But, none of that mattered anyway. I could embarrass myself in front of her all I wanted, because it’s not like I had a chance with her. This could be added to the list of ways that Jamie was more accomplished than me, and no matter what I did to try to impress my parents, he would always win out. He was the former All-State QB who was now going to marry a beautiful woman, move back home, and give my parents tons of grandbabies. I almost wished he would have a slip-up, like getting Reagan pregnant out of wedlock, so it would lessen the blow when I finally came out to my parents. Having the perfect sibling only made it harder to deal with the fact that I wasn’t the All-American daughter my parents thought I was.
I shouldn’t be blaming my brother for any of this though. It wasn’t his fault he was straight, just like it wasn’t his fault that he had won over Reagan. Well, I guess that kind of was his fault, but only because he truly was a good guy. Of course she had fallen for him. I just wish for once that luck would be on my side instead of his.
“I think that plate is clean.” My mother’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I realized that I had absolutely no idea how long I had been scrubbing the same plate. “What’s wrong, dear?” she asked, a look of concern settling on her face.
I smiled over at her, as I finally set the plate down. “Nothing. I’m just tired,” I lied.
“Becoming a doctor will do that to you,” my mother laughed, and I honestly wasn’t sure if she meant it as a compliment or an insult. “Have you thought about where you want to work once your license goes through? I saw Dr. Peet the other day and he told me he has an extra exam room. I thought maybe you could talk to him about being his assistant.”
I wanted to point out to my mother that Dr. Peet and I had the exact same degree, but I knew that wasn’t worth getting into. I also would have loved to tell her that my plan was to open my own pediatric practice for inner city kids in either Philadelphia or New York. I could only imagine the response I would get to that. That’s a lot of work for a young woman. Sounds dangerous. Be careful—men are intimidated by successful women. So, instead, I simply shrugged my shoulders. “I’m still figuring it out.”
My mother put down the dish towel she was holding and reached out to push a piece of hair behind my ear. “That’s fine, sweetheart. It’s a lot to think about. I’ll support whatever you decide. I just don’t think you should take too much time. You have more important things to focus on, like finding a good husband.” And there it was. “Aw, honey. Don’t stress about it. You’re beautiful and smart and accomplished. Jarrett still asks about you, you know. Did you know he’s a cop now? Maybe you should reach out to him.”
“Maybe I will,” I lied.
My mom leaned in and kissed my forehead, satisfied with my answer. “I’ll take care of the rest of the dishes. Why don’t you go see what your brother and Reagan are up to?”
I nodded in agreement and made my way toward the back porch. I was surprised when I found only my brother sitting out there. “Where’s your girl?” I asked, as I took a seat beside him.
“She was tired, so she decided to call it an early night. Meeting the parents is exhausting.”
I studied my brother’s face and noticed how happy and content he looked, sitting there on the porch, watching the sunset. I knew it wasn’t fair of me to be envious of his life, no matter how perfect it might seem. “I like Reagan. She seems really nice.”
Jamie smiled over at me. “Funny. She was just saying the exact same thing about you a few minutes ago.”
“Oh yeah?” I answered as nonchalantly as possible, although the thought of Reagan saying anything about me had my stomach tying up in knots. Why the hell did she have this effect on me?
“Yep. She appreciated how you defended her in front of Mom. You know, about her job.” Jamie hesitated for a moment, then added, “I did too, by the way. I kind of froze up.”
“It was nothing. It honestly just slipped out.” Which was true. I was just as surprised by how quickly I jumped in. It wasn’t like me to stand up to my mom like that.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, before Jamie looked back over at me. I noticed him staring for a few seconds, before he said anything. “I’ve missed you, Sis.” His words were soft, but I knew there was much more to them than what he was saying. We had been so distant since high school. For me, I know it had a lot to do with my jealousy and worry about how he would react if he knew the real me. I’m not sure what his reasoning was, but I could sense something behind his words. Call it twin intuition, but somehow I knew he was apologizing. I just wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for.
“I’ve missed you too, Bro.” I’m sorry, too. I could tell by the way his face lit up that he knew what I was trying to say. We both looked back out toward the lake and didn’t say another word. Even though it was a simple interaction, I felt a shift between us. I had a feeling this summer was going to be good for us. I just needed to embrace my brother’s life, rather than pining over it. That was especially true of Reagan. It shouldn’t be that hard. Just because she was good looking didn’t mean that we would have anything in common. And even if we did, that meant we could be friends. It would certainly make this reunion much more bearable.
After a few more minutes, I stood and patted my brother on the shoulder. “I think I’m going to call it an early night as well. I’ll make sure your girlfriend is doing okay after day one with the Millers.”
It took me a moment to figure out where Reagan was when I entered my room. It turned out she had made a bed out of blankets and pillows near the foot of my bed and was lying there staring at something on her phone. I walked over and hovered above her, willing my heart to stop beating so fast at the sight of her in a tank top and tight boxer shorts. “There’s no way I’m going to let you sleep on the floor. You had to deal with my mother. You shouldn’t also have to deal with a hard floor.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” Reagan laughed. “Trust me. This floor is much more comfortable than that dinner was.”
I couldn’t help the cackle that escaped my mouth. It was refreshing to hear someone say the words that I was thinking. I lifted one eyebrow at her and gave her a half-smirk. “That’s even more reason for you to sleep in the bed. You’ve suffered enough.”
Reagan’s smile grew. “I’m honestly not into sharing a bed. I like my space. And before you say it, no, you’re not sleeping on the floor. This is your room.”
“Fine,” I conceded. “But I’m pretty sure I have an air mattress in my closet. You have to at least sleep on that.”
“Fiiiiiiiiine,” Reagan jeered, and after a few minutes, I had the air mattress blown up, and we were lying on our respective beds.
I was staring at my phone contemplating how I was going to fall asleep at 9:30 at night, when I heard Reagan moving around on the air mattress. I figured this was as good of a time as any to try to bond with my future sister-in-law. “Be honest with me. Were you actually tired or did you come up here so early in order to avoid my family?”
There was a moment of silence before Reagan finally spoke. “If I told you that it was to avoid your family, would you judge me for that?”