The Sister Between Them

Chapter 14

Dani released a little sigh before heading down the stairs. The last thing she expected was for Katherine to show up here as she did. She hadn't meant to spew out her outburst, but what Katherine said about it not mattering set her off. She knew now she'd have no choice but to face it and relive it all again. She couldn't leave it at that.

Rocco had to be curious and worried about what she had said. She didn't want him to think her brother was at fault in anyway. Although she knew he wouldn't judge her, it was so difficult to go back there.

Rocco's food did look great, but the way her stomach was knotted, she wasn't sure she'd be able to eat any of it. She hadn't talked about things in a long time; she never really talked about the fire. It had happened so fast, and then suddenly, there was this trial and Kev was in all this trouble; neither of them ever had time to deal with what had happened that night.

She walked over to Gavin, who was leaning over his coloring book with crayons spilled all over the ground. The puzzle he'd been working on earlier was forgotten on the other side of the room. He was so focused on his coloring that he didn't hear her coming up behind him.

"Hi, Gavi." She crouched down next to him.

"Auntie Dani!" He jumped up excitably.

"Hi Buddy, it's dinner time." She ruffled his hair.

He studied her for a second, his emerald eyes seemed to sweep over her face like his dad had just done.

"Auntie Dani, are you sad?" he asked, his eyes widening with worry.

"No, I just got something in my eyes earlier," she said, giving him an assuring smile. She wondered how red and puffy her eyes were that a three-year-old noticed.

He nodded and smiled at her. He then picked up the coloring book and handed it to her.

"I made you this," he said proudly.

"You did?" She could feel her eyes start to water again. It was the only tiger picture in the book; it was his favorite animal in the world, and he chose that picture for her.

"Yeah, it's a Gavi Tiger!" He jumped up to his feet.

"It's perfect." She pulled him into her embrace. "I love it."

"I know just where to hang it up too." She stood up and started for her room with Gavin right behind her.

She had tucked pictures of all her family and friends around her bedroom vanity mirror, just like at home. She was anxious to get a few of her favorite shots of Gavin printed out, too, so she could add them. The wall next to the mirror was empty.

"This looks like a pretty boring white wall," she said. "I think it needs this picture, don't you?"

"Yes." Gavin nodded, studying the wall with a cute little serious expression.

She smiled; his sweet innocence was the best medicine. Katherine's visit was starting to feel like a distant memory, at least for the moment.

"Perfect." She smiled again as she hung up the picture.

"Perfect," Gavin repeated with a happy smile.

"Auntie Dani." Gavin pointed to the picture of her with her friends Kara and Dina her sixteenth birthday party.

"Yeah, that's right, that's me and my friends, this is Kara, and that's Dina." She picked him up so he could see better and pointed.

"And this..." She pointed to a picture of Kara holding a curly-haired Sophie; she had just turned four but was on her third birthday in the picture. "...is Sophie, remember how I told you about her?"