I love you, too.Unable to tell him, she settled for, “This. You. Us. Feelsright.”
He wanted to love her, to satisfy her, but she refused him. Not because she didn’t want his affections, but because she needed to do that for him. Just him. After showering together, they dressed. Crockett returned to his work at the dining room table and Alexandra put on a pot of coffee for him before slipping into hercoat.
“Okay, this time I’m actually leaving.” Alexandra glanced at the sketch Crockett had pulled from his backpack. “Is thatSophia?”
“Yes. It’s an age-generated rendering of what shemightlook like. You never met her, didyou?”
“No. She was at a sleep-away camp when your parents visited.” Alexandra could not tear her gaze from the picture. “Do you have a photo ofher?”
“Probably in one of these boxes.Why?”
Alexandra peered into Crockett’s eyes. “There’s something about this woman that’s vaguelyfamiliar.”
That’s all the push he needed. With a kitchen knife in hand and determination brimming in his eyes, he opened box after box, rifling througheach.
After checking every box in the living room, they moved into his bedroom and split up their search. “What am I looking for?” sheasked.
“A stack of high school graduationpictures.”
Sweaters and ski clothes filled the first two boxes, but in the third, Alexandra found a journal. As she lifted the worn notebook, a photo of Crockett slipped out. He was in his high school cap and gown, surrounded by friends. Flipping through pages for more photos, she spied another snapshot. When she removed it, the lone journal entry caught hereye.
I miss my beautiful Goth Girl. But she’sgone.
Gotta moveon.
Alexandra’s heart dropped. He’d made the ultimate sacrifice by letting her go. Not only had he lost Sophia, he’d lost her too. In that moment, she despised herself for refusing to see him all those times he cameby.
“You found it.” Kneeling next to her, Crockett shook the book. Several more snapshots flutteredout.
“Here she is.” Crockett handed her a graduation photo of his family. “That’s Sophia at twelve. Two years before she wastaken.”
Alexandra’s stomach dipped. She stared at the photo of the pudgy middle-schooler with a mouth full of braces and oversized glasses. “This doesn’t look anything likeSage.”
His eyes popped wide. “The woman from the club? What made you think Sage might be mysister?”
She sighed. “Never mind. I…I’m sorry I saidanything.”
The hope in his eyes fizzled and he tossed the stack of photos and journal on his desk. “It’s okay. I’m going to get back towork.”
“Can I see yourpictures?”
“Sure.” He pecked her forehead on his wayout.
Pain slashed through her. The burden of his commitment to find his sister weighed heavily on hisshoulders.
After collecting the photos, Alexandra sat cross-legged on the bed. As she flipped through snapshots, she found one fromthesummer party her mom had thrown after she graduated high school. That event had changed her summer and ultimately herlife.
Alexandra had goofy-posed with her mom and Colton. There was another picture of Colton and Crockett each holding a bottle of champagne along with their Harvard diplomas, gigantic grins plastered on their handsomefaces.
She smiled at the photo of a blushing Alexandra sandwiched between her brother and Crockett. She’d spent four years sneaking peeks at Crockett, but he’d never noticed her until that fateful day. Sure, he’d always been polite and friendly, but in a you’re-my-best-friend’s-little-sister kind ofway.
Then, during the early afternoon of their graduation party, she spotted him checking her out across the lawn. The next time she spied him, he and her mom were staring at her. Five minutes later, she caught a glimpse of him moseying over and her heart had pounded out of her chest. When he told her how pretty she was, she couldn’t stop grinning, though she’d known she must have looked like afool.
Bolstered by that compliment, she decided to try to have an actual conversation with him. Since she had no idea what to talk about, she asked him about his new job. The party had continued until late in the evening, but all she remembered was Crockett’s blue eyes pinned on her—for hours. And how much he had smiled…at her. When he asked her out, she couldn’t believe her ears. Somehow she managed to squeak out, “Okay, that sounds likefun.”
Unable to sleep, she kept saying to herself:I have a date with Crockett Wilde. Surprisingly, her mom had consented to let her go out with someone four years older, but only because it’s “ourCrockett”.
If her mother had known all the things she’d wanted to do to “our Crockett”, she would have locked her only daughter in the house and barred her bedroomwindow.
