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“Ryan?”
“Hey, little sister.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her gently. “I missed you,” he said, because it was the truth. No matter that he hadn’t been home, and no matter that he should have tried harder—right in that minute he realized just how much she’d always meant to him.
She cried softly, her cheek against his shirt.
“Ryan!” His name sounded like it had been shot from a gun. His mother was soon at his side, so he simply lifted an arm and hauled her into the hug. It was like hugging a limb off one of the redwoods, but she relented and accepted the gesture, even patting his back and kissing his cheek, much to his surprise.
“Hey, Mom.”
He held his women and thought that he’d been a fool not to do this more over the last eleven years. Having someone of your own blood to hold was pretty damn special. Not that he didn’t have friends as close, but these two knew him better than most people. Or they once had, he amended.
“You’ve got fat,” he said, releasing them to look at Hope.
She snuffled, giving him a watery smile.“I can’t believe you’re here. I mean, you said—”
“I was wrong, and I’m here now, and that’s all that matters.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Maybe I can cook us a meal and we can catch up tonight?”
“You can cook?” Millicent Lawrence asked.
“I had to look after myself somehow when I left home, Mom, and you taught me the basics, remember?”
“Yes.” Hope nodded. “I want to hear everything that’s happened since I saw you last.”
“That’s a long list, but we can work our way through it. Where’s your man?” Ryan asked.
“In town somewhere. We were going to grab a coffee at The Hoot.”
“You still want to do that, it’s all good with me. I can always have another coffee.” At least if Faith wasn’t there, no one would be poking at him.
“We can have coffee at home,” Hope said.
Ryan looked his sister up and down. “When I last saw you, you were the Lawrence least likely to wear anything that matched and without creases.”
Yes, she was wearing her black lace-up boots, but they were polished, and her pale blue shirt was clearly one of Newman’s, as it was oversized on her, with the cuffs rolled up. But it matched the stretchy black skirt she had on underneath, and in fact the entire look was coordinated.
“Is that a hair band like normal people purchase in a shop? Where is your string?”
“It’s Newman. He knows fashion is not my thing, so he sorts it out for me.”
“What a guy.” Ryan smiled. Because, well… who wouldn’t when faced with Hope?
“He’s the best,” she sighed.
“I saw your spread in a wildlife magazine on the Western Snowy Plover. Nice work, little sister. How come you stopped publishing them a few years back? I looked but didn’t see your name in any credits.”
Hope looked at her belly. “Thanks, that was a good shoot. I kinda fell into trouble with them after that, but I’ll tell you about it later.”
“What trouble? Why didn’t you call me?” Ryan frowned at the top of her head.
“Because you were busy building your career, so she came home and we worked it out,” his mother said.
“I was only a phone call away. Look at me, Hope. What kind of trouble did you have?”
Hope looked nervous as her eyes met his. She took a step back and away from him, putting herself next to his mother. She’d never willingly done that before, but then, they were very different people from the ones who had relied on each other as children.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing. We sorted it.”
