In This Moment(66)

“Hey! She’s a pug and that’s how she’s supposed to look,” Sophie defends. Then her eyes zero in on the screen and I can almost hear the squeal before it even begins. “Who’s that? Is it Aimee?”

Aimee looks at me with surprised eyes. Did she think she was a secret or something?

“Yes,” I say turning the phone. “Sophie, this is Aimee. Aimee, this is my bratty little sister, Sophie.”

“Ohmigosh, it’s so nice to meet or, um, talk to you finally. I thought you might be a fake person or like a figment of his imagination because Cole never has a girlfriend, but here you are. You’re real and you’re so pretty.”

Aimee flushes pink. I wonder what she thinks of the “girlfriend” comment. She takes the phone out of my hand so that she can see my sister better. “Not as pretty as you. And your dog there is adorable. Don’t listen to what your brother says about her. I’ve always loved pugs and when I was your age, I begged my parents for a dog but my sister is allergic. I thought we should get a dog anyway and get rid of her.”

Sophie laughs and they talk some more about the dog. Then my sister changes the direction of the conversation. “So, Aimee… my brother has told me so much about you.”

Aimee’s eyebrows go to the top of her head. Her gaze slides over to me. “He has? All good stuff I hope.”

Sophie giggles. “Of course it’s good. Actually, it’s better than good. For the past few weeks, every time your name comes up he starts gush—”

“That’s enough!” I interject. It’s okay for Aimee to know that I’ve mentioned her to my little sister. She does not need the detailed play by play. Taking the phone back, I lean on my side. “So, how is he?”

Sophie knows that I mean our dad. She shrugs. “I guess he’s fine. We had dinner together Tuesday night. I made us tacos.”

“That’s progress at least. And what about everything else? Have you heard from her?” I wonder if Aimee understands that I’m asking my little sister about our mom.

My sister drops her head, shielding her eyes. “Yeah, she called the house last week and left a message.”

“She tried me a few weeks ago.”

Sophie looks directly at the camera. “Did you talk to her?”

I frown. “No.”

Sophie is quick to answer. “Me neither.”

“Sophie,” I say, brushing my hair out of my face. “You know that if you want to talk to her, you can.”

My little sister’s mouth is set in a grim line. She swallows hard. “If you’re not going to talk to her then neither am I.”

Shit. This conversation is getting a little intense considering the fact that Aimee is right next to me. I’ll deal with it later. “Fine. I want to hear how school is going.”

“Oh, it’s the usual. Aaron Miller is coming over in a little while so that we can finish up a project for our science lab.”

“The Miller kid, huh? Is he still giving you a hard time?”

I make it a point to be on top of my little sister’s social life. She’s got no mother around and a dad that’s basically checked out. I’m more than halfway across the country, but the least that I can do is play the big brother role when I can.

“Well…” Sophie pauses, looks up at the sky. She’s got straight blonde hair and a narrow nose like me, but that’s where the similarities end. Sophie inherited our mom’s dark brown eyes and olive complexion as well as her petite build. “Sort of.”

Something in her tone makes me sit up in the bed and bring the phone closer to my face. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Sophie is playing with the ends of her hair. “Remember that I told you he was being completely obnoxious to me at school?”

“Uh-huh.”

“We, um, got paired for this group project thingy, and yesterday he apologized for acting like a dickhead and he…”

“And he what?” My teeth are clamped together.

Sophie lets out a big sigh that blows the bangs from her face. “And he gave me a flower and asked me to be his date to the school dance next week.”

“Oh.” My insides twist. “What did you say?”

“I said yes.” Sophie’s forehead rumples. “And don’t start with the ‘you’re too young’ crap.” She alters her voice. “Because I don’t want to hear it, Cole. Not a single word.”

That was exactly what I was going to say but I’m not going to tell her that now. I scoot up so that my back is pressed into Aimee’s headboard and I clear my throat. “That’s not what I was going to say.”