Page 95 of Make It Last

Sohpie’s heavy sigh filtered through my phone. “What did she say?” she sniffled.

“Are you okay?” I asked quickly.

“Yeah.” She sniffled again. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not like I didn’t understand the position Mom was in.”

“I know. We can’t change the past.”

“No, we can’t.” She paused. “She apologized. For everything. She actually said she understood how I felt.”

“Damn.”

“What did you say to her?” she asked.

“I just pointed out the obvious. That we knew she was his target too, but he hurt all of us. A lot. And that it sucked to have her pretend nothing was happening. I think she feels guilty.”

“She probably does,” Sophie whispered.

“I wish she’d see a therapist.”

My sister’s laugh was dry. “Yeah. She could use one.”

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Honestly, better. We’ve got a ways to go, but hearing her actually acknowledge our lives meant a lot. I needed it.”

“Good.” Silence stretched for a few beats.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“For what?”

“For telling Mom what we needed her to hear.”

“It’s not like I haven’t tried to before. I guess this is just the first time I was really direct.”

Sophie blew her nose. “You’re the only one who protected me,” she said. “I know Mom tried sometimes, but mostly, she just tried to avoid it.”

“I know.” I swallowed. “You know how bad he was to her.”

“I do. Abusive men are assholes. The blast radius is wide.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Our dad was definitely an abusive asshole.”

A beat of silence followed. “You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“When are you coming home for a visit?” I asked.

“Soon, actually. I was planning on coming next month.”

“That would be nice.”

“I got a job offer at Heartfire Falls.”