Strong Ties

By Brendan Drummond

When Zach MacDonald was just nine years old, his parents were murdered. On that day, Zach didnt just lose his parents; he lost a big part of his life. His fathers sister, Theresa, took him in and treated him as part of the family.

After thirteen years of living with his aunt and five cousins, Zach has finally come to call it home. Then Theresa is killed in a tragic accident, and Zach must step up to the plate to prevent his family, the last that he has, from falling apart.

The girls are devastated by their mothers death, and with everything that is going on in their lives, Zach struggles to keep the family together. But the worst is yet to come.

Events from the past begin to rear up, and the girls face challenges that theyve never faced before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Nov 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524516031

Brendan Drummond

Brendan is an Australian author who lives in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. He has spent the last few years working for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development as a primary school teacher in schools across the eastern suburbs. When not teaching the wonderful students of Melbourne, he spends his time escaping into the fantasy world of books through both reading and writing. He enjoys a good movie, cheering on the Hawks as they dominate the AFL, and playing with his two cats, Pumpkin and Patch.

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Copyright © 2016 by Brendan Drummond.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/14/2016

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

747136

CONTENTS

Thirteen Years Later

One Year Later

A s the car pulled into the driveway of Number Three Timber Lane, Zach began to stir from his slumber. It had been a long night for the little guy, thought Tom, as he looked at his nephew in the rear vision mirror.

Tom could barely see the shock of brown hair which was his nephew. Being just nine years old, Zach was pretty thin, and he seemed even thinner than he was due to the fact he was taller than most of the boys his age. He had blue eyes, the same blue that his mother has. Had, thought Tom to himself, feeling the tears starting to well again.

Tom climbed out of the driver’s seat, quickly wiping his eyes, as Zach blinked and began to stare at the familiar two storey house. A cool wind swept across the driveway as Tom opened the passenger seat door.

He bent down onto his knees and said to Zach in a low voice, Zach, I want you to listen to me, okay. I need you to stay in the car while I go talk to your Aunt Theresa. Can you do that for me? Can you stay in the car?

Zach nodded his head sleepily and closed his eyes. As Tom began to make his way up the driveway, he checked his watch; it was ten o’clock at night. He had rung Theresa about an hour ago from the station so she would know that he was coming, but even so, there was no telling how she would react to him.

He knocked lightly on the door as Theresa had told him to do. A minute passed before the door opened.

Theresa stood on the threshold, her face tear streaked and her hair untidy. Most people would have thought that she was a mess, but Tom knew that she looked pretty good for a newly singled mother of five girls. Especially now that she had lost her only brother.

Theresa had shoulder-length blonde hair, and large, chocolate-brown eyes. The same coloured eyes that had also belonged to her brother. She was wearing a pink dressing gown, and looked almost as though she had just gotten out of bed.

Tom gave the car one last glance before stepping through the door and into the house. On any other day he would have been happy to see all the pictures of Theresa and her family, but this wasn’t any other day.

Theresa led him into the lounge room, before bustling off to make coffee. Tom made sure to choose a seat where he had a clear view of the car through the front window.

Theresa returned with the coffee, taking a seat opposite him. Both stared silently, neither one trying to make eye-contact. Finally, Tom broke the silence.

Theresa, I know this isn’t the best time, with what you’re going through and all, he said, trying to stop his voice from shaking, but I have a favour to ask you?

She tensed, as though she had been expecting something of the sort. She sipped her coffee silently, not daring to respond. After a minute, Tom continued.

Look, with Alice and Max … dead, Tom choked on that word, feeling his heart skip a beat, Zach is has been left on his own.

I forgot all about Zach, said Theresa startled. With everything that she had been going through, Tom wasn’t surprised that she had forgotten about her nephew.

Well, the bank has already foreclosed on the house, and unless someone takes him in, he’ll go into the foster care system.

It hit her then what the favour was that Tom was asking for. She gave him a look which was clearly asking why he wasn’t the one to take Zach in. He shook his head slightly.

I know what you’re thinking Theresa, but it just wouldn’t work. I’m single, barely able to support myself, let alone a child, I’m barely home, and I can never guarantee that I’m going to make it through to the next day. It’s no environment for a child, especially one that just lost his parents. He needs support, family and stability.

So you want me to look after him? asked Theresa, cutting straight to the truth.

Look, this way he’ll have a loving family, people to look after him, people who are able to care for him, said Tom. It sounded to Theresa as though he was a door to door salesman rather than a concerned uncle.

I’m having enough trouble trying to support myself and five kids as it is, and you’re asking me take in another one? asked Theresa quietly.

Money’s not a problem, said Tom, his face lighting up. Somehow, he had always been able to get Theresa to do what he wanted. You’ll get money from the government until Zach’s eighteen, and I’ll chip in where I can.

Look, Tom, I know that Alice meant a lot to you, Max meant everything to me, said Theresa, but I can’t handle another kid right now. I mean, Lucy’s only two months old.

We’re the closest thing that the kid’s got to family, said Tom pleadingly. Come on Theresa, his whole world, his life, it isn’t there anymore. He needs someone that he can count on. That rules me out.

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. Almost everything that Tom said made her laugh. It had been the same with her brother.

Alright, she said, causing relief to spread across his face. But I’m not promising anything permanent, you understand? I can’t guarantee that he can stay.

Well, as long as you give me enough time to find someone else, I’m thankful, said Tom, not bothering to keep the joy out of his voice.

The girls have all been asking for a brother, she said wryly. I suppose that you expected me to cave?

He’s in the car, replied Tom, showing her his idiotic grin.

They proceeded to the hallway and from there to the car. Zach was still buckled in the back seat, his head lolled to one side as he slept.

Quietly, Tom opened the door and unbuckled the seat belt. He then proceeded to the boot of the vehicle, where the luggage was. While Tom took the luggage into the house, Theresa picked Zach up lightly, brushed the light brown hair out of his eyes. She noted that it was the same coloured hair that her brother Max use to have.

Thirteen Years Later

T he alarm on Zach’s bedside table sounded, rousing him from one of his favourite dreams. He rolled over and groaned as he saw the time on his watch, which was hanging on the post of his bed. It was seven o’clock in the morning and sun was streaming through the gap in the middle of his curtains.

Zach lay in bed listening to the usual morning hustle and bustle as his Aunt and cousins woke up and started getting ready for the day. He had just closed his eyes again when someone knocked lightly on his door.

Quick as a flash, Zach pulled the blanket over his head. The door started to creak open and a voice called timidly into the room, Zach? Are you awake?

The person crept lightly into the room, while Zach remained as still as possible, keeping the blanket securely over his head. Zach heard the floorboard beside the bed creak slightly as the person stepped on it, and flinging the covers back, he grabbed his cousin around the middle of the waist.

She shrieked with surprise, and the two of them started wrestling back and forth across his bed. Lucy squealed with laughter, as Zach stuck his fingers under her t-shirt and tickled her belly, laughing like a mad man.

Maddie stuck her head in the door on her way passed and said, You know, you two need to get a life. She only just managed to avoid the pillow that Zach threw at her with his spare hand.

Finally Zach released Lucy, who lay flat on the bed, gasping for air. When she finally climbed to her feet, her hair was strewn over the place, and she looked as though she was the one who had just gotten out of bed.

Mum wants to know if you will be able to drop us off at school on your way to work this morning? asked Lucy, making sure to stay as far away from Zach as possible. She knew from experience that one tickle attack was enough.

Tell Aunt Theresa that I will be down for breakfast in about five minutes, and then I will decide what it is that a plan to do this morning, said Zach. As Lucy left the room and made her way down the stairs, Zach started getting dressed. It was like a ritual to them, he thought. Every morning Lucy came into his room needing to ask Zach if he would be able to take the girls to school, and every morning he waited patiently under his covers. They’d been doing it since Lucy was about five years old.

When he was dressed, Zach made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Everyone else was already sitting at the table. Theresa was chatting on the phone with one of her clients; Maddie and her fiancé Terry sat side by side feeding each other over Maddie’s pregnant belly, the way lovers do; Tracey and Jess, the twins, sat at opposite ends of the table, amusing each other by pulling lovey dovey faces at each other as they glanced in Maddie and Terry’s direction; Lucy was busy watching her morning cartoons, paying no attention to anyone else; and Kate was texting her boyfriend on her mobile.

All of the girls were unique in appearance; Lucy, the youngest was short and stocky, with chocolate brown, shoulder length hair; Tracey, the youngest twin by about a minute, had dark brown hair which she had grown out for the past year, so much so that it now reached halfway down her back, was the tallest of all and slightly uncoordinated; Jess was far more proportionate than her twin, and this allowed her to be more graceful. She had also made sure to cut her brown hair short, so as to avoid being mistaken for her twin, because other than height and hair length, the twins would have been identical; Kate and Maddie were both very much like Theresa, with all three having shoulder length blonde hair, double-pierced ears, and all slightly shorter than most people their age. The main difference between these three was that Theresa possessed fair skin, while both of her daughters were well tanned. The only reason that Maddie and Kate could be told apart at the moment was the bulging stomach which belonged to an eight month pregnant Maddie.

There was only one thing that all of the girls had in common and that was Theresa’s blue eyes. Some of the girls had a deeper blue than others, but that was the one feature that all of the girls had inherited from their mother.

Zach took his usual place at the bench, taking an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table as he went past. Kate flashed him a smile, but everyone else was too busy to even notice that he had entered the room.

Around ten minutes later, Theresa finally hung up the phone and turned her attention to Zach. She was about to say something, but Zach cut across her.

I know what you’re about to say, he said before she can say something, and yes, I’ll take the girls to school.

She gave him a thankful look, before giving each of her girls a quick kiss on the forehead, and heading towards the front door.

With Theresa gone everyone started to drift their separate ways. Kate went off to work at the cinema; Maddie and Terry went shopping for some last minute baby items; and Zach drove Lucy, Jess and Tracey to school, before continuing on his way to work.

Zach had loved to cook ever since he was a small boy. Both his parents were cops, meaning that Zach was often left with an elderly neighbour if they were likely to be held up late at the station, which was quite often.

While exploring Mrs Nagley’s house one day, Zach came across a book of handwritten recipes. Mrs Nagley explained to him how she had collected recipes when she was younger, and it wasn’t long before they were baking and cooking in her kitchen whenever they were together.

The kind, old lady would watch as he used the oven, but otherwise Zach could make whatever the ingredients would allow. By the time that Zach turned eight, he already claimed the title of best cook in the house, both his and Mrs Nagley’s.

When Zach moved in with his Aunt Theresa and his cousins, he found that his talents were even more appreciated, because Theresa also worked late, but she hadn’t had any time to teach her daughters how to cook, so home cooked meals consisted of toast, and on occasion, spaghetti. He was quick to change this.

This meant that Zach’s talents were well nurtured all through his life, and when he graduated high school, the next logical step was for Zach to get a job as a chef at one of the local café’s or restaurants. So that’s what he did.

Zach now worked at Norm’s Café and Bar. The pay may not have been that good, and Norman was one of the biggest jerks that Zach had ever met, but the rest of the team was great, and Zach got to cook, which is all he cared about.

Zach grabbed a knife from the rack above his head and began chopping the carrots. All around him people were shouting for orders and ingredients, while Norman