“Oh, you have a brother? Are you close?” I thought about Cat, how she was my bestie, and that I always felt sorry for people who didn’t have that kind of relationship with their siblings.

“We were, yes, very close. He was my dearest friend.” The past tense of his words and the shadow of grief that momentarily crossed his face prefaced an awful “but …”.

“What happened?” I whispered. “Did you have a falling out?”

“No.” His eyes glistened, and he sighed out heavily. “He died. Just a few years ago now. Car accident.” He pushed a thumb into his eyes, one after the other. “Sorry.”

“Oh, no, James. I’m sorry. I …” I felt like crap and wanted to say so, but that was unfair. No matter how badly I felt for putting my foot in it, my feelings paled in comparison with James’s grief, which was palpable.

“You did nothing wrong, Sarah.”

I stroked the side of his face and pressed my forehead against his cheek. “I am sorry, though. I’m sorry you lost someone so precious to you.” There were tears in my eyes. James pulled me tightly to him and I snuggled up against his chest.

“I guess I don’t really talk about him very often, and it’s been a long time since anyone else was up here.”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“But I want to.” He paused and I held my breath waiting for him to speak. “My father died more than ten years ago, so when Christian died, it was just me and my mother to deal with the grief together. But she couldn’t be there for me. It was overwhelming for her. She loved my father, and he’d gone. She loved Christian, and … well, I think I was too much of a reminder of what she’d lost.” I hugged him tighter. “I think it hurt her more to see me than not to.”

“You both look really happy in that photo,” I said, barely more than a whisper.

I could hear the smile in his voice. “We were.” Then he laughed, a quiet but warm chuckle, almost to himself. “We were at Valentina and Marcus’s place, some party in the summertime, and he’d just told me the most pornographic joke. God, he was a character.” I smiled to myself. “I didn’t even know there was a photo of that moment until Tina gave it to me, framed, right after Christian’s service.”

I lifted myself up, so I could meet his eyes. “Really?”

He smiled. “Yes.”

“That’s the most thoughtful thing ever. You know, I kind of have a crush on Valentina.”

“We all do, darling,” he said, pulling me close for a kiss.

“James?”

“Yes.”

“I really am sorry about Christian.”

“I know.”

“But I’m also glad you were close, that you had that kind of relationship with him. My sister is …” How could I even begin to describe what Cat meant to me? Tears prickled my eyes and I swiped them away with the back of my hand, annoyed that I couldn’t articulate my thoughts.