Just when I thought all the physical activity of moving had leeched the hangover out of me, my temples throb with a headache.
“I didn’t like John.” Sarah pouts.
Jim wraps his arm around her shoulders and points at her. “You’re my new favorite.” He turns his attention to Mom while I’m still working out the fastest way to put out this brush fire. “She dumped him.”
“What?” My mom gasps.
Jim shrugs. “You have a highly intelligent daughter. She saw the writing on the wall. He wasn’t good enough for her.”
Yeah, and the guy grinning at me thinks he is.
“But, but, but,” Mom sputters and gestures with her open palm toward Sarah, “you introduced him to Sarah! I thought things were serious! Sarah loved him!”
“I did not! I did not love John! I love James!”
Jim’s smile reaches blinding status. “You two are definitely sisters. So much alike.”
I’m making plans to chew on his hot dog later when Dad strolls up.
“Taking a break, huh?” He plops down on the other side of Sarah, his forehead glistening with sweat. “I’m down with that.”
“Did you know Sophia and John broke up? Last year?” Mom glares at Dad. She’s glaring at everyone really.
I had no idea she was so attached to John.
Dad winces, directing his attention to me. “Oh, I was supposed to break that to her, wasn’t I?”
I nod.
Mom throws her hands in the air. “I can’t believe you told your father and not me!”
“Really, Mrs. Reston?” Shannon makes a shocked face as she passes by with a bin of shoes. “I can’t imagine why.”
Shannon will always be in my corner. Especially on the topic of my mom. Mostly because I vent to Shannon about it all the time since I can’t vent to Sarah. For her, I have to set a good example.
Sarah turns to Jim. “Do you love John, too?”
“No way.” Jim shakes his head. “I hate him.”
“Me too! He didn’t like to talk to me!”
“But you love me?” Jim double-checks, looking like the picture of concern. “Because I like to talk to you.”
“Yeah!” Sarah starts bouncing again then stops suddenly. “Wait. Are you playing pretend? Do you really like talking to me?”
Jim squeezes her shoulder. Mom and Dad are both waiting with bated breath on his answer. Me, too. If this goes south, Jim will finally know what my hatred really tastes like. And Mom and Dad will have to calm Sarah for hours.
After a sigh, Jim speaks gently but firmly, “My little brother is about your age. He can’t talk at all. I would give anything to hear his voice. Just once. So, yeah, I really like talking to you. I can pretend that maybe you have the same questions he might want to ask me. And when I talk to you, I can pretend like I’m getting to talk to him.”
Mom is shocked. Dad smiles. He’s officially in love with Jim. And Sarah and I are definitely alike because the same tears I feel springing into my eyes shine in hers.
She throws her arms around Jim. “I’m sorry your brother can’t talk.”
He pats her back, seeming to genuinely enjoy her comfort. “Me, too. Now, come on. Let’s get this couch into Sophie’s apartment, and you can ask me more questions.”
“Her name is Sophia!”
Dad picks up the other end of the couch, and they shuffle toward the door.
“Think he’s good enough now, Mom?” There might be a little bitterness in my tone. Toward myself.
“Well, I—”
“I love him!” Dad yells, obviously eavesdropping since they haven’t made it as far as I thought.
“You love my brother,” Jim volleys back, laughing.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“I think we can fix it.” Tim’s crouched on the kitchen floor, inspecting the gaping hole that reaches up to the ceiling like a portal into another dimension.
Nate, Jake, and Jim are crowded around, too, doing guy things, while Shannon and I are left to womanly activities, like unpacking boxes and placing everything where it belongs in the cupboards.
“I don’t know,” Nate muses. “She might get fined if we fix it. This is way more than patching a hole. We’d need a half-sheet of drywall to fit in here.”
“Did you call maintenance?” Jim asks for the millionth time. “Maybe they just don’t want to patch it until they’re sure the leak won’t happen again.”
“It’s Sunday, Jim. They won’t answer the phones until tomorrow during business hours.”
Dr. Kimball was so right. I threw away a good thing because I thought newer and shinier was better.
“Do you think Sarah has calmed down by now?” Shannon asks as she sorts silverware into a tray in the drawer.
“I hope so.”
Sarah ended up crying today anyway, and it was still because of Jim. She didn’t want to leave her new friend.
Warm hands knead my tense shoulders. “Do you think it would help if I called her, or would that just make it worse?”
“They’re probably not home yet. It’s a two-hour drive. I hope you know she will definitely call you though since you gave her your phone number.”
“Should I text her my schedule, so she’ll know when it’s okay to call?”
I spin to face him, my face probably painted in wonder. I didn’t expect Jim to be an asshole to my little sister, but I didn’t think he’d go the extra mile for her either. “You would do that?”
He shrugs and nods. “Davey thrives on routine. If he knows what to expect, he tries to engage a little more.”
I place my hand on his chest, his heartbeat a steady rhythm beneath my fingertips. “I’m sorry you’ve never heard his voice, too.”
Jim tips his head back and forth. “I mean, I have. It’s not like he’s mute. I’ve heard him cry and shout and laugh. Just … no words.”
I sniffle back the tears threatening again. “Well, be prepared, James. Sarah will talk your ear off.”
“I can vouch for that,” Shannon adds.
Jim brushes my hair off my face and lowers his voice to a murmur. “Did you think I would run away, screaming?”
I shake my head, biting my lip to stop the increasing urge to sob.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It never came up.”
“Yes, it did. When I told you about Davey, it came up.”
I shrug. I have no good answer, except that I’m not racing toward an invisible finish line the way Jim is. More like inching. Slowly and steadily.
“Sophia doesn’t trust just anyone with Sarah,” Shannon puts in helpfully.
Or not.
Jim’s expression darkens. “I really hate John.” Then, he grins. “Now, you understand what happened last night though.”
“What happened last night?” Tim rises from the floor and stretches.
“Nothing,” Jim says, shaking his head a little too wildly.
An evil urge flickers in my chest.
Jim takes one glance at my expression and shakes his head harder. “No. Don’t you do it.”
Jake glances back and forth between us. “I’m not sure if I want to know more or less, watching you two.”