Page 130 of Places I've Never Been

Della loved the nightlife and the crowds, and she cravedconstant attention. Things in LA were a lot more laid-back on a day-to-day basis. There were so many famous people here that it was easier to go unnoticed if you didn’t stumble onto a tourist spot by accident. Della hadn’t trended on Twitter or Instagram once since she’d brought Mattie back from Seychelles. Five months of silence from the media had to be driving her nuts.

So why hadn’t she gone home?

The simple truth was staring Piper in the face with giant, tear-filled eyes.

Piper’s planned responses all evaporated, and she let her heart speak. “I’m not mad at you. Not anymore, anyway.”

“Really?” Della looked like she didn’t believe her.

Piper sat down and took Della’s hands in hers. “Look. You’ll always be my baby sister. I love you, and I forgive you.”

At the look of doubt on Della’s face, she shrugged in acknowledgment. “Oh, I admit I was furious at the time. I was hurt that you didn’t trust me enough to even talk to me about it first. I thought we told each other everything. So finding out that you could talk to Renic, and not me.” Piper swallowed the lump in her throat. “That kind of thing takes a long time to heal. But I’m over it now. I’ve moved on. You should too. Okay?”

Della sniffed and squeezed Piper’s hands. “I’m really,reallysorry. You’re right. I should have had the guts to talk about it with you. It won’t ever happen again. From now on, we share everything, even the painful bits. I swear.”

Piper swiped away a rogue tear and held out her pinkie. “Pinkie swear?”

Della wrapped her pinkie around Piper’s, and they shook. “Pinkie swear.”

“Good.” Piper’s heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. She held her arms out for a hug.

Della dove into her, and they squeezed each other. “I’ve missed this so much.”

“Me too, DellBell. Me too.”

“I can’t wait for the next tour. It’ll be just like old times.”

Piper froze. “What did you say?”

Della pulled back so that she could look Piper in the face. Her smile was so bright it would light up the Vegas Strip. “I can’t wait to be back on stage with you and Mattie. She’s working on new songs for us, and Renic says he can put together an epic world reunion tour.”

Piper jerked her head back in disbelief. Della’s vision for the future…herfuture…might as well have been a slap to her face.

Dammit, she’d been expecting this question, but not like this. Not after Della had softened her up by saying sorry.

The apology had been heartfelt and sincere, and not a damn thing had changed. Della still wanted what she wanted, and she’d only apologized as a means to an end.

“You’re unbelievable.” Piper pushed away from her.

“What?” Della’s smile faltered. “Worried about a tour? We won’t do it until your project is done. I know how important that movie is to you.”

“I’m not worried about a damn world tour.” Piper’s building irritation festered as her sister scrambled to backtrack. “Guess why that is.”

“I just thought…I mean, you said…I…” Della shook her hands out. “Come on. I said I was sorry. Iamsorry.”

“You have to actually ask the question, Della. You can’t just assume you know the answer.” Piper picked up Della’s abandoned coffee cup and tossed the contents into the sink with a little more force than necessary. Liquid splashed all over the side of the sink and onto her shirt. She swore and lunged for a paper towel.

“I asked.” Della sounded defensive. “You said we should move on.”

“No. You didn’t ask anything.” Piper dabbed at her shirt, but the stain had already soaked into her white shirt. “You apologized for ripping our family apart, and I said I forgive you. I thought for a minute there that’s actually what you came here to do, but I should have known better.”

“Thatiswhy I came here. I came to tell you I’m sorry, and I meant it, dammit.” Della’s voice got louder and higher, just like it used to do when they’d squabbled over a toy as kids.

“I know you meant it.” Piper’s voice rose to match.

“Then why are you so mad at me?”

“I thought you’d finally figured things out. But you haven’t figured out a damn thing.” Piper thrust the dirty paper towel into the trash. She sucked in a calming breath and deliberately lowered her tone. “I have to go.”

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