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“Hello, Scott,” Katy said coldly. She gave him a withering glance as she walked past him, not even allowing a response. I couldn’t help laughing. I might have more of an issue convincing Katy to forgive Scott than Amy to forgive him.
But Scott turned to me and I wiped the smile off my face. I froze, then realized I needed to say something. “Scott, yes, hello,” I said. “Good to see you.” Amy lifted an eyebrow at me.Stop being weird, she mouthed.
One side of Scott’s mouth lifted into a half-grin. “Good to see you, too, Ivy.”
Lucas appeared in the doorway, taking the attention away from me. Scott headed over to Lucas and reached out his hand for a handshake. Lucas looked down at his hand and smiled, accepting the gesture. Amy’s smile couldn’t have gotten any bigger. My heart warmed at the sight of them all coming together.
“Let’s sit,” Amy said. “We have things we need to talk about.”
We all took seats at the table. Amy and Lucas sat next to each other, Scott sat across from Amy, and I looked for somewhere to sit that wasnotnext to Scott. Unless I wanted to sit three seats away from everyone, it wasn’t an option. I smiled tightly as I slid in next to him.
Amy opened her mouth to say something, but Scott cut her off. “Amy, I want to say how sorry I am for the way I treated you.” He gestured to Lucas. “And Lucas, too. I thought I was doing the right thing. I want you to be happy, and . . . I think I didn’t understand what you needed to be happy. But,” his eyes flicked over to me so fast I’m not sure Amy even noticed, “I think I understand better now.”
Amy gave him a small smile. “I’m really grateful for that. I don’t want us to be on opposite sides.” She took in a deep breath. “I have a lot of built-up issues with you that I’ve been bottling inside, though.”
“Oh, really?” Scott asked, his lips quirking into a smile. “Speak your truth, Amy. Tell me about them.”
She smiled. “Looking back on them, they might not be your fault. You’re just so . . . perfect.”
Tell me about it.
“You always had perfect grades,” she continued. “You got into the perfect school. You have the perfect job. You make Mother and Dad so proud of you. I always feel second best. And when there’s only two of us, that also means feeling like a loser.”
He reached out and touched the top of her hand. He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. I recognized he was trying to put his words together. Emotional conversations were never his strong suit, but he was making such an effort here. “You’ve never been a loser to me,” he said slowly. “You’re my little sister, who’s beautiful, intelligent, and kind. I’m so sorry I’ve made you feel this way. I promise, it was never intentional.”
Amy’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Scott squeezed her hand one more time. “And Lucas, I’m sorry. I judged you without really knowing you. But now that I know how happy you make Amy . . . I know I was wrong.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Lucas said. He looked like a happy puppy being told he was a good boy. “We’re good.”
I stifled a laugh at Lucas’s eagerness. Joy bubbled up into my chest. I was so relieved, I forgot myself for a moment. Squeezing Scott’s forearm, I whispered to him, “I’m so proud of you.”
Scott widened his eyes at me, and I suddenly remembered how I was supposed to be acting.
I released my hold on his arm and started petting him instead. Probably not better. I reached over the table and started petting Amy and Lucas’s forearms. “I’m so proud ofallof you.”
Amy looked at me like I had jumped on top of the table and started performing the choreography from the “Oops, I Did It Again” music video. Not that I hadn’t done that before. “Uh . . . thank you,” she finally said.
I flashed her a huge smile to cover my mistake. “You aresowelcome.”
“Now that we’ve established that, I should probably head out,” Scott said.
“So soon?” Lucas whined.
Scott smiled and looked over at me. “I think it’s for the best.”
Ugh. As disappointed as I was for him to leave, it would prevent more of my ridiculous lack of restraint.
“We’ll talk again soon, though,” he said to Amy. We all stood up from the table, and he wrapped her up in a big hug. My eyes misted with tears, glimpsing a possible future where we could all hang out together with no underlying resentment or secrets.
“Bye, Lucas,” he said, reaching out for another handshake. Lucas wouldn’t accept that, though, and squeezed him in a hug. I giggled.
“Bye, Ivy,” Scott said. With a mischievous glint in his eye, he petted the front of my forearm. “It was good to see you.”
He was going to pay for that later. “You, too,” I said. He winked at me and headed out the door. Amy shut it behind him.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” I said quickly. “You know, millions and millions of rhinestones. The usual.” I laughed nervously. “So happy for you guys.”
