“Are you kidding me?” Fresh tears appeared in Claire’s eyes. She moved closer to Mike and placed her hands on his chest. “You sat with me. You gave me money. You listened to me cry. I thought… Did all of that mean nothing to you?”
“Whoa!” Mike backed away as though her hands were on fire. “I thought you needed help. That’s it.”
Claire’s face crumpled. Then she turned on me.
“Did all of that mean nothing to you?”
“I suppose this makes you happy? To see me fail. To walk away with everything, just like you always do.”
And that’s when I realized exactly who had left that note in the Easter egg, and why.
“You left that note telling me to check Mike’s car. You knew I’d come here, that I’d see you together. You thought he’d choose you over me.”
Mike glanced between us. “What?”
Claire’s lip curled into an angry sneer.
I realized exactly who had left that note in the egg, and why.
“You always thought you were better than me. Everyone else did, too. You were always Miss. Perfect, and I was just the troubled sister, always making mistakes, always in the wrong.”
“I never wanted it to be like that, Claire. I tried to be close to you, but you pushed me away every time.”
She smiled coldly. “And you just proved my point. Any time you can blame me, you will.”
She turned on her heel and started walking away. Part of me wanted to stop her, but we were long past the point where our relationship could be mended.
I turned to Mike.
“You pushed me away every time.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You’d mentioned you didn’t have a good relationship with Claire, but I never realized she was… like that.”
I searched his face, looking for something slippery. Some sign that he was only sorry he got caught.
I didn’t find it.
He looked sick with it.
And I believed him.
I could still feel the adrenaline buzzing in my hands. My knees felt weak. I wanted to scream at him, hit him, collapse into him, and leave him all at the same time.
I believed him.
“She told me she had no money for food or rent,” he said, “I took her groceries. She showed me the account details. I knew what she was saying didn’t sound like you, but… ” he let out a heavy sigh. “I really thought I was helping someone in need.”
I looked at the path where Claire had vanished. “I know. She’s very convincing. But you should’ve spoken to me.”
“I know. I was going to. I just didn’t know how.”
There wasn’t much else to say to that.
The anger was still there, but it had changed shape. It wasn’t a roaring fire anymore. It was heavier. Sadder. Something we’d have to drag home with us and sort through piece by piece.
“She’s very convincing.”
He glanced at me. “Are you okay?”
I almost laughed at the absurdity of the question.
No, I wasn’t okay. My son had brought me an Easter egg with a warning in it. My husband had secretly been meeting my sister. My sister had tried to blow up my marriage because she thought I was the source of all her problems.
But now that the whirlwind of drama my sister brought into our lives had passed, normal life was waiting.
And for the first time since that cracked purple egg landed in my hand, normal life didn’t feel small.
It felt like a rescue.
She thought I was the source of all her problems.
