AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Val pulled up a photo of Corey Gates on her phone. “Him?”
Sylvi flinched. “Yes. That’s him. Is he in jail, too?”
“Not yet,” Val said grimly. “But he will be.” She brushed aside thoughts of Corey and Aaron Gates and focused on her sister. “Kaj, can you give us a minute?”
“I’ll wait in the front.” He left them alone, closing the door quietly behind him.
“Can we fix this? Us?” Val held her breath, waiting. And hoping.
Sylvi’s smaller hand covered hers. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”
Val really looked at her sister. She was clear-eyed and healthy. “I’m glad you’re clean. I’m sorry I wasn’t around when you needed me. And even if Van had gone to that café to keep you from buying that night, it shouldn’t have mattered. Can you forgive me?”
“I think I did a long time ago. A part of me always understood why you were so angry with me. Van was your twin. You two were so solid. That was a relationship I couldn’t compete with, no matter how hard I tried.”
Not so solid. Otherwise, Val might have guessed at the secrets Van had kept. “Maybe we can be solid together.”
“I’d like that.”
Val wrapped her arms around her sister and held on. Sylvi held on right back. “You could have died that night, too,” Val whispered.
“There were times I wished I had.”
“No. Don’t say that.”
“Van went there that night because I’d taken his stash and thrown it out.”
“No, he didn’t. Van had secrets neither of us knew about. He wasn’t just using. He was selling. He was there that night because he was part of the business.” She held back that Van was the boss. That was a bombshell for another day. If ever. “No more blame. For either of us.”
“No more blame,” Sylvi agreed. “What happens now?”
“We catch up on our lives. I want to meet your friends and I want you to meet mine.”
Sylvi’s grin was sly. “Like Kaj?”
Val blushed. “Yeah. He’s got a kid. Who I need to be getting back to. Elijah Cardozo was nearly abducted a few days ago. Kaj hired me to be his bodyguard.”
Sylvi’s eyes widened. “That’s what you do now?”
“Yeah. It’s why I’m gone so much. I... appreciate you spending time with Mom.”
Sylvi’s smile faltered. “It’s not easy. She’s so different. I don’t know that she’ll survive knowing the truth about Van.”
“She’ll survive knowing he was using, but we can’t tell her about the selling.” And if it became public knowledge, she prayed her mother would block it out like she’d done with Sandra’s arrest. Val drew Sylvi close for one more hug. “Thank you. For forgiving me.”
“Thank you for coming. I know it wasn’t easy.”
“I couldn’t let another day pass.”
The two walked to the front in a comfortable harmony, Val smiling at Kaj when she saw him sniffing one of the roses that Sylvi had laid on the counter. Sylvi took it from his hand, stripped off the thorns, and handed it to him.
“In case you want to give it to a girl,” she said slyly.
Kaj smiled. “Thank you. Please visit us. My son will want to meet Ingrid’s sister.”
“Soon,” Sylvi promised. “Y’all go on now. I’ll text you when I’m free.”
“You have my number?” Val asked as she and Kaj opened the front door.
