The Secret of You and Me - Melissa Lenhardt Page 0,10
don’t have a husband and child to age me.”
She grimaced, knowing me well enough all these years later to recognize the veiled insult. She’d been the brash one; I’d been circumspect. I’d never been cruel, though.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“No, it’s true. You look happy.”
“Yes, well, my father’s dead. I hear yours is, as well.”
She nodded. “Mother told me she saw you.”
“I’m sure she did. How are you feeling?”
“What?”
“Logan said you had a headache yesterday?”
“Oh, right. I wasn’t sick. I couldn’t face you.”
I wasn’t sure if the admission gratified me or saddened me. “What changed?”
“I had to see you.” Sophie twisted her wedding ring around and around her finger, pulled it off partway, shoved it back on and continued turning it. I went still at the sight of a thin silver band on her right ring finger. When I found my voice, it was brusquer than I intended.
“Why? To ask my forgiveness?”
She glanced away and shook her head. “I lost hope of that years ago.”
I stared into my empty cup. A pleasant warmth had spread throughout my body, but it was not enough. I wanted another drink but didn’t want to look weak.
“I like Logan.” I glanced up at Sophie, who couldn’t hide her pride in her daughter. “She reminds me of you.”
Her smile slipped a little before she laughed and said, “Oh, don’t let her hear you say that. I’m pretty much the most embarrassing mom ever.”
I shook my cup as if there was ice in it. Sophie worried her ring some more. “How long will you be in town?” she asked.
“Not long.”
She met my eyes then. “Emmadean will be disappointed. She thinks you’re staying for a while.”
“I have a life in DC. A career. Friends and—”
Mary marched into the barn. “There you are. Everyone’s asking.”
I held out the whiskey. Mary took the bottle and drank a swig. She coughed and handed it back. “Behind the sawhorse?”
“Yeah. You knew?”
Mary rolled her eyes. “He let us steal it. There was always a fresh bottle, wasn’t there?”
Sophie and I glanced at each other. “Yes,” we said.
“If he cared, he would have tanned our hide. You don’t have to hide in the barn to drink anymore. No one cares.”
“Maybe I wanted to be alone.”
“God, you’re a shit.”
“How do you figure?”
“You’re here for what? Two days, after nearly twenty years, and you can’t handle talking to a bunch of old people for a couple of hours? I’ve been doing—”
“Don’t blame me, blame Ray. He didn’t want me here, did he? He’s dead now, so you’re free. You’ll have to find something else to complain about, but I’m sure you’re up to the task.”
My sister’s eyes narrowed. Mary stood between Sophie and me, looking back and forth. “Did I interrupt a big emotional makeup scene?”
“No,” I said.
“Yes,” Sophie said.
“Do you want to be left alone?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Goodness. You two used to be so in sync. You finished each other’s sentences, if I remember correctly.”
“Stop being a nosy bitch and leave us alone, would you?” Sophie said.
Mary’s mouth pursed, and her cheeks went red. “I heard you’re a mean drunk, Sophie, but never believed it.”
“I’m not drunk; I just don’t like you.”
“Feeling’s mutual. Ranger Rick is here, said he found something cleaning out Pop’s desk. Charlie’s here to read Pop’s will. Let’s get this over with. Jeremy and I need to leave in an hour.”
Sophie waited until Mary was out of earshot before speaking. She took a deep breath and said, “I need to tell you something.”
“No.” The reply was automatic, and I realized I didn’t want her to ask for my forgiveness, nor did I want to give it.
“No?”
“There’s nothing you can say to change what happened, and I’m not in the mood to be burdened by your guilt. If you even feel guilty.”
“Of course I do.”
“I’m over it, Sophie. I moved on years ago. I’m here to bury Ray and go home.”
Sophie stepped forward, towering over me by a good five inches, two of those from the wedge heels she wore. Her nerves had evaporated, and her brown eyes met mine, bright and challenging. I saw a glimmer of the girl I once knew, the girl who could see through me and into my soul.
“Bullshit,” she whispered. “Why did you come back?”
“Maybe I wanted to see how your choice worked out for you.”
She scoffed. “My choice.”
“Wasn’t it?”
She inhaled and crossed her arms over her chest. “You came back to gloat, didn’t you?”
I mimicked her stance. “Maybe.”
She pursed her lips and nodded as her eyes searched my