Page 38 of Home Tears

Kate and Aiden were dancing a jig on the stage.

Dani skimmed the crowd. Robbie was waving his arms, seated at a round picnic table. As she neared, Dani saw Jonah at a nearby table with Hawk, his arm around a woman with pigtails, and another two guys who Dani recognized from high school.

“Hey, Dani! We saved you a seat.” Robbie kicked out the empty chair on his left. Stilts was on her other side, with his arm around another girl. Lori sat on Robbie’s right with both their chairs turned toward the center stage.

Kate was saying, “…we were given an announcement to make from the baking committee. They wanted to let you know that due to the sale on lemon pie filling at our wonderful sponsors, Deano’s Supermarket, there has been an influx of lemon meringue pies for the pie contest.” As the crowd started to laugh, Kate kept on, “So they’re going to divide the contest into two sections. One section will be just the lemon meringue pies while the other will be the general pie contest. They will award two winners because of this event.”

Aiden laughed, dipping closer to the microphone. “Please still bring lemon meringue pies next year.”

Kate commented as she tried to muffle her microphone, but the crowd still heard, “My pie’s one of those. I’m so embarrassed.”

The crowd went wild.

Kate blushed while Aiden patted her friend on the back. “Don’t worry, Kate. There were twenty lemon meringue pies this year. We hit a record!”

Another scream filled the air. At the same time, Kate began to announce the next act, but Aiden’s microphone caught her. “Bryant, you will drop your sister’s hair now!”

Kate started laughing in the middle of pronouncing the act’s name.

Aiden flushed this time and murmured to the crowd, “Sorry.” She left the stage, and everyone heard, “Leave your brother alone! Or no pizza tonight. I mean it!”

Kate shook her head, still grinning, as she departed on the opposite side.

Dani sat back and listened to their fantastic attempts at a high E, but she saw Jake and Julia on the opposite side, surrounding a similar table to their own. Kelley Lynn and the rest filled the other seats next to them.

Jake had been watching her and nodded. Dani waved.

Julia frowned.

That bothered her, and without thinking, Dani got up. She began to walk around the crowd. Julia’s eyes widened when Dani kept walking her way.

She stopped right in front of her. “Can I talk to you? Just you and me?”

“No crowd to cheer you on?”

Dani flinched. “You and me? Please?”

Julia stood, and Dani led the way.

Why was she doing this? She wasn’t sure, but it felt right. They were center stage. All eyes were on them, but Dani didn’t care. She was starting to care less and less, and when she found a private corner between two horse trailers, she turned around.

“When did we become enemies? Sometime in our childhood? When Mom died? When?”

Julia looked down at her hands. She was fidgeting with her shirt. “Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t know,” Dani admitted. “Maybe because I’m tired of hating something, but not knowing what I’m supposed to hate. Maybe because I’m tired of this supposed ‘fight’ between us. I don’t hate you, Julia. You’re my sister.” Her words hung in the air. She repeated them, “You’re my sister. We share so much.”

“Like what?” Julia snorted.

“We both lost our mother. We both lost a sister. We both weren’t taught how to love each other. And we both loved the same man.”

Julia looked away and turned her back. Dani saw her wrap her arms around herself. It took a second, but she heard, “I love him. Present day. I love him now.”

“And I remember my love for him.”

Julia’s shoulders arched upward. Dani heard the soft sniffle from behind. Her sister was crying. Her supposedly heartless sister was crying.

“I don’t want Jake back.” Dani took a breath. “I left that night and he and I, we haven’t gone through the process of seeing each other again when we weren’t together. Does that make sense? I’ve thought about him with someone else, but now I’m back. We have to go through that process of seeing each other not together for closure, but I don’t want him. I don’t love him anymore.”

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