sister she agreed to impersonate, who would miss her.
Okay, maybe I feel a weird pang of sympathy. But I’m sure as hell not telling Milly that. Because Milly—God. That I get to call her my girlfriend still feels like a miracle. We see one another as often as we can, and when we talk about what we’re going to do postgraduation, it’s always about how we’re going to wind up in the same city. Not whether.
And who knows, maybe our trio will reunite. Aubrey was offered a swimming scholarship to Brown, which is incredible, but she was also offered several a lot closer to home. Milly’s making it her mission to lure Aubrey to the East Coast. Starting now.
We settle ourselves on the same side of a booth behind the pool table area, and Milly props up her phone between us. Once she’s dialed Aubrey’s number, she pulls off her moto jacket to reveal the Brown University T-shirt we picked up this morning.
Aubrey appears on screen, holding a tiny, squirming baby in the crook of one arm. “Hey, it’s Aedan,” I say, then do a double take when I get a good look at the kid’s face. The last time I saw him via FaceTime, he was a newborn. Now he’s two months old, and starting to resemble an actual person. One in particular, as it turns out. “Holy shit, Aubrey, he looks exactly like you.”
She grins. “I know, right? It drives my father crazy, especially since he’s always insisted that I only have my mother’s genes.” She strokes the baby’s tufty blond hair with her free hand. “I guess there’s more than one way to look like a Story.”
It shouldn’t have surprised me, Aubrey being Aubrey, that she fell in love with her half brother straightaway. It’s not like the mess he came out of was his fault. Still, it’s pretty cool of Aubrey to be as involved with him as she is, when she could’ve easily held a grudge.
Milly crosses her arms over her chest, forgetting her T-shirt as she eyes Aedan warily. Babies make her nervous, even when viewed through a screen. “Is he going to cry?” she asks.
“He never cries,” Aubrey reassures her. “He’s the happiest little guy.”
Milly settles back in the booth, looking unconvinced but willing to give the baby the benefit of the doubt. “And how are his parents?” She spits out the last word like it tastes bad.
“Well…” Aubrey jiggles Aedan meditatively. “Everyone says babies are hard on a relationship, right? Let’s just say, as easygoing as he is, this little guy has been especially hard. They’re not talking marriage anymore. Coach Matson got a new position a few towns over, but she really wants to stay home with Aedan. Dad, of course, refuses to get a job, and he’s already burned through the settlement money and his royalties. I think Coach Matson is finally starting to realize what she signed up for with him, and she is not happy.”
Milly leans toward the screen, her baby trepidation entirely gone. “I’m gonna start calling you karma, buddy,” she coos. Aedan offers a toothless grin as Aubrey tries, unsuccessfully, to smother a laugh.
“You’re terrible,” Aubrey says, then shifts her glance to me. “How’s business?”
I give her a thumbs-up. “Better all the time.”
She beams. “I can’t wait to visit. I’m so sorry I couldn’t this week. Our meet schedule is killing me right now. But spring break should definitely be doable. I want to go to Gull Cove and see Uncle Archer, too.”
“Perfect,” Milly says, straightening her shoulders. “You’ll have accepted Brown’s offer by then, and as you can see”—she sweeps a hand across her chest—“I’m preparing my celebratory wardrobe.”
Someone taps my shoulder, and I turn before I can see Aubrey’s reaction. “Postcard for you,” Enzo says, handing it to me.
“Really?” I ask, bemused. I never get mail. “Thanks.” The front of the postcard shows the New York City skyline, and I immediately think of Milly. I tug on a lock of her hair and ask, “Did you send me a postcard?”
She swats me away, eyes on her phone. “Hold on a sec. I’m in recruiting mode.”
I flip the postcard, scanning my name and Empire’s address. It’s not Milly’s neat, loopy handwriting. The words are all cramped together, reminding me of the note we got from Mildred when we first arrived on Gull Cove Island, telling us she’d been called away to Boston. Although I guess it was actually Theresa who wrote that.