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“I don’t think we’ve ever had a guest save our skin like that,” the manager said. “And we were already in disaster mode with the restaurant manager gone.”

The manager was definitely stressed. Beyond stressed. “This is not what I was supposed to be doing,” she said, almost to herself. She looked up at us, her cheeks going pink. “I’m sorry, there’ve been a lot of changes here recently. We’ve got all new staff, including myself. And this reno has been an unmitigated disaster.”

She waved at a passing server. “Please bring these two a bottle of the DuMaurnier Pinot Noir,” she said.

“Well, thank you again,” she said, clasping her hands. “The only thing that could have turned everything around is if one of you told me you were a singer,” she joked.

Neither Reese nor I laughed. We just looked at each other.

“You’re not, are you? Oh god, please tell me you are. Our entertainment quit on us tonight too, on top of everything.”

That must have been what she was dashing across the restaurant to deal with earlier.

Before I thought too hard about it, I said, “Actually, Reese has a gorgeous voice.”

Reese’s eyeballs went wide.

“You do,” I said.

“Well,” the manager laughed. Then she went serious. “If that’s true, please let me know. The dinner guests are expecting music at nine. It’s a paying gig, of course.”

After she told us she’d be at the front desk if we could possibly help, Reese looked at me, her eyes brimming with anger. “I can’t believe you said that.”

“Why? It’s true, isn’t it? I know you keep your voice in shape. I’ve heard you.”

“Where?”

“In your room at Mom and Dad’s. In the kitchen at my place with the girls when you thought I couldn’t hear.”

“You were eavesdropping?”

I ignored that. “Is it a lie?”

She pinched her lips. Then she grabbed her cocktail and tossed it down her throat. The server came just at that moment with our food, along with the bottle of wine. He offered to let us taste it but I shook my head and he nodded, deftly pouring two glasses and slipping away.

Reese ignored the food, grabbing her glass of wine and taking a giant gulp of that, too.

Somehow, this was what made me flip to anger. Not toward Reese, but to Eli.

To Will.

“Reese, remember how we said we weren’t going to let our reaction to these men dictate how we live our lives? That we wouldn’t let our past control our future? Whatever Simon did to you—whatever Eli did to you—you’re still you. You’re still my beautiful big sister with the gorgeous voice. There’s still time for you to take back what you always wanted”

I took my own sip of wine. Then another.

She stared at me, her hands flat on the table. Her eyes flickered to the stage. Was she actually considering this?

I ran with it. Her challenging her own terror would be everything. For both of us.

“Listen,” I said. “Do you want your nieces to hear about how you let a man squash your dreams? Or do you want to show them you persevered? You took your life by the horns even when you felt like you wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out again?”

I could feel the effects of the wine loosening me up, emboldening me. “Since when do you give the big sister pep talks?” She said, swigging her wine once more.

I ignored her. “Do you know what I found when I pulled this dress out of that old box?”

I didn’t wait for her to answer.

“I found that restaurant notebook I used to carry around with me. I opened it up for the first time in years, and when I did, I felt…” My voice cracked. “Like a failure. I had a dream once and I never saw it through. When my life went absolutely sideways, after I lost the one man I’d ever…”