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Sabine touched one of her braids where it disappeared into the knot at the back of her head and then glanced down at her wool socks that poked out from the hem of her favorite pair of jeans. They were her favorite because they were the most broken in—super soft and frayed in all the right places.
She watched as Cherry leaned over and touched the Peter Pan collar of Kara’s dress. The dress was super cute—baby blue with white scalloped trim at the sleeves and neck. The hem hit Kara mid-thigh, making her legs look a mile long.
Sabine’s heart did a sad, slow slide to the floor where she kicked it under the oven with her wool socks.
“Are you going to see him for Christmas?” she asked, referring to their father.
André rolled his eyes. “Are you?”
She chuckled.
“So me, you, and a batch of cookies?”
“Absolutely.”
“Oh hey,” she said, frowning. “Do you know someone named Nikki…?” She made a face because she didn’t know Nikki’s last name. “She works at a recording studio?”
André straightened and sighed. “Nicole. Yes. I-we-dated…” His voice trailed off and he studied the floor intently.
“So she’s an ex?” Sabine didn’t meet all the women André dated, only some. She figured when he was serious about one, he’d let her know.
“Yes and no.” André made a groaning noise in the back of his throat like a car dying. “Did she mention me?”
Sabine crossed her arms over her chest and angled her body toward him. “Sort of. She heard my last name and asked if we were related. When I asked if she knew you, she said no.”
André grimaced and raked a hand through his hair. Sabine remained perfectly still. André wasn’t one to get flustered.
He blinked at her, at the floor, cocked his head to the side, and rolled his eyes. It was like he was having an intense internal debate with himself.
“We were engaged,” he said so quietly that she thought for a second she’d misheard him. But his shame-filled eyes darted up to hers and she sucked in a breath.
“Engaged!” she repeated.
“Quiet,” he hissed, forcing a smile over her shoulder. “Yes, engaged.” He stepped closer to her. “I didn’t tell you because it’s not my proudest moment.”
She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.
He scratched the side of his neck and shifted on his feet.
“I took her to meet dad and he said… he said things that dad says and got into my head.”
“You took her to London to meet our father but never thought to mention her to me?”
“It’s complicated, Sabine,” he said, sounding distressed. “It was intense and fast, and we were in Europe for other reasons when I proposed.” He held his hands out in front of him, palms down. “I didn’t handle it the way I should have.”
“What happened?”
“We got back to the city and I…” He dropped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. He righted himself and sighed. “I ghosted her.”
Sabine stared at her brother. Her wonderful, sweet, smart, idiot brother.
“That was about two years ago.”
Sabine gave him a slow blink.
Today had been full of surprises, and the turkey hadn’t even been served yet.
“I think it’s time to open more wine.”
