“When was that?”
“Yesterday.” I gesture to a nearby bench, but Vinnie shakes her head.
“No, let’s keep going. So, you called twice yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“And she didn’t answer?”
“Vincenza, just say whatever it is you’re wanting to say.”
“It’s been nearlytwoweeks, Luce. What took you so long to call?”
I breathe deeply. “I don’t know.” That’s the God's honest truth. I had a million reasons why I hadn’t, yet none at all. “Uncertainty? Shame? You name it, it probably crossed my mind at some point.”
“Out of everything you could doubt in the world, you choose to doubt her intentions with you. Seriously, Luce? How she feels about you is the one thing about her that hasn’t changed over the last decade. Why would you believe she had anything to do with that horrible man’s lies?”
“I don’t know, Vinnie!” I snap, raising my voice an octave too high. Immediately, I regret it. I’ve never raised my voice at my sister, but fuck if she isn’t making me feel even worse right now.
My saint of a sister simply glares at me and adjusts her arm in mine, squeezing it tighter. “Have you ever been called a coward, Luce?”
“Only every time I look in the mirror.”
“Good. Because you are one. Raina isn’t some random woman you met at a bar. She’s been in our lives for over ten years and is as transparent as Scotch tape. She’s the oneperson aside from you and Sly who has never betrayed my trust. Knowing how she feels about you, do you really think she’d betrayyou?”
“I know,” I snarl through gritted teeth.
“So, why aren’t you fighting for her?”
“I don’t knowhow to! Fuck, Vins, I don’t know how to make this right with her. I love her so goddamn much, my lungs seize each time I think of her. I can’tbreathewithout hearing her voice. I’d do anything to get her back, but I fucked up when I doubted her and asked for space, and I fucked up even worse when I didn’t pick up the phone for almost two weeks. But it got harder the longer I waited because I knew on the other end of that phone was a woman who was furiously disappointed in me. I let her down when all I needed to do was stand by her side.”
“At least you recognize it.”
“Yeah. Of course I do.” I rub the back of my neck. “Now I have to figure out how to win her heart back.”
“You still have it, Luce. Look, Raina may seem like she’s pure glitz and glamor, but at heart, she’s really quite simple in what she needs in her life to make her happy.”
“I know that, too. Why else would she adopt a senior fleabag?”
Vinnie laughs and lets go of my arm. There’s another bench up ahead, and she takes the lead, walking over to it. “She loves that dog so much,” she says as she sits down.
“Probably more than she’s ever loved me.”
I sit next to my sister and take in the beauty of Central Park before leaning forward with my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands.
“Oh,definitelymore than you. Especially right now.”
“I need to fix things,” I groan, rubbing my face.
“Yep, you sure do. Just be honest with her, Luce. A beautiful declaration of your love in front of the people she loves most should suffice.”
“You mean at one of our dinners?”
She grins as I turn my head to look at her. Rubbing circles on my back, she nods. “Tomorrow night sounds like an excellent time to apologize. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I’m not even sure she’ll show up if she knows I’m there, to be honest.”
“She’ll show up. Raina’s loyal to a fault. You know that.”
