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"Cool" Annie squeezed her and let go "We can go out toht I made bruschetta and pasta prie You’ll love it"

And Bryn did For the first ti time--since before that awful moment when her whole life had ended and restarted--she tasted food, really tasted it Crisp, nutty bread, fresh chopped toar, oil … and the pasta, perfectly cooked al dente Annie offered wine, but Bryn refused, on the grounds of driving They talked They laughed They mocked each other They did dishes and splashed each other, half out of spite, half out of joy

Sisters

Bryn felt the darkness and horror slip away, just for a while

It all passed in far too short a tiain, and Annie was flipping channels on Bryn’s TV "What time do you think you’ll be back?" she asked She flipped her hair back over her shoulders She’d showered, and her hair had fallen into golden brown ringlets, perfectly shaped When Bryn was ten and Annie was eight, Bryn had given her sister a deliberately awful haircut with a pair of safety scissors out of sheer envy--and in truth, she still hadn’t quite gotten over coveting those curls

"Why? You going to wait up?"

"Are you going out on a date?"

"I wish No"

"Are you going to be draining body fluids out of some poor dead person?"

"No, and God, you are morbid"

"Me? You’re the one with the job in the death business" Annie made air quotes around it "I’e, but it just seems really weird to me"

"It’s not weird It’s …" Bryn re sacred, in a way We’re the last people to touch so there, in the end Wouldn’t you like there to be someone there to care for you?"

Annie turned toward her, eyes wide She didn’t speak Finally, she settled against the cushions and refocused her attention on the TV "So you don’t knohen you’ll be back"

"God, Annie, are you planning on throwing a party while I’one? No, I don’t know A couple of hours, probably Stop questioning s"

"I’m your older sister I’? Your ed back, harder

"None of your business"

"Oh, come on If I’ve never met him, what does it matter?"

"He’s … complicated," Bryn said slowly "And very … complicated"

"You are the worst Okay, just answer this Is he hot?"

"I don’t know" She didn‘t, honestly He was; then he wasn‘t She didn’t kno to view Patrick McCallister objectively at all "I suppose so"

"What’s his best feature?"

Annie probably wanted her to say his ass, or his abs, or his eyes, or soht for a second and said, "His certainty"

Her sister laughed outright "You are insane--you know that? No wonder you can’t get yourself laid properly"