Page 72 of Not On Your Life

“Oh.” The news hits me as a relief, but I still feel keyed up. He hurt my sister. “But he cheated on you. You can’t let him get away with that.”

“I’m not.” She picks up Sean and Gus and cuddles them into her chest. “Which is why I ended things.”

As happy as I am that my sister won’t be married to a piece of trash, I’m not sure how she can so quickly accept this. She was in love with him.

I step toward her. “Millie, I know I don’t do the whole feelings thing with you but, are you okay?”

“No.” She sinks into the couch. “But looking back now, I can see the signs.”

I’ve seen my sister go through a couple of breakups, but never has she taken it this well. I still feel fired up, ready to seek revenge on her behalf, but she only seems…tired.

She sniffs, and I notice her absently rubbing her ring finger. “I’ll be okay.”

That’s all I need to hear. For now.

“Well, what do you need?” I kick my shoes off by the couch. “Cookie dough therapy?”

“We’re out.” She says, picking up an empty tub beside her.

“Okay, um, ice cream, Oreos, a chick flick?”

She purses her lips. “All of the above.”

“Done.”

I gather the supplies and join her on the couch as the opening scenes of a particular chick flick plays. One I very much hate. But I can suffer through it for her. Heck, I’ll watch ten more if it means Justin is out of her life forever.

We sit in silence for the next thirty minutes. Every time she sniffs or makes a noise, I peek at her from the corner of my eye to make sure she’s really okay.

“Hey, Connor?” Millie says after she’s inhaled a bowl of ice cream and three Oreos.

“Yeah?”

“How many more years do we have left on the mortgage?”

“Um.” That wasn’t a question I was expecting from her. “Twenty-five.” That is,ifwe can even make the payments.

She’s quiet for a moment. “I think we should sell the house.”

My head swings in her direction so fast I almost get whiplash. “You do?” The last time I brought this up, she burst into tears and made me get a pedicure. Why now? Especially after tonight? “Millie, it’s been a long day. We can talk about this later.” I’m still trying to process everything that happened with Maddie. I won’t hold Millie accountable for the things she says while upset.

“No.” She shakes her head slowly, her eyes following the scene on the screen. “I think I’ve held onto the house so long because it felt like the only way to hold on to Mom and Dad. But I think it’s time to move on. They’d want us to.”

“Millie, this is not something we need to talk about tonight.”

She continues like she doesn’t hear me. “There should be a family in this house, with kids to enjoy the swimming pool and make memories like we did.”

A sudden daydream of Maddie afflicts my thoughts. What would it be like to share this house with Maddie and fill it with those babies her mom was talking about?

“But you’ve been so against selling it. Why now?”

She pauses the show and studies me. “You’ve been stressed ever since mom and dad died. I thought that was just the new you trying to cope. But I didn’t realize you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.” She’s crying again.

If she doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to start.

“I’m so sorry it took me so long to realize. You deserve to start fresh, in your own course, without the worries from the past holding you down.”

“But you love the house.” I can’t believe she would do this for me. Perhaps she isn’t as obnoxious as I thought. The back of my eyes sting. Dang it, I’m even going to miss her stupid dogs.