Page 74 of Breadwinner

Kelly echoed the retort that had been a fixture of their childhood, something their mother had always said when one of the seven Gallagher kids asked a question that, in her eyes, was particularly stupid.

She led Kelly into the kitchen, where she slid easily onto one of the stools. The kitchen was still warm from the earlier buzz of the day, and still smelled faintly of cinnamon. Sarah leaned on the island across from Kelly, slowly bringing her glass to her lips and giving her a quizzical look that had always been effective at extracting information from people.

“I thought your research trip wasn’t over until March,” Sarah said, squinting suspiciously.

Kelly made a smug face—one Sarah remembered from their childhood. The same one Kelly would make when she got away with something she shouldn’t have.

Sarah cocked a brow. “What did you do?”

Kelly took a sip of bourbon, letting the silence stretch. “Okay, so maybe this one was my fault.” She raised her hands gingerly. “I got a little, uh... caught up.”

“Caught up,” Sarah echoed. “You mean like sleeping with someone on your boat again?”

Kelly winced. “Ehh, it’s a little worse. This time, it was two someones.”

Sarah let her head thunk lightly against the countertop. “Jesus, Kel.”

“It wasn’t on purpose! I thought we were all on the same page about things not being exclusive. It’s not my fault women are drawn to my energy—I don’t even try—but things got complicated and weird, and I needed some time off anyway.”

Sarah huffed out a laugh despite herself. “Fuck, Kel. You’ve been a chaos tornado since birth. I honestly thought you might have grown out of it by now.”

“Never,” Kelly shot back, grinning.

Sarah gave her a mock glare. “God, we couldn’t be more different.” She laughed. “You’re such a free spirit, and I love that for you, but your life gives me anxiety. I like...”

“Control and stability?” Kelly filled in.

Sarah smiled into her cup. “Yes. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

Kelly leaned her elbows on the counter, her eyes softening. “I mean, no one’s really surprised by that, given everything. You didn’t get the easy version of our childhood.”

Something shifted in Sarah as she swirled the liquid in her glass, her voice low. “No. I didn’t, but I wouldn’t say your end was particularly easy either.”

They both knew what that meant without needing to explain it. Their father’s alcoholism. The shouting. The broken things. Sarah had spent her teenage years becoming invisible, quiet, and perfect simply to survive.

“To be honest, Sar,” Kelly said, hopping off the stool and walking to the fridge, “I don’t really remember him. Dad, I mean. I don’t feel like I had a father. He wasn’t really around when I was a kid, and when he did resurface, Mom made sure Ryan, Molly, and I were out of the house as much as possible. And then they got divorced, and I never saw him before he passed away,” she said simply, like it was nothing.

Sarah’s mind chewed on Kelly’s words. She’d spent years—countless hours and thousands of dollars of therapy—unpacking the box in her mind labeled “family shit,” and she still hadn’t quite learned how to get rid of that overwhelming feeling of rage that welled up every time she opened the lid a crack and had to confront the things she’d had to do to survive.

“Do you have any ham?” Kelly asked, the fridge door propped open, with food containers littered across the counter next to it.

“Ham?”

“Yeah. Like Christmas ham. I’m making us grilled ham and cheese.”

“Oh, no. I haven’t done ham for Christmas in years. The last time I did was when I burnt one trying to show off for Beth the first year we were dating.”

“Speaking of Beth, how is my ex-sister-in-law?” Kelly asked, as she haphazardly piled a plate with various leftovers, clearly having pivoted from her earlier impulse to make grilled cheese.

“You should know. Don’t you two talk all the time?”

“Haven’t been able to catch her in a while.”

“Beth’s good. She has a show coming up in February that has her a little stressed, but she’s good... sheandJamie are good.” Her voice fell a little flat at the mention of Jamie.

“Is this plate microwave safe?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah.”