“When did you get so smart?”
“I have this cool older sister.”
Teagan took a huge bite and handed the scooper back to Harley. But when Harley reached for the scooper, Teagan hugged her. A real sisterly hug that Harley had waited her entire adult life to receive.
She held on fiercely, warm emotions bubbling up and pooling on her lashes. She closed her eyes to remember exactly what this moment felt like, not letting go until they were both sniffling. When she pulled back, she had ice cream on her boob.
“Is this where you tell me no tushies on the counter?”
“This is where I eat ice cream from the carton with my baby sister.”
Teagan hopped up on the counter and did some crisscross applesaucing of her own until their knees touched. When they were little, and their parents were having one of their epic fights, they’d sneak downstairs, sit on the counter, and eat ice cream from the carton, just like this.
“I’m sorry,” Teagan whispered.
“You already said that.”
“No, I mean, I’m sorry about Bryan.”
Harley froze, a cold blast of holy fuck hitting her square in the face. “How do you know about Bryan?”
“He called.”
“Did you answer my phone?” Harley frantically scrolled through her cell. Not a single incoming call from LA since he’d promised to give her space.
“No, and apparently you don’t either. So he called Nonna’s house line. I guess he got worried when he didn’t hear from you and looked up her number.”
That was incredibly sweet. And incredibly irritating. If he wasn’t so thoughtful, she might hate him. “This is bad, Tee. Really bad. Tell me exactly what you said.”
Harley had a feeling Teagan’s description of their living arrangement wouldn’t line up with her own story about helping her sister settle her grandmother’s estate in Pacific Cove. None of the facts were a lie, but they weren’t the truth either.
“All I said was that you were out.”
“You’re the best.” She hugged her sister again. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am.” She offered Teagan the next bite, which was loaded with chocolate chunks.
“You might want to hold off on the good scoop until I finish.” Teagan swallowed. “I also might have told him that you’d call him back.”
“You what? I’m here to avoid him. Not sit in Nonna’s kitchen and have a high-school call with some cute boy while twirling the phone cord.”
Teagan leaned in. “So he’s cute, huh?”
“That’s your takeaway?”
“It seems to explain a lot of things, which is why I gave him Nonna’s address.”
“What! Why?” Harley hopped off the counter, ready to pack up her things and head north for the summer. Teagan grabbed her by the elbow and patted the vacant counter spot. Harley hopped back up but held the scooper hostage until her sister fully explained herself.
“Maybe because I wanted to see if you’d actually hold a funeral for our poor nonna, God bless her soul.” Teagan made the sign of the cross. “Seriously? Who lies about their grandma dying to avoid a breakup?”
“Well, she is dead. Plus, I figured Nonna would get a kick out of being my alibi.”
Teagan ignored this. “Did you hit your six-month limit?”
“How do you know about my six-month limit?”
“Har, the Pope knows about your six-month limit.”
“I’ll have you know, I lasted ten months.” Harley ate the good bite.
