Page 69 of Secrets in the Deep
Ryan: Me too.
Emily: So not just me then?
Ryan: Not just you.
“Are you messaging Emi?”
Ryan looked up to see Polly had returned to the counter while his sister stared at him, a grin on her face.
He locked his phone. “Yeah.”
“Tell me about her.” Nora wrapped her hands around her mug and leaned forward like she was waiting for a big story.
“There’s not much to tell.”
She scoffed. “Oh yes, the greatest love of your life returns after a five-year absence, I walk into your home to find her in your sweater, and there’snot much to tell. That’s credible.”
“I am not talking about my sex life with you.”
“Why not? I’ll tell you about mine. There’s been no one for just over twelve months, and I’ve felt every second of those months. It’s very disappointing.”
“Nora.”
“What? Open communication is important. And as your sister, it’s my duty to make sure you’re not setting yourself up for another heartbreak.”
“I am.” Fuck, his heart was going to break so hard.
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because her life isn’t here.”
“Fuck that.”
“Nora—”
“She’s anactress, Ryan, not a foreign service operative relocating to a different country. She goes and does a job for a few months, then comes home. That home could be here.”
“She hasn’t said she wants that. Maybe this town is too small for her.”
“Maybe you should lethertell you that before you assume.” She leaned forward. “Don’t be an idiot and decide for heragain. This time isn’t like last. She wouldn’t be giving up any roles to wait for you to get home from a mission.”
He swallowed, lifting his coffee but not drinking any before setting it down again. “It was one night.”
“It was thefirstnight.” Nora looked at him with a familiar “I know best” expression that only she could pull off. “Come on, Ryan. When have you ever been someone who doesn’t fight for what he wants?”
“I don’t want her to make any sacrifices for me.”
“Wrong answer.”
“What?”
“Wrong answer. You shouldwanther to do whatever the hellshedecides. Because it’s her life.”
He leaned back in his seat. “You tell your students that their decisions are wrong too?”
“No. I gently guide them toward the realization on their own. But you’re my brother, so you get tough love.”
He shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face because…shit. He’d missed her.
