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She glared at her brother through the screen. David’s lips twitched. Her father coughed, attempting to cover a laugh. Soon Devra was giggling uncontrollably.
“Four times,” she shouted between gasps.
“Four times,” her brother repeated.
“It isn’t funny,” her father attempted to say through his belly laughs. “This is absolutely not funny.”
But it was. It was ridiculously funny. A tragedy so overdone it had become absurd.
Their howls of laughter cut in and out as the app struggled to choose which person to focus on. Devra had tears running down her cheeks.
“Wow, I needed that.” She swiped the back of her hand across her face.
“I thought you might.” David winked.
Papa changed the tone to a more serious one. “I am very sorry, though. I liked Bradley. He seemed to be a solid young man.”
“Yeah.” The ache returned like a runner’s stitch. “I really liked him too.”
“You’re not too broken up about it? I worry about you, sweetheart.”
Devra shrugged. “I am. At the same time, this heartache feels different than any before. It feels…worth it. Because for the first time in my life, I honestly believe that next year will be better.”
Devra finished wrapping a single string of white LED lights around her porch railing. Although bland in comparison to the display next door, the sight both exhilarated and terrified her. A new confliction she’d have to get used to.
She was adjusting a few bulbs, a sad smile playing at her lips, when two blond elves bounced out of Bradley’s front door.
Not elves, she chastised herself—again. Sara and Lana. The cute, intimidating, kind, unnerving, irreconcilable sisters of Bradley. Except they weren’t just Bradley’s sisters to her, she realized with a tinge of melancholy. They were also two women she’d hoped might become her friends.
But when Lana—or was it Sara?—turned in her direction and glared, Devra knew that ship had sailed.
She swung her back to the porch pillar and tried to stay very still, hoping they would walk on by. She’d been careful to make sure Bradley had left for work before coming outside to string these lights. She wasn’t ready to run into him, not yet, the wound too fresh. She certainly wasn’t prepared for a confrontation with his sisters.
Slim shadows crept toward her.
“What are you doing?” they both said.
Devra was still awkwardly pressed up against the pillar. “I, um, was…” She stepped away and scratched her back. “Ah, there, that’s better. Anyway, Lana, Sara. Nice to see you again.”
“She’s Lana. I’m Sara.”
“Right, of course. Good to see you both. And, um, Merry…Christmas.” The seasonal greeting came out choppy, strained, but the fact it came out at all felt like a holiday miracle.
Devra turned to head inside when Lana spoke.
“You broke our brother’s heart, you know?”
Devra stilled. Slowly she rotated around to face the woman. “Excuse me?”
“You broke his heart,” Sara repeated her sister’s words.
“Um, you two know he broke up with me, right?”
Lana batted a hand. “Of course he did. That’s not the point.”
“Of course he did? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You popped champagne in front of an alcoholic,” Sara said.
