“When Hallie gets here, I’ll explain.”

Colleen yawned, covering her mouth and slumping into a chair. She’d slept the night in her childhood bedroom, if sleeping was what it could be called. She’d tossed and turned on the sagging mattress and when she had faded away, it had been to fragmented images of the life she’d left behind.

“Lena?”

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I think so. What time is Hallie coming?”

“About fifteen minutes,” Shane said and walked to the coffeepot to pour another mugful. “I know you’ve asked me to never discuss this with you, to allow our relationship to remain separate, but I have to say something.”

“Of course you do.”

“You have to mend this with her. It’s been ten years. They have a beautiful life and a great marriage and two girls—your nieces, by the way, who you will adore if you give them even a second of your time. You can’t pretend they don’t exist.”

“Did you and Dad plot ahead of time to gang up on me? And did you both conveniently forget about her part in this?”

“We didn’t forget. We don’t forget. We’ve been here for a decade without you. We’ve had the long nights of regret and misery with Hallie.” He rolled his head around his shoulders, loosening the tension. “She knows how we feel—the way we all are now didn’t come easy. There were years of tension and heartache. But forgiveness and family won out.”

“Forgiveness.” Colleen felt the sweat on her palms, the uneasiness in her chest. “Why does that word make me feel like I want to crawl out of my skin, Shane? Why does it make me feel like I am falling into the dark place where I’m sleeping in a friend’s basement and drinking vodka like water? It’s just a word.”

“Maybe because you can’t separate forgiveness from forgetting. Listen, sis, I’m not saying you have to be best friends with her again. I’m not saying you have to trust her. But we’re here for Dad, and a little grace and kindness might ease the tension for everyone. Being angry and rude doesn’t change a damn thing that happened ten years ago.”

“I hear you.” Colleen settled back into the seat, feeling something akin to relief, something like exhaling or falling asleep after a long day. She didn’t need to be best friends with Hallie again. She didn’t need to trust her. She just needed to release the fist of anger in her gut, the defensive way her heart added another stone to the wall around her heart at the mere mention of Hallie’s name. “I will try,” she said. “For Dad.”