except Pete is a female. And their son Fez is somewhere around here."

"Oh, my goodness," she giggles. "How did you get these?"

"All of the animals are rescues that came to be ours in one way or another. Chloe has a knack for finding hurt animals and rescuing them, as you learned early on. Some people like to dump pet carriers at the end of our driveway because they know we'll keep them or find them good homes. The birds, though, were a bonded pair that lived with an older woman their entire lives. A friend of Sarah's reached out to her to ask if she knew anyone who could take them. According to the family, Pete and Kelso were both males that were fixed early on. They wanted nothing to do with them, so we took them in. When the previous owner died, they both went through a really rough time and needed medical attention. They lived in the house with us for a while, but Chloe started bringing them out here and they love it."

"How do they have a baby?"

"Pete is female and they were never fixed. We're assuming they were always kept semi-apart with their old owner. Or they were making babies and she didn't tell anyone."

"I bet that was a shock."

"You have no idea."

"I thought she was dying. Sarah got a big kick out of that."

"It seems like you guys have a lot of excitement around here."

"Never a dull day. Chloe keeps up with all of the animals for being four. I do have employees that help too though."

"I keep forgetting that she's four. She's so intelligent for her age."

"She really is."

I can say that the animals are annoying or that it's all Chloe, but I actually love them all too.

We leave the enclosure and walk back up to the house. I hang back a bit, watching Chloe and Gia together. I feel a surge of affection for Gia, grateful for the way that she interacts with Chloe. She's present with her every time they're together and that's rare nowadays. Most of Gia's generation is all about being on their phone or social media or whatever. I've noticed that Gia is rarely on hers.

As we gather around the dinner table, the air is filled with the comforting aroma of delivery pizza and the sound of laughter and conversation. Chloe chatters away animatedly, regaling Gia with stories of her latest adventures and sharing secrets that only a four-year-old could know.

Gia listens with rapt attention, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she engages with Chloe in a playful banter that warms my heart. It"s as if they"ve known each other for years.

I've never seen Chloe relate to or be so enamored by someone before. She's around a lot of different people because of my hockey career, but she's never taken to anyone like this.

Chloe"s yawns become more frequent, as I find myself wishing that this moment could last forever. Gia notices Chloe is barely keeping her eyes open. She smiles fondly as she looks over at me.

"I'm going to head out."

"You don't have to," I interject.

"She needs sleep and so do I. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

She kisses Chloe on the forehead as she's already sound asleep on the couch. She stands up and kisses me on the cheek.

"You could stay with me tonight."

"I still have a little work I should do. I also have a really early virtual meeting with a vendor in India. I don't want to disturb your sleep. Raincheck?"

I nod and smile before I pull her into a tight hug. I kiss her before I walk her out to her car. She says her goodbyes and is gone within a few minutes.

I go back inside and put Chloe to bed before I get ready for sleep myself. As I lay in bed I pull out my phone and text Gia.

You're so good with Chloe.

She's such a good kid. Really, the best kid.

Thanks. You want to come back over?

I do, but I can't. I have that call and then I"m having breakfast with Mia.

Why don't we have a dinner party tomorrow? Josh has the kids. We'll make it a thing so I can meet your sister.

You don't have to make it a thing.

If you don't want me to, I won't. But I would love to meet her.

Then let's do it. Thanks. I'm headed to bed.

Good night, beautiful.

She doesn't reply and I go through my phone contact list. I make a phone call to an old Army buddy of mine who runs a security company.

"Lafferty, you dirty bastard, how are ya?"

"Great, Kline. How goes it?"

"It goes how it goes. Another day above the dirt. What's up?"

"You still running that security firm?"

"Of course, do you need something?"

"Yeah. I started seeing this woman, Gia. She's a half-sister to my best friend. I've noticed someone following her lately and I'm a little concerned. She told me she was hiding from a psycho ex-boyfriend, but I don't know if that's true. I want to get a little more dirt."

"Do you have a name or a picture?"

"I have a picture of the person following her. I have a name of Christoph, but that's all I know."

"That's not much, but I'll see what I can do. I might be able to run the picture through facial recognition software and see what I can find."

"That's what I like to hear. There's something else."

"What's that?"

"She recently learned that she has an identical twin sister, Mia Bennett. Gia thinks there's something off about her and I haven't met her, but my gut tells me that Gia is right. I couldn't find anything online about her."

"I'll tap into some other databases and see what I can find. I'm glad to see you back out in the dating world, but I am concerned that you need to contact me about it."

"Gia's a good person. I don't think she's the problem."

"I hope not. I'll let you know for sure. Give me a few days."

"Thanks, Kline. I appreciate you."

We hang up the phone and I pull my MacBook out. I try to do my own searches on Mia without any luck. I even try a search with Gia's name and put the name Christoph in to see if they pop up on any social media together. No such luck on either front.

***

I find myself bustling around the house the next night making final preparations for our guests. The table is set with care, the children's table set with our finest China: plastic Disney Princess dinnerware.

As our guests begin to arrive, the house resonates with the cheerful sounds of joy and lively chatter, the air thick with anticipation for the evening ahead. Layla and Chloe, true to form, take on the roles of high society ladies at a ball, their laughter ringing out like tinkling bells as they flit around the room with all the grace and poise of seasoned socialites.

They are such hams together.

I hope they never lose this friendship and innocence.

Amidst the lively chatter and clinking of glasses, I find myself introduced to Mia for the first time. There"s something about her that feels off, just like Gia said, but I can't put my finger on it either.

Maybe it's the fact that minus the tattoos, she is the spitting image of your Girlfriend?

As the evening wears on, Mia pulls me aside with a playful smile, her eyes dancing with mischief as she leans in close. "So, Ryder," she begins, her voice low and teasing. "Why does Josh have such a problem with you and Gia?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe," she replies with a smirk.

"I think he's just being the overprotective big brother."

Her smile widens into a flirtatious grin as she leans in closer, her hand brushing against my arm in a subtle gesture of familiarity. "Well, maybe we should switch twins and see if he"s still pissed," she suggests with a playful wink.

"I only have eyes for one woman, and that"s Gia."

She laughs it off with a playful shrug, but there"s a glint of something darker visible in her eyes, a shadow of malice that sends an unsettling sensation washing over me.

"Well, you passed that test it seems. Good for you."

She walks off quickly.

Something tells me she wasn't joking and it wasn"t a test.

As the night wears on, I find myself growing increasingly uncomfortable in Mia"s presence, her subtle digs and snide comments casting a pall over the festivities. I watch with growing unease as she gives Gia dirty looks and vies for attention from both Josh and me, her attempts to monopolize the conversation and interrupt Gia at every turn growing more blatant by the minute.

And then, as we sit down to dinner, Mia"s true colors begin to emerge, her mask slipping away to reveal the venomous spite that is just beneath the surface. With each passing moment, her comments grow more barbed, her jabs at Gia"s upbringing and family history hitting dangerously close to home.

I can see the hurt and anger flashing in Gia"s eyes, a fire burning bright within her as she struggles to maintain her composure in the face of Mia"s relentless onslaught.

She's handling it well, though.

A look around the room shows me that everyone is noticing the divide between the siblings.

I was right to have Kline look into Mia. Gia's gut feeling is proving to be spot on.

Once everyone is gone and Chloe's in bed, I pull Gia into me. She stiffens and pulls away.

"Stay with me tonight."

"No," she answers quickly.

"Why not?"

"I don't have to explain why," she snaps at me.

"Okay, I get that you're upset over the way Mia was acting and…"

"You don't know anything. Just because I don't want to stay the night with you doesn't mean that I'm upset about something. We're not in a real relationship and you're getting too attached."

"I am?"

"Yes."

"Don't push me away right now."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not. I need space sometimes though and you need to respect that rather than jump to conclusions that something is wrong."

"Okay. I hear you."

"Thank you, I need to get home. I'm tired."