Libby picked up her dishes along with Aaron’s. “The day my brother introduces me to a girlfriend who isn’t five-foot-ten and a hundred-percent full of herself is the day I’ll backoff.”
I shrugged. “There’s a motive I can workwith.”
“So, is the consultant helping?” Aaronasked.
“Of course not.She’snot the one responsible for the bottom line. Georgina wants to implement these pie-in-the-sky ideas supported by her own research—obviously, it’s going to bebiased.”
“Georgina?” Libby asked, perking up like a dog offered abone.
“Yeah. Her proposed changes will send readers fleeing and leave me to clean up the mess with advertisers. We publish what sells.Modern Mannever claimed to be hard-hittingnews.”
“Can I please,pleasebe excused, Mom?” Joséasked.
Aaron finished off his cocktail and stood. “How about another game? Uncle and nephew versus thedad?”
“Sebastian’s going to help me clear the table,” Libby informed herhusband.
“I tried,” Aaron muttered to me before herding José outback.
Libby stooped to get plastic wrap from a drawer. “You’re sensitivetoday.”
“How? I’m just answering yourquestions.”
“Normally you shrug me off with a joke.” She recovered the bowl of guacamole. “Something’s bothering you. I can tell. It’s the whole twin telepathything.”
“We don’t havethat.”
“Of course we do, Sebastian.You can be so cynicalsometimes.”
I stacked Aaron and José’s empty plates by the sink to avoid Libby’s side-glances. It was no coincidence that she was piling on today, accusing me of forgetting my roots—it seemed as if I’d been called into question or questioning things myself ever since the exposé. Was I really such a bad manager that the magazine needed a handler to help me run things? Would everyone forget the work I’d done if Georgina’s plan succeeded? And after the way I’d spoken to her in the café and at the office, did Georgina doubt my character like everyone else seemedto?
“Do you think I’m a different person than I used to be?” Iasked.
She moved fruit from a platter to Tupperware, pausing to bite into a strawberry. “Ofcourse.”
I frowned. “You answered that reallyfast.”
“We’re both different. Especially after Mom’s death.” She leaned her elbows onto the island and had another strawberry. “You can be in touch with who you used to be and still be different. The idea is to keep gettingbetter.”
“And you think I’mnot?”
“Since when do you care what I think?” she asked, tossing the stems into the garbage disposal before capping the Tupperware. She knew full well I cared what she thought. More than anyone else in the world, now that it was just us. “Tell me about this Georginaperson.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’d mentioned heronce, and now Libby was peering into my eyes, trying to read my thoughts. I wanted to look away, but then I wouldn’t be able to read hers. “I already did. Like I said, she’s apain.”
“Howso?”
“How long do you have? For one, she’s fucking messy. She’s always losing stuff, walking around my office barefoot while she eats gummy bears of all things, and she can’t even read her own handwriting. Last week, she handed mehernotepad and asked if I could decipher her lastentry.”
“And couldyou?”
“Yes, but that’s not thepoint.”
My sister smiled to herself. “Cute.”
“Cute?” I gaped at her. “What’s cute about trying to turn the whole office againstme?”
“I highly doubt she’s doing that,” Libbysaid.
