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“Nope,” Jack laughed. “Just sentimental. It happens when you turn thirty.”
Audra slapped Jack’s arm playfully and rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” she said. “I won’t gush over how much I miss my little sister or how badly Mom and Dad want her to move back. If it bothers you guys that much, I’ll just go check on the kids.”
“No,” I said quickly. “Audra, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to make fun of you.”
“Yes, you did,” she snapped.
“I miss you guys, too,” I promised.
“Do you?” She asked seriously.
“Of course,” I laughed. “You’re my family.”
“Then why don’t you ever come home?” Audra demanded.
“Aud…” Jack warned.
“You know why,” I told her softly. “It’s hard for me. Being back here.”
“But it doesn’t have to be,” Audra insisted. “The more you come back, the easier it’ll become.”
“I don’t want it to be easy,” I said. “I like my life in New York.”
“Do you?” Audra’s skepticism annoyed me.
“Audra, don’t you remember how long I spent thinking up plans for my life? By the time I was fifteen I knew exactly what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be.”
“I remember,” Audra said.
“So, aren’t you the least bit happy for me?”
“Of course, I am,” Audra promised. “I just don’t think you are happy.”
“What does that mean?” I could feel myself getting defensive and the last thing I wanted to do was fight with my sister.
“It means that you’re drowning, Piper.”
“Drowning?” I scoffed.
“You flit from relationship to relationship, never settling down. You work crazy hours and…”
“I have a job, so what?”
“So, that job is not your entire life.”
“And you think I don’t know that?” I demanded.
“I think you’re scared,” Audra said bluntly.
“Scared?” I asked, “Scared of what?”
“Living.”
I fell silent and leaned back in my chair. As annoyed as I was with Audra, I couldn’t find it in me to argue with her anymore. She hit on a touchy subject that I didn’t want to explore. It was bad enough having to picture Logan’s face. I didn’t think I could handle having a conversation about him.
Jack sat beside Audra with a concerned look. He’d always worried about me, from the time I was a little girl and he and Audra started going out. He was a good brother, a good husband to my sister. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to ignore my sister and focus on Jack.
