I helped Bram carry food from the kitchen.
He seemed distracted.
“You okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Just tired.”
“You barely slept.”
“Neither did you.”
I smiled weakly.
“I’m fine.”
He looked at me for a moment.
Then he said, “If you need anything, tell me.”
There was something strange in his voice.
I almost asked him what he meant.
But someone called his name from the garden.
He turned away.
I picked up the serving dish.
And walked outside.
Music was playing.
People were laughing.
My father was arguing with one of my cousins about football.
My mother was talking to an aunt near the patio.
Children were running between the tables
Not normal laughter.
Nervous laughter.
The kind people make when something has happened that nobody knows how to respond to.
Then silence.
I stepped through the back door.
And stopped.
My sister was kissing my husband.
Not almost kissing.
Not accidentally kissing.
Kissing.
In her own garden.
In front of thirty people.
In front of our mother.In front of her husband.
Callan saw me.
His entire body changed.
He pulled away so quickly that Sasha stumbled backward.
“Bryony—”
I couldn’t hear anything after that.
My hands were shaking.
I was still holding the dish.
Sasha looked at me.
And smiled.
“It was a dare.”
Nobody moved.
She stepped closer.
“Sorry, sis.”
Then she shrugged.
“He kisses better than Bram.”
Someone gasped.
My mother whispered, “Sasha.”
Bram stood perfectly still.
I looked at Callan.
He was white.
“Bryony, please.”
I couldn’t speak.
Sasha reached for the serving dish.
“Give me that before you drop it.”
She took it from my hands.
“It’s a joke.”
She placed it on the table.
Thirty people.
Nobody spoke.
Then I heard a strange sound behind me.
A laugh.
One short laugh.
Empty.
I turned.
Bram was standing there.
He wasn’t looking at Sasha.
He was looking at Callan.
And then Bram said something that made my stomach drop.
“Actually…”
He reached underneath the table.
“I’ve got a present for you.”
PART 2 — THE PRESENT
The gift bag had been under the table since eleven that morning.
I found that out later.
At the time, all I knew was that Bram was holding a small black bag in one hand and looking at Sasha like he’d finally stopped tryinSasha stared at him.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
