He paused the spoon halfway up to his mouth before settling it back down against his bowl. “I was, when they were alive.”
My heart shattered. “Geez, Doc. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
He gave me a sad smile. “Old age.”
“Oh,” I said softly.
“They lived good lives,” he said as he reached for his drink and took a sip. “My parents were older parents. Didn’t have me until Mom was forty, and then my sister was a surprise just before she turned forty-five.”
I whistled lowly. “Wow. That’s incredible.”
“Medical marvels, really, my sister and I. It’s not impossible, but hard, for women to get pregnant when they are nearing menopausal age. She struggled with both of us, but was determined to have us.”
I smiled softly. “She sounds like she was wonderful.”
He nodded as he leaned back in his chair. “And strong. My God, I never met another soul stronger than my mother. My father was a wreck after the pneumonia took my sister. My mother was the one who single-handedly pieced the family back together after burying her.”
I wanted to interject, but he seemed so focused.
I didn’t want to ruin it.
“My sister was the light of my life,” he said with a soft smile as he gazed up at the sky above my head, like he was reminiscing with an old friend. “My best friend, hands down. She was such a spitfire, too. Always had a comeback. Always had something to say. Always had an opinion to be heard.” He chuckled softly. “Drove my father fucking nuts.”
I watched pain creep into his features. “She sounds like she was lovely.”
His attention came back to me. “You would’ve liked her.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “Yeah. She would’ve liked Anna because the two of them have a way with words.”
“That’s one way to put it,” I muttered.
He chuckled as he reached for his drink. “But I think the two of you would’ve liked each other, too.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked as I reached for my own drink as well.
He drew in a deep breath and shook his head as he took a swig of his drink. “I don’t want to say anything that will offend.”
Now I had to know. “No offense at all. Just be honest. Something tells me you don’t talk about her much, and you should.”
He stared at me for a while before he slowly nodded. “My sister had a way with befriending loners. She’d pick out the person in the room sitting by themselves and just plop right down. I always had to make sure I clocked where she was, because she’d run down an alley after a homeless person just to give them a hug in a heartbeat.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “She sounds amazing.”
He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he picked up his spoon. “She was perfect.”
We ate in silence for a while and I kept stealing glances at him. He was so… enigmatic, at times. And then other times, he was the easiest thing in the world to understand. Here sat a big brother who still carried weight and guilt over the death of his sister that he had absolutely nothing to do with, and?—
“I thought I killed her at first,” he said.
It was so soft that I almost missed it. “Wait, what?”
He sighed heavily. “My apologies, Miss Elizabeth, I shouldn’t have?—”
It was my turn to reach over and rest my hand on his wrist. “Doc.”
His gaze fell to our connection. “Yes, Miss Elizabeth?”
