Ghost And Reunions

Elijah stood frozen in the doorway, staring at her like she might disappear if he blinked.

Kira’s heart beat very fast. Nine years. Nine years since she’d seen that face, heard that voice, felt the weight of everything she’d walked away from.

“Elijah,” she said again, quieter this time.

He crossed the room in three long strides and pulled her into a hug.

Kira stiffened at first. Physical touch from anyone who wasn’t Lily felt foreign now. But then his arms tightened around her, and she felt something inside her.

He smelled like rosemary and burnt sugar. Like a kitchen at the end of a long shift. Like home used to feel.

“I thought you were dead at first,” he whispered into her hair. “We all did. You just vanished.”

Kira pulled back, wiping at her face. She hadn’t realized she was crying. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” His voice broke. “Kira, you disappeared for nine years. No goodbye. No explanation. Nothing.” He stepped back, running a hand through his flour-dusted hair. “Do you have any idea what that did to us? To me?”

“I know.”

“Do you?” His eyes searched hers, looking for something he couldn’t find. “We were supposed to open a restaurant together. Kane and Hayes. We had plans.”

“I got pregnant.”

The words landed between them like a grenade.

Elijah blinked. “What?”

“I got pregnant. Three months into dating someone. I panicked. I thought I loved him. I thought….” She stopped herself. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. I was wrong.”

Elijah’s jaw worked. He glanced toward the stairs where Lily had gone, then back at Kira. “The little girl. She’s yours.”

“Her name is Lily. She’s nine.”

“Nine.” He did the math in his head. His expression shifted. “So you left because…”

“Because I was in love and stupid and thought I could make it work.” Kira’s voice hardened. “And I did. For nine years, I made it work. I played the perfect wife. I gave up everything. My career. My name. My family. Myself.”

Elijah stared at her. Really looked at her. His gaze moved over her face, her hair, her hands.

“You look different,” he said quietly.

“Different how?”

“Older. Tired.” He hesitated. “Sad.”

Kira laughed, but it came out hollow. “That’s what nine years of marriage to the wrong man will do to you.”

“Where is he? Your husband.”

“Not here. And that’s all that matters.”

Marcus cleared his throat from the doorway. Kira had forgotten he was still there.

“I should explain,” Marcus said, stepping back into the study. “I called Elijah this morning. Told him we had a special guest arriving and needed a private chef for the week. I didn’t mention it was you.”

Elijah turned to Marcus, eyes wide. “You knew she was coming back?”

“I’ve known where she was for nine years,” Marcus said simply. “I was just waiting for her to come home.”

Kira’s chest tightened. Her brother had been watching. Waiting. Protecting her from a distance.

Elijah looked between them, processing. “So you’re really back. For good.”

“For good,” Kira confirmed.

“And your husband?”

“Soon to be ex-husband.”

Elijah’s expression shifted. Something flickered in his eyes that Kira couldn’t quite read. Hope? Anger? Both?

“What happened?” he asked. “Why now? Why after nine years?”

Kira met his gaze. “He stepped over me.”

“What?”

“There was a fire. I was injured. I reached for him.” Her voice didn’t shake. She wouldn’t let it. “He stepped over me to save someone else.”

Elijah’s hands clenched into fists. “He what?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Kira straightened her shoulders. “Actually, I’m better than fine. I’m done. I’m free. And I’m about to remind everyone who the hell I am.”

Marcus smiled. It was sharp and dangerous. “That’s my sister.”

Elijah was still staring at her, like he was trying to reconcile the woman in front of him with the girl he’d known. “Your hair. It’s shorter. And your face….”

“What about my face?”

“It’s just different. You’re different.”

Kira touched her cheek self-consciously. She’d lost weight over the years. Stress did that. So did skipping meals because she was too busy taking care of everyone else.

“Don’t worry,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’m still me. Just a little more broken.”

“You’re not broken,” Elijah said firmly. “You’re here. You survived. That’s not broken.”

Kira didn’t know how to respond to that.

Marcus’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it, then at Kira. His expression softened. “Kira. Someone’s here to see you.”

Her stomach dropped. “Who?”

“Just come with me.”

Kira followed Marcus out of the study, down the hallway, toward the sitting room. Her heart was racing again. Who could possibly be here? Adrian didn’t know where she was. No one knew.

Except.

The sitting room doors were open. Two figures sat on the cream-colored sofa, backs to the doorway.

Kira’s breath caught.

She knew those silhouettes. The perfectly straight posture. The elegant way they held themselves.

Marcus stepped aside, letting Kira enter first.

The woman turned first. Her hair was grayer than Kira remembered, swept into an elegant chignon. Her eyes, the same warm brown as Kira’s, widened.

“Kira.”

The man turned next. Older. Thinner. But still her father.

“Mom. Dad.”