Page 64 of One Foggy Christmas
“Really?” She purses her lips in disbelief.
“Is that so shocking?” I laugh.
“I guess not. It’s just, out of everyone in my family, I’m the closest to Tate. I’ve worshiped the ground he walks on since I was a little girl.”
“I know.” This entire conversation rips my heart to shreds, but I promised Sadie’s parents I wouldn’t say anything about her brother.
“Do I talk about Tate a lot?”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to feel bad about it. I love hearing all the crazy stories about the two of you. It’s one of my favorite things to listen to you talk about.”
“Really?” Her smile widens into something adorably innocent.
“Yeah.”
“I can’t wait to see him when we get there.” She adjusts in her seat, glancing out her window. “I miss him so much.”
The words were more to herself than me, so I let them hang without a reply, hating how, in a few days, that happiness over seeing her brother again will be wiped away.
“Do you have siblings?”
I smile, glad she’s willing to let down her walls enough to get to know me a little better. “I have a brother.”
“What’s his name?”
“Nolan, but he passed away four and a half years ago.”
Her expression falls. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Can I ask what happened?”
With anyone else, I wouldn’t want to talk about this kind of stuff, but Sadie has always been the one person who makes it easy to work through my pain. Grief connects us, cutting the same.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s none of my business.”
“Of course it’s your business. Everything important to me has always been important to you. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
“Uh.” The mention of the wordlovehas her tucking a strand of hair behind her ear to deal with the anxiety of the declaration.
“Nolan was an alcoholic,” I say, trying to keep the open dialogue going. “He was drunk and crashed his car into a tree. Luckily, it was late at night, and nobody else was involved in the accident.”
Unprompted, Sadie reaches out, placing her hand on my shoulder and keeping it there. The same small gesture she did years ago when I told her about my brother. It feels like a milestone compared to two seconds ago, when the thought of me loving her made her fidget nervously.
“I’m really sorry.” Her brown eyes are full of her signature sincerity.
“I know you are.” I stare at her for as long as a person driving a car can until they have to look back at the road.
She moves her hand away, and my skin goes cold without the warmth of her touch.
“Do you have any other family besides Nolan?”
“My dad took off before I could walk, and my mom dropped us off at my aunt’s house when I was eleven so she could pursue her career. I grew up with my cousin, Lindy. She’s like a sister to me.”
“Autumn mentioned something about Lindy. So she’s your cousin?”
“Yeah, you and she are really tight.”
Sadie’s eyes widen. “We are?”
“Yeah, next to Autumn, she’s your best friend. I used to joke that you liked her more than you liked me.”
