My Sister Stole My Second Life novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Second Life
The ovens ticked behind the counter.
Thatcher had stopped pretending to fold anything.
I looked at my sister for a long time.
I'd waited two lives to hear her say it.
I'd thought it would feel like winning.
It felt like setting something heavy down that I'd forgotten I was carrying.
"Okay," I said.
She blinked.
"Okay?"
"I heard you. I believe you mean it."
"That's not the same as..."
"No," I said. "It isn't."
She nodded and looked down at her coffee.
"But you can come to dinner on Sunday," I said. "Not as a guest."
Her head came up.
"As what?"
"As my sister. You'll still knock. Anne likes it. But you won't have to wait on the step."
Dena opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
She pressed the back of her wrist against her lips, hard, and looked out the window at the empty street until she could breathe.
I reached into the paper bag on the table and took out the second croissant.
I put it on a napkin in front of her.
"That one was for whoever was still in bed," I said. "Nobody's still in bed."
She laughed.
It cracked in the middle.
She broke the croissant in half and gave half back to me, and we ate it in the window of the bakery on the corner while my husband swore at a sheet of butter.
On Sunday, I let myself into the Stanhope house with my own key.
The front hall smelled of lemon oil and roast chicken.
Anne's voice floated out of the kitchen.
"Is that Maisie?"
"It's Maisie."
"Did you bring the bread?"
"I brought the bread."
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