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Mom gasped and looked at me. “You did? Why?”

“Because I did something that hurt her,” he said simply.

The confession immediately disarmed me. I don’t know why, but I half expected him to have forgotten everything. Or to deny it.

Yes, he did do something that hurt me. It was a lifetime ago. We were kids.

And I still didn’t forgive him.

4

JEREMY

“AND HERE SHE IS at her college graduation,” Mark said, flipping through his camera roll.

I smiled at the picture of Anna in her cap and gown, feeling a mix of pride and sadness in my soul that I didn’t let show on my face.

Anna was in the kitchen helping her sister. I kept glancing up to see what she was doing and every time I did, she was looking right back at me. Scowling at me, actually.

Still better than nothing at all.

I couldn’t even begin to explain how surreal it was that I was here. Like I’d been sucked into a tornado and spit out into the Bellthrope house, where everything and everyone was exactly the same as I remembered. Except Anna. She was different, but in the best way. Smarter. More mature. I loved that she was so successful. I always knew she would be.

“We went to Pancake Disco after,” Mark said. “You used to love their food. You’d always get those junkyard potatoes, remember?”

“Yeah. They were different every time,” I said, talking to him but looking at her.

“Well, the cook always made them with the junk in the fridge.” He chuckled. “Do you eat there when you come home to visit?”

“No.” That was a me and Anna thing. It didn’t feel right without her. “I didn’t really come back here very much,” I said instead, watching Anna put rolls into a bowl.

“Why not?” Terri asked.

“Well, my parents got a place in Florida for the winter. Summers I was interning. I just didn’t.”

The truth was, coming back here held too many memories. Especially after Anna stopped talking to me.

“How’s your health?” I asked Terri.

“Good,” she said, swiping to the next photo. “I’ve been in full remission going on… what?” She looked at Mark. “Eight years?”

Mark nodded. “We were pretty worried when it was all happening, but she had some great doctors. They caught it early.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re doing well,” I said, meaning it.

Mark tapped on a new album. “This was two years ago at Jodie and Ivan’s wedding in the Dominican Republic.”

I looked at a photo of the family standing in the surf in bathing suits. “What month?” I asked.

“End of July.”

I pulled my face back. “Oh. I was there. Guys’ trip.”

Mark grinned. “Well shoot. Too bad we didn’t run into you. You two could have reconnected earlier.”

Terri shook her head. “She was engaged to Beau then, Mark. Remember?”

This news hit me like a ton of bricks. An instant spear to the heart.