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“Well, just because you can’t date her doesn’t mean you can’t fall for her,” she finally says.

“Well, that would be pretty stupid, wouldn’t it?”

“And yeah, sometimes humans do pretty stupid things.”

Yep, we both know that all too well.

I decide not to comment on her comment. Instead, I try to distract her. “Oh, besides hockey, you might be interested in the fact that I’m getting involved with adaptive dance down here.”

“No way, that’s amazing. How did that happen?”

“I’m swearing you to secrecy here.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Brewser needs it. We’re doing it as a form of therapy.”

“Yes, that’s amazing. Are you doing it through a group here in New Orleans?”

I almost tell her it has to do with Sutton, but Lydia would, of course, comment on that, so instead I hedge and say, “Originally he told me we were going to New Orleans for some competition, but it turns out he made that up. There’s no competition. We’re just doing basic dance lessons in the living room.”

“Oh, but you need to have a show or recital or something,” she says.

“We do?”

“Oh sure. That makes it way more fun. It’s awesome to be preparing for some kind of performance. You have a specific routine you work on perfecting and then you get to show off.” She pauses. “You could just set up a show there in Rebel. Perform for the community. Like the dance recitals I used to have when I was a kid. You saw dozens of those. We still have them with the group I dance with.”

I think about that. There are more people dancing with Brewser now. They’d probably love to put on a show. The town would love it too.

“I don’t know if he’s ready to let everyone know why he’s doing adaptive dance.”

“Well, I get that,” Lydia says. “But that might be the perfect time for him to tell everyone. Have him put on the show, show them all what he’s capable of with the recital, then afterward, he can tell them what’s going on with him. It will be more reassuring when they see the really fun normal thing he was just able to do.”

That’s just what Sutton and I talked about when we talked about our sisters. We talked about the play therapy and how it reassured me that Lydia would be okay.

That would definitely help Brewser’s buddies to see him doing something fun like line dancing when they find out he’s got Parkinson’s.

We need to put together a show.

I can’t wait to talk to Sutton about it.

“Maybe you can come down for the recital,” I tell Lydia.

“Definitely, I’d love to. But I’m going to come before that.”

“For hockey, right?”

“Yes, sure,” she says with a chuckle. “For the hockey. And I won’t tell you that when I was checking you out online, I did notice that you have some really cute teammates.”

I make a soft growling noise. This was always one of our biggest fights. My sister loves hockey. She loves hockey players even more.

“We’re just starting to get along again, Lyd,” I remind her.

She laughs. “We always got along, Law. We just found lots of ways to piss each other off.”

I snort.

“And remember why you called? Because you’re so happy that I basically don’t listen to you or care if you’re happy or not?”