Serafine sighed. “Oh, Violetta. You know it is.”

Blue wasn’t a bad aura to have at all. It indicated peace, authority, a sense of calm. But it also indicated a deep loneliness. Via twiddled the wineglass between her fingers. She’d never asked what Evan’s aura was. And she wasn’t about to now.

“YOU’RE GETTING OLD.” Sebastian grinned at Tyler as the man limped back from the play structure, one hand on his lower back.

Tyler plopped onto the park bench, shoving Crabby to the side as the dog’s tongue lolled out one side of his mouth. “Fuck you. I’m three months younger than you are. And besides, no one over the age of fifteen should be expected to do the monkey bars.”

“You’re just salty because Joy beat you.” Seb recrossed his legs and watched as Matty and Joy took turns trying to scale a pole, fireman style.

“Joy always beats me. The kid is like an Olympic athlete already.”

Sebastian’s eyes wandered over to Joy’s parents, both of them sitting on a bench on the other side of the playground, quietly chatting to one another. He used to sit next to them, but he realized pretty quick that they sat in silence if he was around. He didn’t want to be the third wheel on their park dates.

“Hey.” Seb turned to Tyler. “How’re things going with Kylie?”

Tyler leaned forward and picked up one perfectly red Japanese maple leaf. He twirled it in his fingers and sat back, uncharacteristically quiet as he gathered his thoughts. Seb’s stomach dropped. If he was reacting this way, then it was definitely bad news.

“She’s...all right, I think. But it’s not like she tells me much. You know, a fourteen-year-old kid isn’t exactly wild about chatting with her forty-two-year-old brother on the phone. Sometimes she texts, and I can usually get her to open up a little more. But we’re still getting used to it, you know? It’s only been two years since we knew the other existed.” Tyler tossed the maple leaf back to the ground. “Doesn’t help that her mom hits on me every chance she gets. Gives me the willies.”

“Well, you’re not related to Kylie’s mom.”

“Yeah, but she had a kid with my father. There’s some lines a man doesn’t cross. And double-dipping with your dad is one of them.”

“Oh God.” Sebastian grimaced.

“Exactly. Anyways, I’ve been trying to talk my way into visiting them in Ohio without having to see Kylie’s mom too much. But I don’t know, I don’t want to push. I know that it’s hard for Kylie to be around me. That I remind her of our dad.” His face drew tight, and for a second, he looked a lot older. “And that’s pretty much the last thing I’d ever want to do.”

Seb winced as Matty lost his grip on the monkey bars and plummeted to the ground. The kid bounced up half a second later.

“Ay caramba!” he shouted toward Joy, who laughed her head off at her goofy friend.