Page 78 of Meet Me in the Valley
“Who is she?” My body trembles with sweat beads pricking along my spine.
“Let’s go to the living room and sit,” Nora deflects, walking away deeper into the house without waiting for my response. My apprehensiveness suddenly morphs into a whiplash of blood-red anger. Logan’s hand gently grips my elbow, but I jerk it off of me. Needles prick my skin, warming my face with rage as my feet anchor into the floor.
“No! Stop walking away from me. You’ve done it once. Don’t even think about doing it again. Now answer me, Nora. Who. Is. She.” I punctuate each word with pain, unable to hold back the years of resentment I’ve been harboring. It’s Nora’s life, not mine. But the selfish decision she made to leave affected us as a family more than she will ever know. Especially now. Especially if she slaps me with a truth I’m dreading, yet hopeful, to hear. It’s a strange sensation of push and pull, juxtaposing emotions crashing into each other at full speed.
I know who Cali is. It hurts more than a thousand burning knives stabbing into my heart, but I know. I just need my sister to own up and say it. I need her to fucking say it. And her walking away from me—from this—just to delay the responsibility really pisses me off.
Nora halts her steps, her back to Logan and me. Her body is tense, rigid in the shoulders. I can see the guilt rolling off her in waves. When she turns around, her face falls and the tears she tried to hold in fail.
My eyes blur, but I steel my spine, glancing at Logan for a moment to gain a little strength. The moment his eyes connect with mine, I feel a little more brave.
“She’s mine.”
There it is. The truth that is now a red handprint on my cheek. Suddenly, I’ve lost my appetite. I wish the floor wouldopen up and take me down into its unknown depths, where no one will find me.
This whole time …
The emotions inside me are too much to withstand. A violent storm of anger, sadness, and resentment works its way through me. My stomach threatens to empty right here in the doorway.
“T,” Logan whispers quietly in my ear. My eyes don’t leave Nora’s, but he knows I hear him. “Go sit with her. I’ll go back to the hotel and wait for you.”
“No,” I blurt out, breaking eye contact with Nora to plead with the familiar brown eyes filled with so much empathy it makes my heart stutter. “Please don’t leave. I need … I?—”
“Okay. I won’t go, baby.” He shocks me out of my panic by gripping my chin with his thumb and index finger, placing a tender kiss on my tear-stained lips. I choke back a cry as the man before me, my best friend, stands firmly by my side when the world around me quakes.
He’s my steady. My constant. My solace.
“But I’ll give you some space. I’ll go see what Cali is up to. She seems like a cool kid.” I smile and nod at the truth of his words—Cali does seem pretty cool. That alone eases a bit of the sting from Nora keeping her from me. From my poor parents.
God, my poor mother.
Logan glances at Nora, who gives him a quick nod of permission before he walks down the hall toward Cali’s room.
I turn toward my sister, the woman I’ve looked up to since I could make memories, and take a cautious ten steps toward her. I deserve to heareverythingafter all this time.
As she gestures me into the living room, I take stock of the things around me, curious about the life my sister has been living out here on her own.
Well, her and Cali.
I pass a shoe rack lined with girly sneakers, worn boots, and a few pairs of high heels. Making my way down the hall, I take in the photos of Nora and Cali hanging on the walls, each one framed in funky, mismatched colors and eclectic designs that feel perfectly her. At least, theherI knew from before.
But the longer I look, the more obvious it becomes—this house is missing a man’s touch. No sport coat on the hook. No oversized tennis shoes by the door.
And no ring on Nora’s finger.
And yet, there’sthreeplacemats set on her quaint dining room table in a house that seems to be made for two.
Jumping to conclusions is the last thing I should do when it comes to my sister’s life. But just when I think I’ve started to piece it all together, one look around this place tells me the truth runs deeper. And it’s not just answers I want anymore.
It’s answers I can’t leave without.
My body sinks into the plush loveseat. I twiddle my thumbs, a better and much more sanitary substitution to gnawing on my nail like a beaver. I’m so tired of feeling fucking nervous. In the span of a week, my whole world has fallen off its axis, tumbling out of control—and I can’t stop it. I usually have a strong hold on things in my life. I’m in the driver’s seat where I can call the shots with confidence.
Now, I’m a stranger in my sister’s home wheremy nieceis down the hall with my … boyfriend? I let out an audible sigh, rubbing my temples to massage the headache forming as Nora tinkers in the kitchen, brewing a cup of tea. I hope she pours two shots of something strong in it.
Her place is quaint, though. It’s not large, but the vaulted ceilings and a skylight above the living room give the illusion of a space bigger than it really is. There’s a gas fireplace with an oak mantle adorned with pictures of Cali from infancy to now. My heart hurts too much to look at them. All the years I’ve missed. Not just with my sister, but with my niece.
I noticed a few photos of Nora and Cali in the hallway earlier, but I take my time now studying the ones on the mantle. Most are of the two of them, smiling at the camera or caught in little candid moments. A few are just Nora, looking happy and relaxed. Beautiful as always.
