Chapter 2

At the old house, they were all crowded around one table, talking and laughing.

The moment I stepped in with my bag, I felt like an outsider who'd shown up uninvited.

Violet had Jesse on her left and Mom on her right.

Jesse poured her a glass of corn smoothie, and Mom kept piling food onto her plate.

Violet tilted her chin up a little, her eyes bright and curved with a smile.

She talked fast, unable to hide how thrilled she was.

"Mom, Dad, you have no idea, big brother made me look so good today."

"He just parked the car at the school gate and it already turned everyone's heads."

Violet looked over at Jesse, her voice going soft.

"Big brother, before I leave to study abroad, will you come pick me up every day? Please?"

Jesse smiled, all indulgence, and ruffled her hair.

"Sure. Whatever you say."

It was only when they heard me changing my shoes that the whole family finally looked toward the door.

Jesse stood and came over to greet me.

He put an arm around me and asked quietly,

"What's wrong, honey? Are you feeling all right?"

Seeing my hair soaked through, he carefully dried it for me.

"Why didn't you use an umbrella?"

"An umbrella?"

"Didn't you two take it?"

A flicker of displeasure crossed Jesse's face and was gone just as quickly.

His breath went low, his voice held in check.

"Everyone's here. Don't put on that face."

"Whatever it is, we'll talk at home. Worst case, I'll just buy you a new one."

"Big brother, the food's getting cold, why aren't you coming over?"

Violet called out to Jesse loudly, cutting straight through our conversation.

Jesse took my arm and walked over with me.

I sat on Jesse's left, with nothing in front of me but a plate of vegetable salad.

The chestnut chicken, the noodle soup, the garlic chicken wings were all set right in front of Violet.

And even so, she didn't have to lift a hand.

"Big brother, I want more chicken wings."

Without a second's hesitation, Jesse put one in his own bowl and deboned it for her.

I set my chopsticks down.

They clicked against the rim of the bowl, a crisp little sound.

"Violet, he's your brother-in-law. Enough with the 'big brother.'"

"Jesse, I like chicken wings too. Why don't I ever see you fixing one for me?"

The second I finished, the air went dead quiet.

Mom spoke first, breaking the silence.

"Ahem. Yvonne, why fuss with your sister over this?"

"She's an unmarried young girl, what bad intentions could she have?"

It had always been like this.

Violet tore up my homework, smashed my ceramic jar, even crept in at night to cut my hair.

And every time, she would say,

"Your sister doesn't know any better. Don't you know better either?"

"What is there to fuss about with your own sister? You're the older one, you should give in to her more."

I held it in until I got married, and then Violet moved in with us too, saying the dorm was uncomfortable.

She was a grown woman. How could she not understand?

Jesse rubbed my back too, saying gently,

"Honey, let Violet call me whatever she wants. We're family anyway."

As he said it, he put the chicken wing in his hand into my bowl.

"Here, this one's for you first. I'll get the next one for Violet."

The fault clearly wasn't mine, yet all their reproachful eyes landed on me.

As if I were the one blowing this out of proportion, splitting hairs over nothing.

Whatever appetite I'd had for the chicken wing in my bowl was gone.

I stood up and said flatly,

"You all eat. I'm full."

Not one of them stopped me. They just bent their heads back to their chatter.

Walking toward the door, I caught a few of their comments about me.

Mom said,

"Just leave her be. Foul temper. Spoiled rotten by the family since she was little."

"Exactly. At home our big sister always threw her weight around. The second something didn't go her way, out came that face."

My mother-in-law laughed as she chimed in.

"Well, when you put it that way, Violet's the better one."

"If you were a little older, maybe you'd have been the one to marry Jesse."

"Such a sweet, well-behaved girl. I'm quite fond of her."

And Jesse, from start to finish, never said a single word for me.

I closed the door softly.

I pulled myself together and dialed the number I'd left untouched for so long.

"Fiona Lambert, can I, can I still come to you?"

"Good. Two days from now, I'll be there right on time."