“About a week ago. Why, is something wrong?”
I bit my lip, not sure whether I was going to cry or laugh. I’d missed her by days, a span of time that felt like nothing compared to the four years she’d been gone…but she’d been here. Kelsey had seen her. She was alive. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes and said, “Kelsey, I haven’t heard from Rose since she turned eighteen.”
“What?” she gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth. “How is that possible? She never mentioned anything like that to me. In fact, she had me mail a letter to you when she left. Here.” She pushed open the screen door separating us. “Why don’t you come in, and we can talk.”
The four of us stepped inside, and she ushered us down the hall into a cozy living room with mismatched furniture. Asha asked to use the bathroom, and after pointing her in the right direction, Kelsey said, “How about I put on a pot of coffee?” as if she knew tonight would be a late one.
Exhausted from our day of travel, I sunk into an oversize couch. Boomer flopped down next to me, dropping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me in for a quick, supportive squeeze, while Alec took a spot on the nearby rocking chair with an afghan dropped over the back.
We waited in silence. Asha was the first to return, and eventually Kelsey came back in with a tray of steaming mugs, milk, and sugar. She set them down on the coffee table and settled into a La-Z-Boy.
Finally, she said, “Tell me everything.”
So I did. First, we breezed through introductions—Kelsey raised an eyebrow when I mentioned Alec, but she didn’t ask any questions—and then I explained that Rose had disappeared on her birthday, and I’d just found the letters she’d sent me hidden beneath my mother’s bed.
“Wow.” Kelsey shook her head when I finished. “I knew Rose was going through some stuff in high school, but I didn’t realize she’d run away. We lost touch after she quit the soccer team.”
“So how’d she end up living with you?” I was desperate to hear how the two had reconnected since my own attempts to track down Rose had been futile. She didn’t have a Facebook or Twitter, and even a simple Google search turned up nothing.
“Rose never lived with me,” Kelsey clarified. “I can’t remember if it was for work or if she was just visiting, but she only stayed in the city for a few days. Running into each other was a total coincidence. I bumped into her on the street, and we spent the rest of the day catching up. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t know anything else.”
Something cold and sharp coiled inside my stomach, like a spool of barbed wire.That’s it?We’d driven all the way here to discover what? That my sister had vacationed in San Francisco? Why had I thought taking this road trip was a good idea? It was the kind of rash, reckless decision that Rose would make. Not me.
Boomer leaned forward, resting both elbows on his knees and folding his hands together. “So you have no clue where she is now?”
“I think she’s living in Seattle,” Kelsey answered. “I asked for a forwarding address in case her letter was returned. Hold on. Let me go get it.” She disappeared to the kitchen again and returned clutching a slip of paper. She handed over an old receipt with crinkled edges and an address written on the back in bright-pink ink.
Everyone was quiet as I stared down at it.
When a full minute passed and I had yet to say anything, Alec spoke up. “We should go.”
Startled, I glanced in his direction. “Where? You mean Seattle?”
He nodded.
“Ooh, totally!” Asha said before I could answer. “I love Seattle. My cousin lives there. Last year Riya and I went to visit him, and he took us to the Seattle Center to see this glass exhibit that showcases some famous artist. I can’t remember his name. It’s like…Cholula or something.”
“The hot sauce?” Boomer asked, and Alec coughed to cover the sound of his snort.
Asha scratched her head, a flush coloring her cheeks. “I knew that didn’t sound right.”
“Do you mean Dale Chihuly?” Kelsey asked.
“Yes,him,” she said, snapping her fingers. “There was a garden and a bunch of galleries filled with these colorful glass sculptures. I don’t know how to describe them, but it was like being on an alien planet or in a Dr. Seuss book. My cousin took us to some cool places, but that was by far my favorite and—” She stopped midramble, the smile shrinking on her face, and looked at Boomer. “You don’t have to babysit Kevin tomorrow, do you?”
“Nope. My dad’s taking him fishing. I’m down for Seattle if everyone else is.”
“Awesome.” Asha clapped her hands together and faced me. “Felicity? What about you? You’re super quiet.”
“I don’t know, Asha…” I didn’t want to see the smile fade off her face again, so I lowered my gaze back to the receipt.
When Kelsey had first mentioned Seattle, I’d felt a wisp of hope flicker inside me, but now, as I looked at Rose’s handwriting, it was merely a reminder that my sister didn’t want to be part of my life anymore. She was obviously running from something. Whether itwas her bad relationship with Mom, her heartache over Dad, or a deeper issue I wasn’t privy to, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t important enough to be included in her life. Sure, she wrote me the letters, but the more I thought about them, the more I realized they weren’t enough. Why couldn’t she spare time for phone calls or holiday visits? Why did she sneak out of my life in the middle of the night?
“What does that mean?” Asha asked, her tone somewhere between anger and alarm. “Fel?
I pressed my hands to my face and let out a sigh. “It means I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Nobody said anything, so I peeked out from behind my fingers. Asha was gaping at me as if I’d punched a baby or run over her grandma, and Boomer cocked his head and frowned.
