Page 15 of Always a Chance
“And you did?”
“Of course. She deserves to know. Gigi might never be fully independent, her brain will never fully heal, but she’s not a child. We have to remember that. If she wants me to tell her something, I will.”
I nodded, feeling properly chastised. He was right. I did treat Gianna like a child because that was the easiest way to protect her. “So… the manatee?”
His lips curved. “She told me a few months ago she’d decided to forgive it.”
I laughed. Forgave a manatee. “Did she say why?”
He looked down at his feet and kicked a toe against the ground. “If she can forgive herself and the manatee for the accident, she said, then maybe everyone else could forgive themselves too.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, how to respond. My sister saw more than I thought. But it wasn’t the same. She may have walked into that water, but I didn’t get to her. And Johnny… he was the reason why. I knew it wasn’t fair to either of us, but I couldn’t stop feeling like if we’d only stayed with everyone else, we’d have noticed the younger teens out in the water.
I’d have noticed her.
Johnny only hesitated a moment more before heading toward the door and pulling it open. “Come on. Let’s go celebrate Gigi’s birthday. Then, you don’t have to see me again before you leave. I promise.”
Did I imagine the sorrow in his voice? Why did the thought of not seeing him suddenly open a pit in my stomach? For so long, we didn’t go a single day without being together. His mom used to joke that we were separated at birth.
Yet, I’d stopped having brotherly feelings for him when I was sixteen years old.
When we rejoined my family, Gianna acted like we hadn’t missed a thing. The waiter arrived, and we ordered our too-expensive food. I sipped my wine like it was the only thing giving me life.
But that was wrong. Gianna was here too. She gestured wildly as she talked and talked, hardly stopping to draw in a breath. She made up stories about the other diners in the restaurant. An old man was celebrating his son’s election to congress. A woman out with her girlfriends to cheer her new divorce and the fact she’d gotten the house.
A family who saw eating at the club as their normal dining, nothing fancy or out of the ordinary about it. To them, this restaurant was what the diner was to us.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so hard. It stopped mattering for one night that my father still hardly looked at me, that Johnny planned to avoid seeing me after tonight. Planned because he wouldn’t succeed. Not if I was to get this interview.
Our food arrived, and I’d never had such a delicious steak. “Okay, this is worth every bit of Dad’s money.” Gianna gave him a cheeky grin. “Tali, does your boyfriend take you to restaurants like this?”
It felt like the air suddenly left the room. The last time Gianna and I talked on the phone, I’d told her about Barrett again. Normally, she struggled to remember anything about my new life. I busied myself chewing a piece of filet.
When I looked up, only Gianna seemed to notice I hadn’t answered. Johnny continued to eat, a nonchalant smile on his lips.
Dad looked like he hadn’t heard at all.
I cleared my throat, trying to find my words. “Um, no. We’re not together anymore. Now, I mostly cook for myself.” I wasn’t sure why I said it, why I lied. Sure, Barrett and I weren’t exclusive, and we knew it wasn’t going anywhere, but that wasn’t what I’d said, and now it was too late to take it back.
“You always made the best egg rolls.” Johnny stuffed his fork in his mouth, still not looking at me.
“She did?” Gianna asked. They’d been her favorite, so I learned to make them soon after Mom left. So much had been out of my control. It was the one thing I could do for my sister.
“Yes, I—” Something wasn’t right.
Gianna’s fork fell from her fingertips, clattering to her plate. Her arm jerked uncontrollably and no more words came from her lips. The glassy eyes, the tell I’d noticed, remained.
Dad jumped to his feet. “Talia, move her plate.” He kicked his chair out of the way and lifted Gianna out of her wheelchair with almost no effort. She was small, but it was almost like he’d done this often before.
Johnny pushed past me to get to my dad and cleared more chairs out of the way while I stood frozen.
Dad laid her on the ground, rolling her to her side.
“What can I do?” I asked, needing to help her as her body jerked. “Do I need to call the squad?”
“No.” Johnny crouched down next to her and pulled out his phone. “I have the timer on, Oscar.”
Other diners moved in to get a better look at the commotion. This wasn’t right. “I have to call 9-1-1.”
