“Are you?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, what? What did you say?”
With an exhausted roll of her eyes, she taps her freshly manicured nails against the table. “Ready to meet the lawyer tomorrow?”
“Oh, right…”
“I wonder if Keoni will join us.”
The moment his name leaves her mouth, I suck in a sharp breath. If I tell her I saw him as we were leaving, and didn’t say anything, she’ll be furious.
“When was the last time you saw him?”
About an hour ago.
“Eight years ago… high school graduation.”
“Holy shit, seriously?” She props her elbow onto the back of the booth. “I saw him last year for Christmas. Didn’t think he could look any fucking sexier.”
“Alysa Pierce.”
She quite literally giggles. “Oh please… it’s just a fantasy. Plus, I don’t know iftechnicallywe are still legally stepsiblings. That, and it wasn’t like we all grew up together. Just a few years in the same house.”
I have no idea who she’s trying to convince, because it sure as hell isn’t me. Honestly, it isn’t that. Really. We were fourteen when my dad introduced us to his girlfriend, Keoni’s mother, and they married a year later. We lived together from fourteen to sixteen, when Keoni moved out and went to college in Arizona.
“I found him hot before our parents started dating, so it doesn’t count.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t you have a boyfriend back home?”
Her mock gasp has us both laughing. “Don’t tell him. It’s basically like me flirting with a celebrity, even if Keoni isn’t one. That’s forbidden for me and he’swaaaaayout of my league.”
“You’re hot, shut up.”
She bites her bottom lip and tucks her hair behind her ear dramatically. “Thanks, bro…” There’s a slight pause, before she drops her hands into her lap. “Can I be honest with you?” Her sudden shift to seriousness tugs concern deep in my chest.
“Of course.”
As she swings out of the booth, I scoot over and she comes to sit right beside me. Throwing my arm over her shoulder, she tucks herself into me. “I’m not ready for tomorrow.”
I rest my cheek onto the top of her head. “I know, same.”
“We didn’t get to see them in the… you know…” There wasn’t much left of our parents, according to reports, due to the severity of the accident. The only thing placed in their caskets were their ashes. They’d wanted to be buried beside each other for as long as there was soil to keep them together. “And maybe that’s why it didn’t feel like they were gone. But, tomorrow, hearing their will… having their stuff being given away, it’ll make it real. That we won’t see Dad again.”
Releasing a sigh, I squeeze her tighter to me. “We will get through it together. Like we do with everything, lefty.”
I’ve got to be strong for her. I can’t suffocate her with my ownproblems. We’ll get through this week together, and be stronger at the end.
She lets out a shaky breath, turning her face against my chest as she nods. She doesn’t speak, and time drifts by with her beside me. The table is cleared, the check paid, yet we remain.
There is never a ‘tomorrow’ I’m ready for, and this one will be no different—but I’ll be strong for her.
In the midst of our silence, my thoughts slowly drift from my sister.
Keo…
3
Two hours earlier
