AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re sure?” I ask in a whisper.
“Never been more sure of anything in my entire life.”
35 A TROUBLED MIND
NOW
STELLA
Tires crunch on my drive and when I look out the window, a thrill runs through me when I see Evie’s car rolling up. Gracie scratches at the door and when her car stops, I let her out, following close behind and watching my twin kneel down and scratch behind my dogs ears.
“What a good girl, Gracie! You love your aunt Evie, don’t you?”
Something about that hits me deep in my gut. When Riggs and I broke up, I thought any chance for a family of my own and, in turn, Evie being an aunt to my kids was gone. But suddenly, the warm glow of the future isn’t so far anymore.
“Hey, sissy,” she says, standing up and walking toward the porch. “Got time for a coffee with your favorite human on the planet?”
“Is Reed here?” I ask jokingly, looking behind her. She rolls her big eyes and slaps my arm before walking past me and into my house. Gracie and I follow her, and I find her at my coffee pot, the cabinet where I keep my syrups open.
“What kick are you on today?” she asks. “Peppermint mocha? Caramel?”
I move to follow her, sitting on the stool at my kitchen island. “Neither.”
She stops moving altogether and stares at me, eyes wide. I fight a laugh.
I’m so glad she came over today. This is exactly what I needed, my sister picking at me instead of my mind continuing to wander and replay the events of the last few weeks over, dissecting them until I start to find faults in the beauty of it all.
“Sugar cookie,” I say, letting her off the hook with a laugh. “It’s hidden behind the rest because I’m obsessed and don’t want it gone.”.
“Well, now I know, what if I use it.”
“Please, do. I’d love you to see how much better it is than your zero calorie sweeteners and skim milk,” I say, giving her a look. “And mom won’t come ragging in, somehow sensing it.”
“Stella—” she says, her voice tense.
After my argument with my mother, after everything went down, she called me to tell me no matter what our mother says, she’s not going to cut me off. It would be like cutting off a limb. While I’m pretty much at the breaking point with our mother, it’s harder for Evie to cut free from her. Every molecule of her self worth is tied with approval from her.
It worries me, but I won’t tell her that.
“A latte, please,” I say, skipping past that conversation.
She stares at me for a moment then nods and makes our drinks in silence.
In the summers after college and after school in high school, we both worked at the diner so she knows how to make a solid latte. Still, back then, I always held a grudge over my sister, who was often told she would get paid if she missed work for any of the mother-approved activities she was signed up for.
I never got a free pass because all I ever wanted to do was sit in the woods with Riggins and write music, and that was absolutely not on the approved list.
Ironic, really, considering that after all those years of competitive cheer and dance and taking etiquette classes between pointe classes and tumbling days, she went to college out of state and fell in love with journalism. Music journalism, to be exact.
“What brings you to my humble abode today?” I ask her as she sits at the island, sliding a mug to me.
“I’m in between assignments, so I have some extra time on my hands. I wanted to see what the uglier twin was doing.” I glare at her, and she smiles wide, the dimple I once was so jealous about popping up. I ball up my napkin and toss it at her, hitting her between the eyes.
“Why are you like this?” I ask.
“Because we didn't fight nearly enough as kids. Feels like a right of passage we missed.”
“What childhood were you living?” I ask, with a laugh. “I feel like all we did was fight.”
