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"Could you?"

"No."

"I don't believe you."

"Neither did she."

I laugh softly. "I think I would've liked her."

His gaze meets mine. "You would've." A pause. "She would've liked you too."

For a moment, neither of us speaks.

Then I say, "Lily did that."

"Did what?"

"Told me what I was doing wrong."

His expression softens. "Twin privilege?"

"Twin tyranny."

He laughs. I lean against the counter.

"She was the only person who called me Mad."

"I wondered about that."

"Mom told you?"

"No. Noah mentioned it once."

I nod. "When we were kids, I used to get angry about her heart."

"Angry at Lily?"

"No. Not at Lily. Never." The answer comes immediately. "At everything else. I hated that she had to think about things I didn't. Doctors. Tests. Whether she could do something everyone else could do without thinking twice."

Javier stays quiet.

"She used to tell me, 'Mad, be mad at the world, but never at yourself or the people you love.'"

My throat tightens. "She was annoyingly wise."

Javier smiles softly. "That sounds like Lily."

I look at him.

"I knew her at the farm," he says. "But I wish I'd known that side of her better."

Something in his voice touches me. "She liked you, you know."

His eyes meet mine. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. She did."

The timer sounds. I blink, and Javier reaches for the oven.