“We hope to,” Abby answered.
“Good. Let’s make it a double date. We can grab dinner there and bring some wine,” Brant said.
“What movie?” Cait looked between them, surprised that the idea of a double date actually sounded fun.
“The dune-side movie. My mom invited you,” Brant reminded her. “You said you were working until six.”
Oh, right. “I never said I was going.”
He took her hand and said, “Cait Weatherby, would you be my date for the dune-side movie tomorrow night?”
She laughed. “You’re a goof. Yes.”
“Ah, but I’m your goof.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you at six.” As he walked to his truck, he said, “Don’t forget your string bikini.”
“I think I’m busy tonight after all,” Cait called after him.
“Damn right you are. Busy with me.” He blew her a kiss and climbed into his truck.
Abby sidled up to Cait as he drove away. “Okay, sis. That was too cute. What is going on? When you didn’t come home last night, I thought you decided to stay at the Cape for an extra night. Were you with Brant?”
Cait looked at the sister who had welcomed her into her home and her heart from the very first moment they’d met and knew she didn’t want to hide anymore. “How much time do you have?”
“As much as you need.” Abby raised her brows. “Was last night that good?”
“Yes, but not in the way you’re thinking. Let’s go up to my apartment.”
As they went upstairs, Abby chatted about how happy she was that Cait and Brant were together. They sat at the table, and Cait split her Danish from Keira’s with her, trying to figure out where to start. And the best place seemed to be with correcting Abby’s assumption. “We didn’t sleep together.”
“Oh. Okay.” Abby looked confused.
“I’ll tell you everything, but would you mind if I called Dee so she can hear it, too?”
“Of course not.”
“Good, because I have a lot to say, and I don’t want her to feel like I chose to tell you first.” She pulled out her phone, getting more nervous by the second, and made the call.
Deirdra answered on the second ring. “Hey, Cait. What’s up?”
“I’m with Abby, and I have something to talk with you guys about. But if you’re busy, it can wait until tonight.”
“I’m always busy, but I’ll make time. Give me a sec.” She heard Deirdra telling someone to hold her calls and close her door. “Okay, I’m here.”
“Can we FaceTime?” Cait asked.
A minute later Deirdra’s beautiful face appeared on the screen. She had the same brownish-blond hair as Abby, but while Abby’s was coarse and always a bit tousled, Deirdra’s was silky and fell in perfect waves just past her shoulders. She wore a white blouse under a navy blazer, her makeup perfectly applied. As always, Deirdra looked ready to take on the world, while Cait and Abby were in comfortable clothes, their faces makeup-free.
“What’s going on? Is something wrong?” Deirdra asked.
“No. I’m not sure where to start, but I stayed at Brant’s last night, and—”
“Whoa. You and Brant?” Deirdra exclaimed. “He finally got you into bed? He must be on top of the world. He’s a great guy, but if he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”
“He’d never hurt her,” Abby added.
“And he didn’t get me into bed,” Cait added.
“Okay . . . ?” Deirdra said curiously. “So you christened the kitchen table? His boat?”
“We didn’t have sex.” Cait fidgeted with her hands beneath the table. “We talked most of the night, and we made out, but the talking is the important part.”
“Cait, you making out with a guy is pretty damn important,” Deirdra said. “Just last month you were doing everything you could to not be alone with Brant.”
“I know. When you hear what I have to say, you’ll understand why. When I went back to the Cape this week, he came to see me.” She told them about Brant’s tattoo fiasco, which they cracked up about. “He hung out with me and my friends and we kissed, and I freaked out.”
“Why?” her sisters asked in unison.
“That’s what I want to explain.” She dove right into telling them about her past before she could chicken out, revealing everything she’d told Brant. Abby cried and must have hugged her a dozen times. Deirdra kept a firm upper lip, asking painful questions, but Cait understood how her attorney’s brain worked. She needed to understand everything, including why Cait hadn’t gone to a teacher or the police.
“I’m sorry I kept it from you for so long,” Cait said.
“Don’t be. We understand why you did,” Abby reassured her. “I’m sorry you went through all of that, and I’m glad you feel comfortable telling us now.”
“I’m sorry I joked when we first started talking. What can we do to help you through this?” Deirdra asked.
“Just sharing the truth with you helps. I’ve been thinking about this since I told Brant. In a sense, hiding that part of my past allowed the emotional abuse to continue. The therapist I told you about had warned me that even though I got to a great place, when I made close friends or got involved with a man, it would probably bring all this stuff up again.”
“This summer brought big changes for all of us.” Abby reached for her hand. “It makes me sad that you’ve been suffering alone for all this time.”
“It’s my own fault. I could have told you earlier, but I was afraid. You guys had gone through so much with Ava. I didn’t want to add to that.”
“We’re sisters,” Deirdra said. “We need to support each other through the good times and the bad.”
“You were here for me when Aiden and I had trouble, and I want to be there for you,” Abby said.
“I appreciate that.” Cait felt like another weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“Do you think you’ll see the therapist again?” Deirdra asked.
Cait had been thinking about that, too. “I want to try to deal with this on my own, using the coping mechanisms she taught me, and talking with Brant if need be, or you guys. If I run into trouble, then I’ll go back to see her. But I already feel like I’ve come out from under a dark cloud. I hadn’t realized how stressful it was holding in my secrets until I told Brant. It’s like I’ve shed old skin that was holding me back and making me sick.”
“That’s because you did shed something that was holding you back and making you sick,” Deirdra said. “I talked with a therapist when I was in college—”
“You did?” Abby asked, wide-eyed.
“I had to. Guilt was eating away at me for leaving you to deal with Mom,” Deirdra said. “That’s why I never hold anything back. The therapist I saw told me that the longer I held it in, the longer it would take to heal. She said not talking about what we were going through with Ava was protecting her, and that I needed to protect myself.”
“Don’t you think you should have clued me in?” Abby asked.