Page 106 of Call Back

She nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“If you were serving this,” I said in a teasing tone as I picked up the salmon serving spoon, “I suspect you’d plate this with the salmon on a bed of rice. Am I right?”

She laughed. “Of course.”

“That’s what I thought.” I dumped the salmon on her plate, making sure it broke into a few pieces instead of keeping its shape as a perfect fillet. Then I placed a heap of rice on top, still using the salmon spoon. “There. That’s better.” I served my own food the same way.

“You’re a terrible influence,” she said as she picked up her fork.

“Just one of the many reasons you love me,” I teased, but I had to wonder if there was some truth to that. I was definitely a rule flaunter, and my brother hated it. To be friends with me was a mini act of rebellion.

I took a bite of the food I’d served upside down and moaned. “Damn. I really can cook.”

She laughed, despite the fact that we both knew she’d cooked most of the dinner. My jobs had been relegated to stirring the rice and chopping up the cilantro. “Thanks for letting me assist you.”

We managed to steer the conversation around the topics we’d agreed were undesirable, and Belinda told me about the most recent wedding she’d put on.

By the time we finished, we’d polished off the second bottle, but Belinda had drunk most of it. Her unhappiness became more apparent with each glass, so palpable I nearly choked on it, but I was at a loss as to what to do other than just be with her and let her know I loved her even if she was capable of being imperfect.

When we finished, she started to get up with her plate.

She was wobbling like a top at the end of its twirl, so I pushed her back down and took her plate from her hand. “I’m cleaning up, something I’m quite good at, apparently. So you sit there and keep me company.”

She didn’t protest like I’d half expected her to. I wondered if now was a good time to bring up my brother, but worried she was too melancholy.

I didn’t need to think on it too hard, because she brought him up first. “Roy’s at a convention in Las Vegas.”

“Do you really want me to spend the night?”

“There’s no way I’d let you spend the night alone in your apartment.”

“I could always stay with Brady.” Not that I had any intention of doing so.

She took a sip of wine. “Don’t make a deal with the devil, Magnolia. You may think it’s worth it, but it will kill you in the end.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” I asked.

Her eyebrows rose. “Isn’t it?”

“No. I ended it.” I supposed I’d made a deal, but I didn’t think of Brady as a devil. However, she was obviously speaking from personal experience. “What kind of deal did you make with Roy?”

She laughed, which sounded a touch hysterical. Then she shook her head. “That’s not why you’re here.”

“Then why am I here?”

“I lied to you, Magnolia. I can’t tell you about Roy. Not yet.”

“Okay . . .”

“You’re not angry?”

I walked over to her and knelt in front of her. “This may be hard for you to accept, but I like you, Belinda. Not because you’re my sister-in-law, but because you are an amazing person, which has nothing to do with how well you dress, how beautifully you decorate your house, or whether you use cloth napkins. All you had to do was ask me to come over, no explanation required, and I would have come in a heartbeat.”

She started to cry in heavy sobs.

Oh, Belinda. What has my brother done to you?

Unsure what would comfort her the most, I kept kneeling in front of her, holding her hand in mine. In a minute, she settled down, but her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

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