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“How are you, Cal?”
“I’m fine,” she says.
“You’re lying to me,” I say. “Again.”
“I’m being polite. That’s all you get from me right now, Finn,” she says. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to apologize.”
Again, with the silence. They’re not going to make it easy on me.
“I shouldn’t have…” Christ, where to start? “First of all, I’m not a bigot. I don’t care that you’re bi, or polyamorous, or whatever trendy term there is to call your situation.”
“You sure seemed to have a problem when you found out West and I were lovers,” says Raleigh, and I have to give the kid credit. He moves to stand in front of my sister when he says it, his chin out like he’s bracing for a hit. I guess I deserve that, considering.
“I don’t care that you and West are lovers,” I say. “I can’t stand liars. West and Callie were lying to me about being together.”
“We had to,” says Callie. “Given your reaction, I think it was justified.”
I swallow hard because this is going to suck.
“You’re probably right.”
Again, silence.
“Excuse me?” says Callie, all utter disbelief.
“Did they tell you why I hate liars, Lee?”
He shakes his head. “They said it wasn’t their story to tell.”
I nod at West, grateful for that consideration in the face of everything else that’s happened.
“It wasn’t,” I agree. “But they also don’t know the whole reason.”
“What.” West doesn’t make it a question. Callie moves to the kitchen table and takes a seat.
“What are you talking about, Finn?”
I take the seat next to her, keeping my eyes on Lee. It’s easier, somehow, to tell it to him than the others.
“You know our parents died in a car accident,” I say.
He nodded. “Twelve years ago today.”
“Right. After that, Sully took care of us, pretty much raised us, until I was able to help. It took me a little while to get to that point.”
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it,” growls West. He sounds so much like my best friend again, my lips twitch, even though it isn’t funny at all.
“A couple years later, I met a girl named Susan. She was twenty and cute, and she told me she loved me. It was the first time I’d been able to feel good about anything since the accident.”
“She wasn’t that cute,” says West.
“West.” Callie shoots him a look. He shrugs and winks at her.
“Cute enough,” I say. “We started dating, and she told me it was serious for her from the start. Then, a few weeks later, she told me she was pregnant.”
A clatter at the sink—West’s spilled coffee all over the place.
