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“I didn’t even get my third shot.”
“That’s shitty. They could’ve at least taken you out to lunch.”
She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t let Matthew hear.
“I’ll put out some feelers,” he said. “And I’ll call you if I learn anything.”
“Thanks.”
“Sure.” He hung up without saying goodbye.
With the day off, Sienna could have gone for a run or worked out at the gym, but afraid she might not hear Matthew’s call, she binged Squid Game on Netflix. When her phone rang, she actually jumped.
“You won’t believe this.” Matthew’s tone was harsh with disgust. “You’re way better qualified than the asshole they gave the job to.”
She basked in her brother’s praise. “Who was it?”
“I went to university with him. Jeffrey Deck. We all called him Dick. He totally thought he was better than the rest of us, but he was an idiot.”
Smithfield and Vine didn’t hire idiots. And the guy was younger than she was, which meant he had less experience. She could only think he got the job because he was a man. Yet Smithfield and Vine were highly regarded for their hiring practices. They were colorblind and gender blind, even if your gender was fluid.
“What the hell?” she muttered.
“Just what I was thinking,” Matthew said. “If I hear any more, I’ll let you know.” Then he added, in a near whisper as if somebody was listening, “You can always come here, Sienna. Dad’s really not as bad as you think.”
She didn’t want to get back on the competition merry-go-round with her brother. She liked Matthew. Once she was out of the house, and even more so after he’d graduated too, they got along fairly well, even occasionally getting together for drinks.
That camaraderie was why she felt she could ask, “Why didn’t you want Mother to come to my birthday party?”
She thought he’d stammer an answer, but he said, “What are you talking about?”
“You told Dad you wouldn’t come to the party if Mother was there?” Her voice rose, ending it on a question.
“I didn’t say a thing to him.” She could almost see his shrug. “I didn’t care if you invited Mom.” Matthew didn’t avoid their mother. He gave her birthday and Christmas presents, and yet he rarely saw her and didn’t seem to have much use for her.
“She’s really not as bad as you think,” she told him. “I’ve had dinner with her a few times. She and Aunt Teresa took me out for a birthday lunch.”
“I don’t think she’s a bad person.” Matthew was silent a few moments. “But I didn’t know you were ready to forgive her.”
“I’m not forgiving her. I just decided I’m too old to hold grudges. It’s not good for me.”
He laughed harshly. “Are you saying I’m holding a grudge?”
“Look, I know we really don’t talk much about how things were when we were growing up. I’m just saying that people make mistakes.”
“I know they do. And I’m not holding any grudges. It didn’t bother me that you were her favorite.”
“Her favorite? You’ve gotta be joking.” He was rewriting history. “But you know how fragile Mother was. You and Dad were so close, she thought she couldn’t compete.”
Matthew laughed, not cruelly, just softly. “Maybe. Remember how she was when Dad was on a business trip?”
“I remember.” Their mother always made their favorite meals when Dad wasn’t around, tacos or fish and chips or lasagna, stuff their father didn’t eat. He was strictly meat and potatoes. Then they’d play board games or watch movies. When their dad was away, Mother actually made the days fun. Maybe she actually had been trying to compete.
“Anyway,” she said, “It’s good for me to let go of all this animosity.”
“Absolutely. And honestly, I don’t have any animosity either.” Maybe that was true, or maybe Matthew was in denial.
Once he’d hung up, the main point of the conversation hit her. Dad had said Matthew didn’t want their mom at the birthday party. Yet Matthew hadn’t said that at all. Her father was a lot of things, but she’d never thought he was a liar, and though she rarely confronted him, she needed to call him on it now. After all, it was pretty blatant.
Her father answered the way he always did, flatly. “Hello, Sienna.”
He didn’t ask why she’d called a second time in one day and waited her out. Which made it harder to confront him. She had to dig her fingernails into her palms to keep going. “I just talked to Matthew, and he says he never told you he wouldn’t come to my birthday party if Mother was there.”
Her father’s long pause almost unnerved her, until he said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t quite truthful. It was Brianna—” He never called her Bron. “—who was uncomfortable about your mom being there. Since you and Brianna get along well, I didn’t want the two of you to develop any bad feelings, so I told a fib. Don’t mention this to Brianna, or she’ll get upset that I treated her like a child who can’t handle anything.”
So Bron would be mad to hear he’d stepped in. Interesting. Her father usually never cared what anybody wanted. He just did what he wanted. Maybe Bron was softening him up a little. That was a good thing. But it was too bad Bron had to feel uncomfortable.
“I won’t say anything. I want us to be friends, but please don’t do stuff like that, Dad. Bron and I are big girls, and we can handle it.”
“I never make the same mistake twice,” he said, yet his voice didn’t hold even a hint of remorse.
