“Oh, come on. Jesse, you both treat your sister like crap. You never talk to her and barely ask about her. She thinks you don’t love her so she stopped reaching out.”
“That’s…” My brother is at a loss for words for the first time. “I just had dinner with her a few weeks back. We’re fine. She knows I love her, Carter. And you can’t call my wife a bitch.”
I’m grateful for Carter now more than ever when he defends me again. It’s more than I can ask from my own blood. Half blood. I think Jesse cares about that distinction. “I simply stated that she’s being bitchy toward your sister. Piper knows something is up between you guys and she thinks she’s the center of it. She didn’t ask for the situation she’s in. You can’t fault her for anything. Be logical human beings.”
“This whole thing is getting out of hand,” Jesse states, a chair scarping back. “We were in the area and wanted to stop by to say hi. So, hi. We should get going though.”
“That’s it?”
“What else is there, Carter?”
“You’re not going to see your sister?”
“She’s busy.”
“How do you know?” Carter throws back.
It’s Ren who replies, “I know you must think I’m an awful person for avoiding her and Ainsley, but I’m not. I’m just a woman who’s desperate to have what she does. Watching her with Ainsley hurts. You have no idea what seeing those two does to me.”
“Wow.” One word. One short little word from Professor Ford and I know Ren is about to learn a lot that she clearly doesn’t know already. My anger builds with all the things I want to tell her, to yell at her, but I press my lips tight together and wait for Carter to do that for me. “I never took you for the selfish type, Ren. If you gave your sister-in-law a chance, you’d see how hard she’s had it. Imagine being her age and being told that not only is your best friend dead, but you’re now legally responsible for his daughter. Put yourself in her shoes when she found out that same daughter no longer verbally speaks—how hard that must have been for Piper to go through doctors and therapists to try getting her to say even one word, to cry over the loss of Danny, anything. Do you know she would have been done with school by now if she didn’t have Ainsley? Her life got thrown upside down because of Danny’s death. And through it all, she survived.
“I’ve been able to witness an amazing woman in Piper that you two clearly don’t see because you’re too busy being stuck in your own problems. I don’t know how you can deal with yourselves being jealous and petty toward somebody who’s family. If she were my sister, I would make sure to at least check in on her to see how she’s coping. Have you even bothered to do that much?”
“I went to the fucking funeral,” my brother growls. “That’s more than you can say, asshole.”
“You’re right.” Carter’s voice is even. “I know how much that upset Piper and how rude it was to not even send flowers to Mable. She told me off because she had every right to. And you know what? I’m glad she did. Maybe she should do the same to you, but I know she won’t. She’s hurt that her own big brother won’t give her the time of day, so she distances herself in order to give you the space you’ve made it clear you want. No wonder she thinks you don’t love her.”
“Listen here—”
“Jess,” Ren says quietly. “He’s not wrong. We’ve been caught up in trying to have kids that we neglected a lot of people, but Piper the most. She is your sister.”
A heavy sigh sounds in the room. “It’s not that I don’t love her, okay? But our pasts are different. Our mothers are different. Piper and I just… We’re nothing alike. We have nothing to talk about. Danny was our safe topic.”
“So, what?” Carter doubts. “You can still talk about him. Or, you know, make basic conversation. Ask how she’s doing. See how school is. You always hold back, Jesse. That isn’t fair to her. She’s trying.”
Nothing. My brother stays silent. Shaking my head, I turn on my heel in defeat before he decides to speak up again. “Like I said, it’s not that I don’t love her. She’s my sister. We’ll just never be