Vi leaned her head against Callie’s shoulder. “I knew you’d make it. Did you bring Logan?”
Callie straightened her posture and leaned away from her aunt. “Things didn’t work out,” she said.
Vi opened her eyes and yawned. “That’s a shame,” she said, “he was so pleasant to look at.”
Callie laughed. “Thanks, Vi. I’d rather not talk about him right now.”
“Will you do me a favor?” Vi asked.
“Of course, what is it?” Callie asked. She had learned long ago not to make unconditional promises to her aunt, but in the moment, she didn’t think it through.
“Don’t tell Amy and Ethan.”
“If they’re mad at me, I can handle it,” Callie said.
“No, I bet Ethan a hundred bucks that you and Logan would hit it off.”
“You bet him on whether or not we’d date?”
“Don’t be silly. The bet was on whether or not you’d sleep with him.”
Callie blushed.
“I see,” Vi said. “Never mind what I said. What happened between you two that you don’t want to talk about?”
“Things got serious between us, and he couldn’t handle it. He pushed me away.”
“Do you still have feelings for him?” Vi asked.
Callie paused for a moment. “Of course I have feelings for him. Those feelings happen to be anger and resentment at the moment.”
“Anger is but the reflection of passion,” Vi said. “Do you like him?”
“Yes,” Callie replied.
“So why did you give up so easily?” she asked. “I’m old enough to know that unless a man is running a dog fighting ring or running the Philippines, you owe him and yourself a chance to talk things out.”
“The Philippines?” Callie asked. “Do I even want to know?”
Vi sighed. “He was married, and a dictator. I knew from the start it wouldn’t last.”
Callie shook her head. “I don’t know. I started imagining a future with Logan, and then, as soon as the bill passed, he pushed me away, like he wanted me gone.”
“Do you think he wanted you gone?” Vi asked.
“No I think he was afraid. And now he has every excuse to go back to his old habits.”
“Speaking of being afraid, I should let you know that your sister wasn’t exactly happy with you.”
“Doesn’t she know I’m here?” Callie asked.
“She’s about to,” Vi said. She reached over and pushed the door open. “Before you make nice with your boyfriend, you should probably patch things up with your sister.”
Callie took a deep breath and stood up. “You couldn’t have told me this before?” she asked.
“You’d never have come down,” Vi said as she pushed herself up from her chair. She turned to the open doorway. “Amy, someone’s here to see you.”
Callie followed her aunt through the doorway. Amy sat in her hospital bed, cradling her baby in her arms. Her husband sat by her side, running one hand through her hair and smiling down at their son. Callie looked down at the floor. A shaft of sunlight streamed in through the plate glass window. The TV in the corner of the room was tuned to some morning news show, and Callie could hear the low buzz of the newscasters bantering back and forth. Before she looked down, she had seen the way Amy and Ethan and their child looked like a family, like a complete unit. As she stood there, Callie felt like she was intruding on their happiness, dragging in her cloud of failure and sadness. “Hey sis,” she said.
“Callie,” Amy said softly, “you made it.”
Another wave of emotion washed over Callie, and she struggled to hold back her tears. She nodded yes and looked up at her sister. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier.”
“You’re here now,” Amy said. She motioned to Callie. “Come meet your nephew.”
Callie walked over to the bedside and looked down at the baby cradled in her sister’s arms, his little nose and his puffy little eyelids as he slept under Amy’s careful watch. She felt an overwhelming mixture of happiness for her sister, and grief that she wouldn’t have anything like this with Logan. “Hi little guy,” Callie whispered. She wiped the warm tears from her cheek and she looked back up to Amy. “I’m so sorry. I was a jerk,” she said.
“You were,” Amy said, “but I just went through twelve hours of labor, and I don’t have the energy or interest to be mad at you.”
“I thought maybe you’d say you were wrong too,” Callie said. She laughed, and Amy chuckled too.