Page 142 of Homecoming

“Are you okay?” Dan asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. Give me just a second, will you?”

“Kara…”

“I’m okay. I swear.” She turned back toward her sister, who hadn’t moved since they walked away.

She knew Dan would follow her, but she kept her gaze on her targets.

Matt saw her coming and alerted Kelly.

“What do you want?” Kelly asked.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. What is it that you want from me? When you ambush me in public, what’re you expecting to happen?”

Kelly, who was a petite blonde with gorgeous blue eyes and flawless skin that Kara had envied all their lives, seemed uncertain of how to reply.

So Kara waited.

“I guess I just wish we could fix what’s broken between us.”

“Let me ask you this… If I’d done to you what you did to me, would you be looking for reconciliation?”

Kelly had the good sense to at least squirm a little. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. You never would’ve spoken to me again, so you’ve already gotten more from me than I would’ve gotten from you if the roles had been reversed. But let me make one thing crystal clear… I don’t give either of you an ounce of thought. I’ve moved on from what you did to me. I have a rich, beautiful life full of people who build me up rather than knock me down. I choose to focus on them rather than on painful things from the past. I’m sure you can understand that.”

“I’m sorry. Is that what you want to hear?”

Kara tipped her head, intrigued to receive an actual apology from her sister, who’d never apologized to anyone for anything in the past. “What is it, exactly, that you’re sorry for?”

“That you were hurt by what we did.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t be? When you started seeing each other behind my back, how’d you think that would turn out?”When Kelly didn’t reply, Kara continued. “You didn’t think about me, did you? You saw what you wanted, and you took it, like you always had before with clothes, shoes, dolls, toys. It didn’t matter what I had, you wanted it, and you took it.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“We… we should go, Kelly,” Matt said, seeming distressed.

“Why?” Kara asked him. “Is it uncomfortable to witness the destroyed relationship between two sisters that you helped to cause?”

“I… um…”

As Kara stood before them, she realized that at some point, they’d lost the power to hurt her and wondered when exactly that’d happened.

“Look, we all have better things to do than rehash the past. Hopefully, you’ve learned that actions have consequences. There’s no reason we can’t be civil with each other for the sake of our children, but please don’t think things will ever be the same between us. Because they won’t. You’ve both shown me who you really are. I’ve chosen to believe you, and as such, I’ll be keeping my distance. I hope you understand. Have a great day.”

Kara turned to walk away and found Dan watching her with unmistakable pride.

“Kara! Wait!” Kelly moved quickly to close the distance between them. “I’ll always be sorry that I hurt you.”

“Thank you for saying so. It matters.”

“If I could just… I’d like to introduce you…” Her gaze encompassed Dan. “Both of you… to your nephew.”

“Of course,” Kara said.

---