of us for the rest of her life, like she can’t support both of us without feeling guilty or disloyal to either of us. As a mom, I feel for her, because I don’t know that I could do that with Danny and Oliver.”
“Me, either. P.J. and Emma have their squabbles. I help them work it out. Mom can’t fix this with forced apologies and making you two talk it out. This is a deep kind of hurt. Talking about it will only hurt more.”
“Maybe the only way past this is through the hurt.” Sierra grasped Amy’s arm. “Thanks for being on my side, but I want you to know it’s okay to have her back, too.”
“You’re a kinder person than I am. I don’t think I would have worked my way through this the way you have and gotten to a point where I could even contemplate talking to her, let alone trying to work it out.”
“I feel like if I don’t try, I’ll regret it. If David was still here, I’d want to find a way to at least be civil with each other for the kids’ sake. The least I can do is give my sister the same courtesy for the same reason.”
“When you put it like that, yeah, it makes sense.” Amy bounced her gaze from Sierra to Heather and back. “We do a lot for our kids.” Amy hugged her, then gave her an encouraging smile.
Sierra walked toward Heather, stopping briefly to clasp hands with Mason who’d stood by watching her and Amy quietly talking alone. He had to know the gist of the conversation and where she was headed. He gave her a reassuring smile and let her move on toward her sister.
Heather sat alone, her head down, holding a drink she hadn’t touched. Her head snapped up when Sierra approached the table and took the seat across from her.
“Uh. Hello.”
“Hi.” They had to break the ice somehow. Inane greetings seemed a good way to start, but Sierra wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible. “You hurt me.”
“I know.” Heather looked her in the eye, hers filled with remorse and pain. “I’m sorry.”
Sierra took that in and let it settle in her heart. “I believe you.”
“You do? Why? After what I did . . .” She shook her head. “I can’t take it back.”
“I sincerely doubt you’d want to.” Otherwise it wouldn’t have continued after the first encounter. And then there was Hallee.
One side of Heather’s mouth drew back in a half frown and tears glistened in her eyes. “I don’t know what to say to you.”
Because they weren’t meant to share the details. Those memories belonged to Heather. Sierra didn’t need to pile on to the hurt by hearing all the sordid specifics.
“I was just talking to Amy.”
Heather glanced over at their sister spying on them from across the yard. “She hates me, too.”
“No, she doesn’t. And I don’t want to hate you, either. But you made it damn hard not to. You’re my sister. I used to clean and bandage your skinned knees and push you on the swing and talk to you about boys and kissing. I’m pretty sure I’m the one who gave you the sex talk.”
Heather’s cheeks pinked. “Mom’s idea of a sex talk was telling me not to do anything you and Amy were doing.”
They shared hesitant smiles and it felt like it cracked the shield Sierra put between them to keep Heather away. “I suppose we should have taught you to be careful who you fall in love with.”
“I’m sorry, Sierra. I never meant—”
Sierra held her hand up to stop her. Heather’s mouth snapped closed. She deflated, her shoulders sagging.
“I don’t want to hear any more apologies. What I told Amy was that if you were David, I’d make an effort to be civil. That’s probably the best I can do right now. The kids deserve at least that much from us. I don’t want to necessarily tell them they’re siblings right now. But I don’t want to keep them apart, either.”
Heather’s gaze went to Emma and Hallee out on the lawn, rolling a soccer ball back and forth between them. Danny and P.J. sat nearby eating a bunch of grapes from the fruit plate they served earlier.
Sierra sighed. “I don’t want them to miss birthday parties and holidays together because you and I can’t be in the same room with each other.”
“I don’t want that, either. I’ve been trying to figure out a