The Sister’s Secrets: Reen

Rose laughed.

Reen scribbled her name and moved to the side, tapping the edge of the pen against the paper. She had no intention of chatting with this girl all day. All she wanted was to see Mom and gather her thoughts about the diagnosis. Reen clasped her hands, rubbing them together as she fought a chill. Memories from her youth flooded her mind, and she could barely stop her hands from trembling.

‘I’m sure by the end of the summer you’ll be close again,’ Rose went on.

‘Doubt it,’ Cassandra said.

Rose waved at the girl and then led Reen to a set of double doors at the back of the lobby.

‘Do you want to write down the code?’ Rose asked.

Reen narrowed her eyes. ‘No thanks.’

Rose opened the door. ‘After you.’

Reen walked through, cautiously taking one step at a time as she didn’t know the way to Mom’s room. Rose took the lead. Was this her way of showing how superior she was to Reen? Reen wouldn’t put it past her.

‘Over here,’ Rose said, gesturing toward one of the doors.

Rose entered the room, disappearing inside. Hesitating by the door, Reen craned her neck to look down the hallway, delaying the inevitable.

‘Reen,’ Rose called from inside.

Reen gritted her teeth and stepped through.

From the open windows, a cool breeze filtered through the room. Even though it was incredibly hot out for late afternoon, the familiar scent from the ocean tickled her nose. In the distance, waves crashed over the sand, beckoning her to jump into their comforting embrace. The water wasn’t in the backyard, as it had been at home, but it was closer than Reen had experienced in her time away from The Burrow.

A half-closed cream-colored curtain separated the two beds, forcing Reen forward to see her mother after all these years. Each footstep matched the slow pound of her heartbeat in her chest.

Reen’s eyes fell to the dresser. There were several picture frames from their home, including one she hadn’t seen in years. For one Mother’s Day, Reen had glued several types of shells from the beach onto a cheap frame. She recalled how Mom had lit up at the gift.

‘It’s the one you made,’ Rose said.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Reen kept her hands by her sides. One of the shells was missing, and she wondered if Rose had saved it or thrown it away. Reen wanted to look in the drawers to find it, buying herself a little more time.

‘Pearl,’ Rose said, and Reen stiffened. ‘You have a visitor today.’

Reen steeled herself and turned, facing the one person she hadn’t intended seeing ever again. At least not here. Before Mom’s diagnosis, Reen had visions of her mother popping up in random locations at each new place she visited. At a local diner or Reen’s apartment. She imagined Mom showing up at one of her jobs and begging her youngest daughter to come back home. Or at least opening communication between them again. But none of those dreams were real. They were only in Reen’s mind. She hadn’t thought of them in some time. A heaviness settled in her chest.

The sleeping woman lying on the bed wasn’t who Reen expected. It appeared as if a lifetime had passed since she’d seen Mom last. The long brown locks of hair, which Reen had braided as a child, had turned stiff and gray. Her face was more serene than ever, but she’d aged so much in the time since Reen had lived in The Burrow. It didn’t seem possible, but the proof lay in front of her.

‘Mom?’ The word fell from Reen’s lips. Even though she knew she’d said it aloud, Mom didn’t move.

‘The doctor says she’s been sleeping a lot. I try to come when she’s awake, but that’s not always predictable,’ Rose said.

‘What happened to her?’ Reen asked. ‘I thought she had dementia or whatever. This – she looks horrible.’

‘Nice,’ Rose said, rolling her eyes. ‘She can hear you, even if she’s asleep.’

‘What do you want me to say, Rose?’ Reen lowered her voice. ‘You didn’t preface this properly.’

‘I told you she wasn’t doing well. Did you need a photograph? If you asked questions or visited more often—’

‘Don’t do this,’ Reen said, pushing away from the bed. It jostled under her touch. She froze, staring at her mother. But the woman on the bed didn’t move a muscle. ‘Don’t guilt me about not visiting. Just because she’s like this, it doesn’t forgive everything.’

‘Doesn’t it?’ Rose said. ‘She tried to contact you. She wanted to apologize. You made that difficult for all of us. By the time you reached out, it was too late. She wasn’t herself anymore.’

Reen drew in heavy breaths through her nose. The room tilted slightly, and the scents of the ocean and cleaning products filled her head, making her dizzy. ‘I can’t do this.’ She fled the room, barely hearing her sister’s voice calling for her.

Rose caught up with Reen before she reached her car. Reen recalled memories of Rose charging from base to base during the softball games Mom and Dad dragged Reen to as a child. Her sister was still as quick.

‘I know it’s hard. It’s not easy for me either,’ Rose said, barely out of breath.

She hated that she allowed Rose to continue the conversation she didn’t want to have.

‘I don’t want to talk about this,’ Reen said, rubbing her temples. Searing pain radiated from her head. She wasn’t sure if it was the scent of the seawater or the inevitability of a fight with Rose. She regretted coming back.

‘I don’t want you to leave,’ Rose said, grabbing her keys from her bag. She fumbled with the ring, plucking one out of the bunch. ‘Here. Take my apartment for the night.’

Reen gritted her teeth. ‘I was going to stay in one of the inns.’

‘You don’t have to. I’ll stay with Shane tonight,’ Rose said. ‘You’ll have my place to yourself. I don’t want you to pay for a hotel. You can stay as long as you want.’

‘I have to go,’ Reen said, even though she didn’t. The longer she stayed, the more her memories surfaced, and the familiar pull of her home became stronger. Those tendrils wrapped around her limbs and started to not-so-gently pull her back.

Rose sighed and shook her head. ‘Dinner still stands for tonight. But no pressure. Let me know if you change your mind.’

She wouldn’t.

‘I know it’s a lot to handle,’ Rose said.

Reen wanted to get Rose off her back, so she took the key from her sister. ‘What’s the address?’

Rose told her.

‘I’ll leave the key in the mailbox or something. I’ll let you know.’

Rose nodded. ‘It was good to see you.’ She reached out a hand as if she were going to touch her but thought better of it.

‘You too,’ Reen said. Her throat was thick. She got into her rental car and tossed Rose’s apartment key into the cup holder. She pulled out of the spot, toward the exit. Checking her rearview mirror, she spotted Rose going back inside The Cottage. To do what? Stare at Mom?

Reen shook her head as a chill rolled down her spine. Rose was a glutton for punishment.

The clock read after five-thirty. She needed a place to hide. Like hell was she going back to Rose’s apartment until she had to. Being in The Burrow at all was a reminder of her past. She’d delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

CHAPTER THREE

Ever since Reen had turned legal age, in all the places she went to, she always checked out the bar scene. When people lost their inhibitions, even just a little bit, she got to the meat of a town. Reen could find out more in one night in a bar than from any tour guide. Unless a tour guide frequented a local bar, then she’d hit gold.

She wasn’t looking for information, but a place to hide. Somewhere she knew Rose wouldn’t find her. There weren’t a lot of places to get a beer in The Burrow. Both The Siren restaurant and Burrow’s Brews offered what the legal-aged townies needed. But Reen wasn’t going anywhere near The Siren. Even though she’d left town, she hadn’t been immune to the draw of social media. She’d checked into the guy she’d left in her wake several times during her absence.

Brody Moore’s family owned The Siren. From what Rose told her, Brody’s older sister, Missy, owned it now while Brody still worked there. She wasn’t about to run into her high school boyfriend on the first day she arrived in town.

Brody had been on Reen’s mind a lot since Rose called her. He was a townie through and through, and she had a feeling she’d run into him eventually. She hadn’t looked deep enough into his profiles to see if he was married or had any kids, but from the rotating pictures of him and other girls on his Instagram, she had a feeling he was still testing the waters of dating.

Her only other choice for drinks was Burrow’s Brews. She knew the location but had never stepped inside before. From what she knew, it was a dingy place for the sleazeballs in town. Tucked into a row of houses, no tourist would know about it unless they crashed into one of the drunks stumbling out of the building in the wee hours of the morning.

At least that was what Dad had always said. Maybe he was trying to keep his girls from checking the place out. For most of her youth, Reen had only had eyes for Brody, so she’d always ended up at the family-friendly Siren instead, where he had worked busing tables.

Reen parked further down the street. As she reached the sidewalk, she tucked her hair around her ears, glancing around. This part of town didn’t get much foot traffic other than those who lived in the houses and apartments surrounding the bar. She knew, with her shorter hair, some might not recognize her right away, but it was only a matter of time before someone spotted her. Then, the town rumor mill would begin, and she wouldn’t be able to go anywhere unnoticed.

The wooden sign above the door creaked as she approached. It was as if someone was either welcoming or warning her. She pushed through the door. A blast of warm air burst at her from inside. On one end of the room, wooden barstools were lined up along the counter. The four men clumped at the end of the bar stared at the television tucked in the corner above the rows of liquor. One of them noticed her and then the rest followed. Three of them were overweight, sitting close together, with one thinner one squished in between. The one closest to her moved his mop of hair from his face and narrowed his eyes several times before turning back to his drink.

Two appeared to be in their forties. Reen recognized them but couldn’t put a name to their faces. She’d spent so much time stuffing this place into the depths of her memory she’d forgotten a lot of the smaller details. At least that was a shining light of positivity.

The soccer game on the television blasted, filling the room as if someone expected this place to get busier soon. She glanced at the rest of the room, with tables and chairs scattered around the space as if the last people to leave had done so in a hurry. A crooked dart board was pegged to the back wall.

‘Over here,’ the guy sitting on the end said, patting the stool next to him.

‘I like this one,’ she said, taking an empty chair on the opposite side. His friend laughed and punched him in the arm.

Reen allowed her hair to fall across her face, blocking out the men. She eyed the small bowl of pretzels and nuts and wondered how long it had been there. The men returned to their game, yet she sensed they weren’t going to leave her alone forever.

She glared at the counter, careful not to make eye contact with the guys. Where was the bartender?

The guys had drinks, but she hadn’t seen anyone else in the room.

She pulled her phone from her bag and checked through the messages. There was another one from Jeremy, and she wished he’d leave her alone. How had he survived before she started working there?

Even though Rose had already told her the address, there was a text, reminding her of it. Reen closed the app, before placing her phone facedown on the bar.

Reen didn’t want to remind herself about Mom. When she was out of this place, she always thought of Mom as the younger version that she’d left behind, frozen in time as the woman who shut down and abandoned her daughters when they needed her most. The familiar swirling ache in her gut returned. The men cheered about someone making a goal, and the sound snapped her back to the present.

A blond guy strode behind the bar, and it took Reen a second to recognize him. When she did, the sounds in the room sharpened. Her breathing was loud in her ears.

Brody’s hair was much shorter than she remembered. He’d buzzed it close to his head, making his blue eyes pop even more. In the years since she’d seen him last, he’d lost the childlike roundness of his face, and the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones were more pronounced. When his eyes met hers, she froze. Her heart raced, and she didn’t realize until the sharp pain bit at her palm that her fists were clenched so tight her nails dug into the skin. She tried as hard as she could to keep a passive expression. Freaking out at seeing her high school boyfriend, the guy she’d abandoned, wasn’t going to make it any easier.

‘What can I get—?’ Brody’s words cut off. His head cocked to the side, and his eyes danced over her face. ‘Reen?’

She forced a shaky smile. ‘Hey, Brody.’ A surge of warmth coursed through her. ‘It’s good to see you.’

‘Wow, um. You look different,’ Brody said. ‘Good, different.’

‘Thanks. I think?’

He shook his head and laughed, a sound from her past. She smiled.

‘I didn’t expect…’ He shook his head. ‘What can I get you?’ He opened his hands in front of him.

She glanced at the beer taps. The draft options were unfamiliar to her. ‘What do you suggest?’

He gave her several choices, and she picked the lager from one of the newer breweries in the area. It was just like The Burrow to support other local businesses. Her hometown was so tightly knit and stuck in its ways. She wasn’t sure it would ever change. It stifled her, even years later.

Brody slid a glass in front of her and pressed his hands against the bar. For a moment, she thought he was going to reach over and hug her, but he kept his distance. He was much closer than before, close enough that Reen noted the several-day-old stubble on his cheeks. When she’d known him, his skin had been smooth.

‘You in town to visit Rose?’

‘Mom,’ she said. ‘Rose said she wasn’t doing so good.’

He sighed. ‘Sorry to hear that.’ He rubbed the back of his neck.

She bit the inside of her cheek to hide her smile. His nervous tic gave him away.

‘She seemed okay when I visited today,’ Reen said, sipping from her glass. She predicted an awkward silence between them and filled it quickly. ‘You meet Rose’s new boyfriend?’

‘Shane? Of course. Patrick is retiring soon. You remember him?’

Reen snorted. Patrick McCreary, chief of police, was one person in town she’d never forget. He’d been a staple of her childhood, but not in a good way. If there was one person she didn’t want to run into, it was him.

‘Oh yeah,’ she said. ‘Chief McCreary doesn’t come here, does he?’

‘Not usually. But some of the others might come by after leaving their posts.’

As long as he stays away. She took another sip.

‘Speaking of leaving,’ Brody said, and Reen choked on her beer.

He stood up straight, crossing his arms. ‘I mean, it was going to come up sometime. Did you expect me to forget?’

Reen held up a finger, wiping her hand across her lips. ‘First of all, I had no idea you worked here. I avoided The Siren for that reason.’

‘Good to know,’ he said. His tone held a hint of an edge. ‘And secondly?’

She hadn’t planned to go that far, but since he asked. ‘I’m not here for a reunion. I came to see Mom, and then I’m out of here.’

Brody shook his head. ‘You were going to come back and not say anything to me?’ He scoffed. ‘I’m not sure why I expected you to change at all, Reen.’

She tried to take a minute to collect her thoughts by taking another sip of her beer, but her throat closed. She should have left the second she saw Brody. But, over the years, she’d thought about him more than she would ever admit.

‘Listen—’ The door opened, and a shriek of giggles came from the entrance to the bar.

Every single person in the room turned to the four girls, dressed for the club, not a local dive. Their dresses were too short, and their makeup overdone for an afternoon in The Burrow.

‘This is fer locals,’ one of the older men at the end of the bar slurred. His nose was red, and sweat poured out of his face, enough that it started to soak into the collar of his shirt.

Two of the others locked on the girls and Reen couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

‘Want me to cut you off, Jimmy?’ Brody asked with a smirk. He tossed a peanut from the bowl in front of Reen toward the guy.

Jimmy shook his head quick enough that a few droplets of sweat dripped onto the counter. The others around him didn’t seem to notice.

Reen wanted to turn away. She knew she should have. But one brunette wavy-haired girl broke off from her friends and strode over to Brody. Her friends grabbed a seat in the corner of the room, their eyes glued to their phones.

Brody met the girl at the other side of the bar. She tucked herself against him and leaned her head back, smiling up at him.

Gritting her teeth, Reen turned away from Brody and the girl, but her ears remained perked up; for some reason she wanted to hear their conversation. Somewhere, deep inside of her, she had to know for sure if Brody was serious about this girl.

‘We’ll have rosé,’ the girl said to him.

‘It’s on me,’ said one of the guys. Reen could almost hear his wink.

She giggled, and Reen had the urge to gag. The beer rumbled around her stomach. More than anything, she wanted to flee. But she wasn’t about to show Brody how much he affected her. Sure, he was still upset she’d left. She didn’t blame him. But leaving again would only prove to him what he already thought. She fought against her instincts and settled into her chair. Letting go of a breath, she turned in her seat, lifted her empty glass and wiggled it in front of her. If anything, to separate the lovebirds at the end of the bar.

Brody glanced at her and gave her a curt nod before kissing the girl on the cheek. He turned his eyes to Reen, locking into them. She didn’t budge. He wouldn’t know how much he affected her. Seeing him brought back memories, but they both had their own lives now.

She wasn’t sure how long he’d last with some tourist girl, but it wasn’t her problem anymore.

CHAPTER FOUR

A rough fabric raked against Reen’s cheeks as she pried her eyelids apart. They stuck together again. Shit. She hadn’t taken her mascara off the night before. She hoped they would pull apart on their own. The room was entirely too bright, and she squeezed her eyes closed, just as the night before crashed over her.

Her futile attempt to roll over was a mistake. Her stomach tightened, and she curled into a ball. More rough fabric against her skin pricked at every inch of her body. A loud yawn filled her ears, and she jolted, the movement sending another wave of nausea through her stomach, clawing its way up her throat. She’d had way too much to drink last night.

She wanted to know who’d yawned. Sitting up as best she could, she surveyed the rest of the room. Even though she had Rose’s key in her bag, she knew without a doubt that she wasn’t in Rose’s apartment.

A flash of the group of guys surrounding her at the Brews came back full force. They’d bought her drink after drink. How could she have been so stupid? She wasn’t an amateur, but she had been last night.

As she drew in several breaths to calm her pounding heart, the details of the room sharpened. The sheets were navy, and the plaid comforter sat in a heap at the edge of the bed. Across the way was a small kitchen; only a refrigerator, sink, stove, and a compact countertop hugged the corner of the room. Not far from the edge of the bed was a brown leather sofa and a flat-screen television mounted on the wall.

A studio apartment, belonging to one of the guys from the bar. She sifted through the dark memories in her head, but she came up empty. How did she get there and with whom? Through the window, Reen recognized the street. She was in an apartment above the bar. The familiar view outside Burrow’s Brews mocked her. At least her commute hadn’t been long. Maybe that was a selling point for her when she had been an idiotic drunken mess.

She darted to the side of the bed and slowly – painfully – swung her legs until they dangled off the edge. Her shirt clung to her body, but her crumpled jeans were on the floor next to the bed. Her hand fell to her stomach, and she winced, wondering if she’d drunkenly agreed to a one-night stand. The thought brought another wave of sickness through her, and she bounded to the other side the room to the door across the way. She prayed it was a bathroom.

The knob moved further away from her reaching hand. Before she could blink, she smacked into a hard and naked chest. A towel covered his face as he rubbed it against his hair.

‘Whoa,’ the guy said as Reen shoved him out of the way. She only had eyes for the toilet. She fell to the floor, her knees smacking against the cool tile. There wasn’t much in her stomach, but it squeezed the life out of her.

A cold cloth appeared on her neck, and she mumbled a thank you to the stranger. When she finished, she glanced over her shoulder. He was gone. Unwilling to soil this guy’s apartment any more than she already had, she wiped her hand across her mouth and went to the sink to wash up. Even though her insides were empty the room still moved on its own.

‘Here,’ Brody said.

Reen glanced at him through the mirror and then whipped around.

No, no, no. How did she end up at Brody’s place? She tried to remember anything from the night before, but she came up blank. Her stomach lurched again, but with a painful swallow, she managed to keep everything down.

He stood there, in a towel, holding a glass of water. ‘Drink this. I tried to get some water in you last night, but you didn’t want any. You smacked my hand and spilled it everywhere.’ He nodded his head toward a pile of sheets on top of a wicker hamper.

She took the glass from him and stared into it, unable to meet his eyes. Relief and embarrassment flooded her. ‘What happened?’

‘You wouldn’t tell me where you were staying.’ He smirked as if recalling a particularly amusing moment. ‘So, I brought you here.’

She forced the water down her throat. ‘We didn’t…?’

His eyebrows knitted. ‘Sleep together?’

She winced again. The light coming into the room overwhelmed her more than before. Or maybe it was her straining not to look at his chest. The last time she’d seen it, there hadn’t been much definition. Unlike now. There weren’t any gyms nearby, at least as far as she knew. Those muscles were all homemade from some activity around town. ‘So, we didn’t…?’

Brody smiled. A hint of amusement danced in his eyes. ‘I slept on the couch.’

A breath whooshed out of her.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I’m going to make you some toast and get some aspirin into you. It will help.’

She followed him like a lost puppy across the space. This time, when she looked around, she saw each inch of the apartment as Brody’s instead of a stranger’s. She should have known he’d come to her rescue. The room was simplistic without many decorations or adornments. The wall behind the bed was exposed brick, giving the room a little rustic appeal. She never imagined a place like this above the bar.

Brody had always been a clean and neat kind of guy, but this place was almost sterile. Maybe he’d just moved in?

‘How long have you lived here?’ she asked, unable to help herself.

He pulled a toaster from inside one of the lower cabinets of the kitchen. ‘Three years, give or take.’

So, not new. ‘It’s nice.’

‘I’m not here much. Between shifts at The Siren and downstairs, I only sleep here.’