She sniffed and smacked his arm. “Don’t make me smile. I want to cry and be irrational.”
“And that’s different from any other day, how?”
She smacked him again. “Stop!”
He grabbed her hand and held it against his chest while pulling her close with his other arm. She folded into him, happy to rest her troubles against his nicely formed body.
“Did you tell her you loved her?”
Kenzi bit her lip. “No. I said a bunch of other things, though.”
“I’ll bet you did.” He kissed her forehead. “Go back and tell her. Don’t wait.”
“She might not listen.”
“But you need her to know, and you need to know she knows.”
“How come you’re so wise?”
“Because I wish my parents had said it to me before I went off … on my own.” His eyes flicked to the side and back. The brief movement was distracting and pulled her out of the lovely haze she had in his arms. “It would have made all the difference in the world to me,” he finished.
Kenzi pushed aside the sense that something was off with the knowledge that Nash’s logic was sound. “I’m going back.”
“Now?” He kissed her cheek.
“Now,” she breathed. “And then I’m coming back to sample whatever this is you’re making.”
“It’s—”
“Surprise me,” she called as she sauntered out the door. She fully intended to sample Nash’s kisses as well, but if she said that out loud, she might not leave.
Kenzi knocked lightly on the door to Lunette’s suite. She had the run of the house with Hattie, but their rooms were on the upper floor. They included a playroom and a small movie theater. Kenzi wandered in, finding Lunette sitting on the edge of Hattie’s bed, running her fingers over her forehead.
She looked up when the door moved. “Are you back to argue again?”
“No.”
Lunette’s head cocked. “No?”
Kenzi screwed up her courage and dove in headfirst. “I came to tell you that even though we haven’t always gotten along, I love you. I always have. Even when I was mad at you and blaming you, I loved you. I still do. And I don’t hate you. Please stop telling yourself that I do. I don’t. You’re my sister, and I want you to be happy.”
Lunette’s mouth opened and closed like a guppy.
Kenzi laughed. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you speechless.”
Tears pooled in Lunette’s eyes and then flooded her cheeks. “That’s the first time you said you loved me.” She covered her mouth with the back of her hand. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
Kenzi stepped forward and hugged her baby sister. She was wrong. She was ever so wrong. Having said the words out loud, having expressed forgiveness for the pain and suffering changed everything for Kenzi.
