Page 21 of An Unfinished Memory

“My periods are regular.” She waggled her eyebrows. “But they may not be for much longer.”

“Oh?” I said, excitement growing. I adored watchingmy best friend grow her family and in turn, my family. “You’re trying again?”

“Better to have them close together, right?”

“Probably.” My sister was six years older than me, and we weren’t close. My parents had doted on her and her competitive figure skating career. They’d all had their eyes on the Olympics. Their attention certainly hadn’t been on me.

“I know there’s almost ten years between me and Cody,” she said, “and we’re close, but I can’t be having babies until I’m forty like him. Ansen and I figured we’d better get it done.”

A few of my heartstrings tugged. Forty was on my horizon. A couple more years and I’d be having the milestone birthday. I was nowhere near where I thought I’d be ten years ago.

“Speaking of forty…” I wasn’t switching topics to keep my mind off my diminishing ability to have kids and the lack of a partner I wanted to have them with living under my roof. Nor was I willingly turning the attention to Wilder, but curiosity and maybe a little worry had been gnawing at me.

“Wilder?” Aggie asked.

I nodded. “Are you guys planning anything? I wanted to make sure he’s not alone for the big four oh.”

“You have a kind heart, you know that?”

I had a thing for my ex. That was the issue. “I never quit caring about him.” A tiny weight lifted off my chest. I could admit a part of the truth.

“I know.” She gave me a small smile. “I’ve been so worried. At first, I wondered if you’d both be able to stand each other or if I’d have to take turns inviting each of you. But you and Wilder have been so good about it.”

The conflict in her eyes told me everything. He was her brother. She couldn’t fathom not including him. I was like a sister, but in the end, I wasn’t her sister. Besides, I knew that being sisters didn’t always mean two women were close.

If Aggie had to choose between me and her brother, I was afraid of the outcome. “I’d never want to put you in a hard spot like that.”

“I’m still worried about him.”

“Why?” He’d been extremely fine the last time I saw him…like when I woke up next to him, but I hated that she was concerned.

“He keeps to himself more than usual.”

“I’m not nagging him to go anywhere.”

She gave me a supportive smile. “You didn’t nag, and we both know it. He’s stubborn and single-minded, like our parents were. No, it’s just…he’s quieter. Sadder.” She held her hand up. “I’m not blaming you.”

But it was my fault. My fault he was sadder and quieter, and my fault his family was distressed. “Aggie, I’m sorry.”

“No, Sutton. You had your reasons. He’s just different than he was, and I’ll give him more time, but that’s also why I want to make sure we do something for his birthday. He needs to be reminded that there’s more to life than that uniform.”

“And you claim I have a kind heart.” I was a sneaky bitch and not feeling so hot about myself right now. I was grateful for Aggie on so many levels, but her love for her family topped the list today. Whether I confessed to Wilder or not, I didn’t want him to be alone on his birthday. He wouldn’t do a thing for himself, and while I’d been with him, no one else but me had either.

“Cody talked to Eliot, and we’ll go down for the day. I think Wilder’s on call, but we can bring some donuts to his house.”

Wilder liked donuts more than cake. “I’m sure he’d love to see everyone.”

“You think so?” Her question was serious.

I paused. Wilder was as expressive with his emotions as the rest of the guys in the family. Cody had opened up a lot since he met Tova, but his default was still serious. We all knew when Eliot was upset, but otherwise, he never talked about what he was feeling, and Austen was a guy who acted like he wanted nothing but a good time.

“He’s never been able to live up to Cody.” I fiddled with my straw wrapper. “Not being the oldest that everyone relied on bothered him. It’s why he’s so dedicated to the sheriff’s office.” I’d had to come to a lot of realizations, and those were what led to the decision of asking for a divorce. Wilder wasn’t going to change. He was the way he was for a reason. “He loves being with his family. He might not admit he never gets enough time to spend with everyone. Because then he’d have to admit he’s split himself into too many pieces.”

“And that would be admitting that he wanted to do more and hated how everyone deferred to Cody when we were growing up.”

I pointed at her. “And we have a winner.”

Her mouth tipped up. “I can never tell which game show you get your sayings from. ExceptJeopardy!That one’s easy.”

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