Later, when I had a moment to myself, I texted Noah back.
Me: How’s your day, gorgeous?
Noah: The usual. Except I keep getting hard every time I think about you. It’s very inconvenient.
Me: Not sorry.
Noah: Of course you’re not. You look like a nice girl, but I’m onto you. I know what you want.
My stomach whooshed.
Me: Can I see you tonight?
Noah: Now who’s the fiend?
Me: Haha. Chloe said she could drop me off after dinner, but it would be late. Maybe around ten.
Noah: Call me. I’ll come get you.
Me: But that’s out of your way.
Noah: For fuck’s sake, Sawyer. When are you going to realize that I will always go out of my way for you?
I smiled at my phone like an idiot. I felt like dancing.
Me: Okay. I’ll call you.
As predicted, Sylvia’s flight arrived on time, and my parents returned from the airport with her family right around seven. April, Chloe, and I were sitting out on our parents’ patio with a bottle of wine when we heard them pull up, and we set down our glasses to head around front and greet them.
“Sylvie!” April cried, throwing her arms around our big sister, who looked tired and harried after a long day of traveling, but gorgeous nonetheless. “It’s so good to see you.”
While they embraced and my parents took luggage from the back of the car, I hugged my niece and nephew, who’d sprouted up like weeds since I’d seen them last. “God, you guys. Stop growing already. You’re going to be taller than I am by the time you leave.”
My niece, a carbon copy of my sister except with braces and her dad’s dimpled chin, smiled shyly. “My foot is already as big as my mom’s.”
“I believe it,” I told her. “And that’s awesome, because your mom has an amazing shoe collection.”
Whitney’s eyes went wide. “She so does.”
When it was my turn to hug Sylvia hello, I couldn’t help noticing how thin she’d gotten. Embracing her was like hugging a scarecrow. But when she smiled, her face lit up and her eyes misted over. “I’m so happy to see you guys, and to be home,” she said, grabbing my hand. “And you have to catch me up on everything. I feel like we haven’t talked in forever.”
“Where’s Brett?” Chloe asked. I hadn’t even realized my sister’s husband wasn’t with them.
“He couldn’t come this early,” Sylvia explained as we headed into the house. “Work commitments. But he’ll be here this weekend. He’s taking the red-eye Thursday night.”
My parents led the way inside, with Sylvia’s kids racing ahead like puppies, Sylvia and April arm and arm behind them, and Chloe and I bringing up the rear. Sylvia’s sundress hung on her tiny frame like wash on the line, and Chloe and I exchanged a worried glance.
While my parent helped Sylvia and her kids get settled into their bedrooms for the week—my sister and brother-in-law would have her old room, Keaton would be in April’s old room, and Whitney got Chloe’s—April, Chloe and I returned to our patio chairs and glasses of wine.
“She’s so thin,” Chloe whispered right away. “She must have lost twenty pounds since I last saw her—and she was slender then!”
“I thought the same thing,” I said, glancing toward the house to make sure the bedroom windows weren’t open. “It’s kind of alarming.”
“I think she looks great,” said April, “but I agree she’s definitely skinnier.”
“I didn’t say she doesn’t look great,” Chloe defended. “She’s Sylvia—she always looks great. On my best day, I couldn’t look as great. But I feel like something is off with her.”
“Brett?” I guessed. “Is it weird that he didn’t come with them? Maybe she’s mad about it.”
“I think it’s more than that.” Chloe glanced up at the windows too. “Frannie and I were talking the other day about all those photos from their summer vacation in Italy that Sylvia posted on Instagram. She’s not smiling in any of them. It was one sad face after another! Sad in front of the Coliseum. Sad in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Sad in a boat heading for the Blue Grotto on Capri. How the fuck is anyone sad in a boat off the coast of Capri?”
“Shhhhhh,” April admonished her. “She’ll hear you.”
The patio door slid open, and Frannie stepped out of the house. “Hi, guys. What’s going on?”
“We’re just having a chat about Sylvia,” I said softly. “Have you seen her yet?”
Frannie nodded, biting her lip. “Just now. She looks kind of . .