“And what if she doesn’t want to talk to me?”
“Do you care about her?”
Apparently it’s a lot more than just caring about her,I think idly.
“Yes,” I say instead.
“Then you’ll figure it out,” Dee says, patting my shoulder. “Despite the way you act sometimes, you’re a smart guy.”
“Smartisn’t the go-to adjective most people would use for me,” I snort.
She gives my shoulder a squeeze. “Maybe we should use it more. Because regardless of anything I’ve ever said to you…you arenotactually an idiot. You just act like one sometimes.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“What are sisters for?”
I sigh, running my fingers through my hair. “I’m not just going to be able to play the orphan card for this one, am I.”
“I don’t think that ever really works like you think it does.”
“I’ve had many successes with it.”
“I am certain I don’t want to hear about them,” Dee laughs.
I turn to look at her, the knot in my chest unraveling a little. “I’ve missed you, you know.”
“I know,” she answers softly. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately.”
“It actually terrifies me sometimes, how close you two have gotten,” I admit. “You’re like your own family now.”
Dee throws her arm around my shoulders, pulling me into her as she presses a kiss to my temple. “But that willnevermean that you aren’t part of it. You’ll always be our family too.”
I close my eyes as they start to sting, all the worry and insecurity I’ve never let myself actually feel bubbling to the surface to wash over me all at once.
“Ian is going to kill me when he finds out about all of this,” I sigh.
Dee chuckles as she leaves another kiss at my hair, pulling back to look at me. “Kill you? Doubt it. Bug the ever-loving shit out of you? Highly likely. I mean, you kind of deserve it.”
“You don’t think he’s going to murder me when he finds out how badly I hurt her?”
“He won’t have the chance if you hurry up and fix things. You know how Abby is…She keeps things pretty close to the vest.”
“I just…I want to be someone she deserves.”
“You alreadyare,” Dee urges. “You just have tobelieveit.”
“I still have no idea what to do about everything else,” I admit. “Everything feels like such a mess right now.”
“Well, I want to apologize for the way I’ve been pushing you so much about the hockey stuff. I shouldn’t have.”
“I know you were just trying to help.”
“Do you know when I realized something was going on with you and Abby?”
I shake my head.
“Just before she went after you at Bea’s…We were still discussing you. Still asserting that we knew what was best for you, and Abby…It’s like she’d had enough. She threw down her napkin and stood up from her chair, and do you know what she said?”