Gabriel pulls out his phone.
“Are you with her?” Harper’s voice comes over the line.
“I am. Want to speak to her?”
“Duh!”
Gabriel chuckles and hands me the phone.
“Hey, rebel,” I say, as my sister’s face appears on the screen.
“Don’t youhey, rebelme.” Her voice catches, and she sucks in a breath. “You have scared me half to death.” Her eyes begin to fill.
“Rebel,” I say quietly.
“I’m not going to cry any more. But don’t ever do that to me, us again.”
“I’ll try not to,” I say, placing my hand over my heart in a silent promise, as she has always done since being a little girl.
“I’m holding you to that,” she says, making me chuckle and frown.
“Don’t laugh,” she says. “That’s going to hurt. Are they treating you all right, or do I need to come over and kick some butt?”
“I’m okay,” I say truthfully. “I’d love to see you, but a lot has gone down.”
Her face drops. She closes her eyes, inhaling deeply. My chest constricts, and I want to wrap her in my arms.
“Mum and Pen explained.” She stares into the phone. “At least…” she coughs. “At least I know it wasn’t my fault.”
I close my eyes as my throat thickens.
Despite all the counselling and support she’s received, she still blames herself, and I’m not naive enough to think my discovery won’t have opened a lot of old wounds.
I open my eyes and smile. “Well, you can stop worrying about me. I’m on the mend and have a lot of people nagging me to behave.”
“Good,” she says, her fingers reaching out towards the screen. I repeat the action, as if our fingers are touching.
“On a lighter note. How’s your job going? Have you won your grumpy boss over yet?”
Harper grunts, making everyone chuckle, but she doesn’t quite meet my gaze.
Interesting.
“Oh crap. I’ve got to go, or I’ll be late. I don’t need to give the grumpy arse any more ammunition. Love you, sis.”
“Love you too, rebel. Take care of yourself and speak soon.”
“You too.”
She disconnects, and I hand Gabriel back his phone.
Leah disappeared halfway through the call.
“She’s gone to get us some decent coffee,” Gabriel explains.
My stomach does a somersault.
“Fantastic,” I say.
