“Just like old times,” she said without meaning to.
“What is?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. No way was she going to tell him how much she had missed his self-satisfied smirk. “How’s Willow?”
“Oh,” he said. “Wow.”
“I didn’t think that was a trick question,” she teased him.
Ransom and Willow had always been really close. He was extremely protective over his baby sister, in no small part because their dad hadn’t been around.
“It’s just that I’m not proud of my answer,” he said softly.
“Want to come in?” she asked. “I think there’s tea in the cupboard.”
“Radcliffe said Mom could leave whatever she wanted behind,” Ransom said with a sad smile. “There’s probably a lifetime of canned goods in there too.”
“I’ll appreciate every last thing she left,” Hailey told him. “It must be weird for you that I’m in this house.”
He held the door open for her, and she wondered if he was doing it to buy himself time.
“It’s a lot less weird than if a stranger bought it,” he said as they headed through the living room and back to the kitchen.
They’d walked in these exact footsteps so many times growing up. For a moment it felt like the past and the present were all happening at once, layered on top ofeach other in the house the way they seemed to be in Hailey’s heart.
When they got to the kitchen, she filled the kettle while Ransom grabbed mugs and tea bags out of a cupboard.
“So, about Willow,” he said as he set everything out.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” she told him, automatically curling up at her usual place at the table.
“It’s fine,” he said, joining her at the seat across from hers, like always. “Maybe I’ll actually feel better if I talk about it.”
Hailey nodded and hoped it was true.
“You know she had that huge crush on Jensen Webb, right?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Hailey laughed. “She was just a kid though, and he would never have touched her since she’s your little sister.”
“Of course not,” Ransom said, looking a little alarmed at the suggestion. “But she admired him, and looked up to him.”
“Sure,” Hailey agreed.
“Well, when she was old enough, she talked to me about joining the military,” Ransom went on. “And I was against it.”
“Why?” Hailey asked. “You joined yourself.”
“I know,” he sighed. “Would you believe me if I told you it had nothing to do with her being a girl and everything to do with me feeling responsible to keep her safe?”
“Of course,” Hailey said, nodding. “I get that. You always looked out for her.”
And it was true. Ransom was the model older brother, kind, caring, and protective of Willow.
Hailey remembered so many times when he had sacrificed his own happiness to ensure Willow’s. Whether it was making sure she got her homework done even though he’d rather be out with his own friends, giving her his own spending money for a pretty dress or a movie ticket, or dropping everything to be there for her when he thought she might need him, Ransom had always treated his little sister like she was the most important person in his world.
“Well, I told her not to join up, and I thought that was that,” he said. “Then she talked to Jensen.”
“Oh boy,” Hailey sighed.
