Page 6 of The Refiner

Her tone softens at the end, and I’m instantly alert.

“What kind of news?” Kenny’s secret lover theory pops into my head. I’ll kill Dr. Annoying if he proposed without my permission. No one takes my sister away from me, ice blue eyes or not.

“The kind you tell someone over dinner. Tomorrow, Keys. I’ll meet you at your apartment. Don’t be late.”

“I’m never late.”

“Sure you aren’t. Bye, Key-money! Love you bunches!”

My sister is up to something. “I know your game, Pippy Short Stockings, but I’ll let this secrecy slide until tomorrow when I can bribe it out of you.”

The girl loves Ring Pops. She might sneak and suck on one in private like a respectable adult now, but she never goes a birthday without her plastic crown, a candy necklace, and a Ring Pop. The McKellan sisters will always be queens of our imaginary castles.

“Muah!” She ignores my comment and makes a kissing noise on the phone. “Congrats, kiddo. I’m so proud of you! Don’t rub it in Asshole McGee’s face too bad tomorrow. Remember, subtlety always packs more of a punch.”

She’s crazy. “Ass FaceMcGee—not asshole—will choke on my success like he’s in the final two seconds of a hot dog eating contest. No exceptions.”

Who does she think I am? Her sweet little sister?

Several voices mask Piper’s sigh, and I know duty is calling her away. “Be mean, Pipe. Remember, guys like it.”

Not really, but my sister is too sweet for her own good.

She chuckles, but unlike earlier, I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. “Love you, Keys.”

“Love you, too.”

I stare at the phone several minutes after we hang up. Surely, she’s okay…

Keagan

It’s not the phone that wakes me at seven a.m. but the pounding in my head.

Punishment is what this pain is.

I knew I shouldn’t have had that last drink on the hood of Kenny’s Honda. But he had gummy bears, and well, I can never turn down those cute little bites of squishy goodness—especially with an apple martini. Ultimately, those two things pushed me over the edge and led to this raging headache.

I snatch my phone from the charger, pushing through a wave of nausea as I half groan, half yell into the speaker. “What? What could be so damn important that you’re calling me before the sun is up?”

The line goes quiet for a second. “Ms. McKellan?”

“Yeah.”

“This is Lyla from Bloomfield General Hospital.”

I groan, recognizing the name of the hospital where my sister works and roll over, pulling the blankets over my head. “Tell Piper it’s an abuse of power to have you give me a wake-up call.” Doctors… am I right? No matter how much Piper tries to be like an average person, she can’t. She’s still my overbearing sister who has someone give me wake-up calls when she’s too busy.

“Umm…You’re sister, Dr. McKellan…”

Her voice trembles, and I sit up in the bed, headache forgotten. “My sister didn’t ask you to give me a message, did she?”

“No, ma’am. I’m calling on behalf of Dr. Cox.”

I roll around the name in my head, searching for any memories of Piper talking about a Dr. Cox, and come up empty. “What’s wrong? Where’s my sister? She’snotdead.” I say the last bit like I can will it to be true. I can’t relive this again. Not without my sister here to console me, like when our parents died.

“No, ma’am. Your sister is alive.”

I blow out a breath. “Good. That means I’m gonna kick her ass as soon as I get off the phone with you.” How dare Piper have this woman call and upset me for nothing.

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