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Maybe she was in the shower or at a restaurant. Perhaps she was still sleeping. He didn’t know her well enough as an adult to know if she was a morning person or a night owl. He should probably know such things.
He remembered a time when Erin would call him constantly. He was always rushing off the phone to get somewhere, and she’d make him schedule an hour when they could talk again. But he’d been so busy back then, there never seemed enough time. And they soon ran out of things to talk about.
No matter how much he promised to call her back or do better, he never gave her the time she wanted, and eventually, she stopped looking to him for advice, stopped needing him in her life. Her independence made him proud but also sad and incredibly disappointed in himself.
The world moved so fast in New York, it was too much to summarize in a five-minute conversation. And nothing ever seemed to change in Jasper Falls.
His thumb stopped swiping and he glanced out the window overlooking Main Street. Things had changed. Friends grew up and got married. New businesses opened and thrived. There were festivals and crosswalks and tourists for God’s sake.
His phone pinged and he opened the text, relieved Erin finally replied.
* * *
What’s wrong?
* * *
He frowned. Why did something have to be wrong? Couldn’t he just check in for no reason? Wasn’t that what normal families did?
His phone rang and Erin’s name popped up on the screen. At least some things hadn’t changed. Erin was still impatient when she wanted answers.
He brought the phone to his ear. “Hey.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Why would something be wrong? I was just checking in with you.”
“Checking—What? Harrison, are you high?”
He scoffed. “No. Why would you ask that?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just… In ten years, you’ve never checked in on me. I don’t even know what that means.”
“Nothing. It means nothing.” Why did he even bother trying? “I’ll talk to you later—”
“Wait!”
He hesitated through the uncomfortable silence as it stretched into unbearable. “What?”
“How’s…New York?”
“I’m not in New York. I’m in Jasper Falls.”
“You are? Since when?”
“The taxes were due at the store and…” And he’d paid them yesterday so why was he still there. “I’m tying up loose ends.”
“Oh.” That little syllable held the weight of all their secrets and he hated that she knew him well enough to know this wasn’t going to be an easy process for him. “Are you okay? Do you need me to come back and help?”
He didn’t deserve her offer, and she’d never know how much he appreciated it, not because he wanted her assistance, but her offer validated that she didn’t completely hate him. “No. No, you keep doing what you’re doing and enjoy yourself. You’ve done enough.”
“Have you been to the house?”
Last they talked, she was slamming doors in his face and telling him what a coward and shitty brother he was. Part of her anger had to do with his reluctance to set foot in their childhood home.
“No. I’m at the Brick Hotel.”
“If you wanted to stay at the house, you’re more than—”
“I don’t.”
She sighed, but he couldn’t understand why she would take his decision personally. Hotels just came with more amenities. And Mariella.
“Harrison, it’s different now. I’ve painted and pulled up the carpets. Your room’s still—”
“It’s your house, Erin.” He didn’t care what she did with his ratty old things. “Don’t hold onto anything on my account. I’ve moved on.”
Have you? He could almost hear the question drift between them although neither of them said it aloud.
“How long do you plan to stay? I’d like to see you.”
Last night he’d been ready to leave. Then he spotted Mariella on a date, and his entire focus did a one-eighty.
Seeing her on a date with another man, smiling and laughing, tilting her head in that thoughtful way she did when she listened… He’d never seen her like that with anyone else. He didn’t like it. Those looks were supposed to be for him.
“I’m staying the week,” he blurted without considering his schedule or motive.
“Really?” Her voice pitched with excitement. “I’ll talk to Giovanni. I can probably get a flight home for a few days.”
Shocked she would do that, he grinned. “I’d like that. Would Giovanni come with you?” He supposed he should get to know her husband. Until now he mostly thought of him as Mariella’s brother.
“No, he still has performances he’s committed to. But that’s okay. I’d like to have some time with just you and me.”
Again he was shocked by her eagerness and ability to overlook how absent he’d been from her life. “Great. Let me know what you figure out.”
“I will. And, Harrison?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for checking in.”
He ended the call, a strange mix of satisfaction and nervousness churning in his stomach. Sensing he’d done something good and made his sister happy made him happy. But knowing how easily he could mess this up scared the shit out of him. He didn’t want to let her down.
