“I mean, shedid. At first. For, like, ten minutes.” Daisy gave me a supportive thumbs up. “Not a total fail, Nell.”
Sure, not a total fail. Seventy-five percent of one. I’d possibly ruined Carter’s relationship with his parents, embarrassed him in front of them, and left him to fend for himself. As for Phase Two, if a kiss counted as a confession, I’d passed. But actually explaining my feelings… A total fail.
Beck had never come back in from the garden, either. I tried not to overthink it, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d lefthim out there with Lydia, and she’d left. Had he gone with her?
Dad and Destelle came over with a plate of cake in his hand, gesturing at it with his fork. “Which of you wanted the chocolate cake?”
For our birthday cake, we’d done a half-chocolate, half-vanilla cake, with vanilla and chocolate frosting respectively, because Jamie and I had such different tastes. “I did,” Jamie said.
Dad took a bite of it. “Good choice,” he said around his mouthful.
Daisy looked at my sister. “Where’s Harry?”
“He won’t be here til tomorrow.”
“Something came up?” I guessed.
“Overbooked flight.” Destelle arched a brow. “They were asking for people to swap flights, but I saidnope. I wasn’t going to give my sister any more room to give me crap.”
I looked away, picking at the tablecloth.
Destelle eyed the seat beside me before taking it, catching Jamie’s eye. “Can you give us a sec?”
Daisy swung her legs off Jamie’s lap. “Come on,” she said, reaching for his arm. “Let’s get a slice of cake before they pack it away. Or before your dad eats it all.”
Dad’s cheeks were puffed out from the big bite he’d taken, and he trailed after them.
Destelle leaned back in her chair, peering at me with a strange expression on her face. It’d been so long since I’d seen her that I couldn’t recognize her. “You were rightabout Jamie’s sweatpants,” she told me. “I would’ve gotten him high waters. I had no idea he’d grown an extra foot since I’d been gone. Has Mom been feeding him fertilizer for breakfast?”
I knew exactly what her words were. A white flag. I looked over at my sister, closely, for the first time. Her hair was curly and beautiful, curlier than Jamie’s, and totally different than my pin-straight locks. Her features were slightly older, too, the roundness of her cheeks gone, but her eyes were still bright. She looked mature, but still herself. “You have wrinkles,” I said.
She kicked at my chair leg lightly. “It’s rude to point out, you know.”
“I’m your sister.” I gave her an awkward smile. “I’m supposed to be rude.”
Destelle returned it.
“I’m sorry for being a brat on the phone,” I said, and even though I’d felt justified at the time, the tantrum I’d thrown embarrassed me now. I turned so she couldn’t see my heated cheeks. “I was taking my anger out on you.”
“I said a lot of stupid things when I was your age. I think it’s a rite of passage.”
“Like how you said you’d never come home for Christmas because of Mom and Dad?”
I’d meant it a little flippantly, but Destelle’s face fell a little. “You remember that?” Destelle let out a quiet sigh. “I didn’tnotcome home because of Mom and Dad. And not because of you, either.”
“I get it.” I turned back to the tablecloth, fingers tracing a wrinkle. “You’re an adult.”
“I didn’t think it mattered that much, me not coming home. Mom and Dad were always so busy with their cases, and I figured you and Jamie had your own lives that I’d be butting into.” She nudged my chair again. “I didn’t realize you liked me that much.”
“You’re my only big sister,” I grumbled. “Of course I love you… a little.”
Destelle smiled at that, and the familiarity of it made my heart feel warm, and I hadn’t realized how much it’d been hardened toward her until that moment. “Give me a sec,” she said, getting to her feet and heading over to the table where she’d initially sat. Destelle grabbed her brown crossbody bag and came back, unzipping it. “Of course I wouldn’t come without a birthday present.” And then she pulled something out.
It was a stack of notecards, probably three inches thick, all hole-punched onto a thick keychain. I frowned as I took them, and the top notecard, in pink writing, readWORDS.
When I flipped it open, I found another word written.AUTODIDACT.And then a date in the corner. Four years ago in August.
I flipped another notecard.SONDER. Four years ago, September.
