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“Bluebell,” he said, his tone coaxing, “they’re not here to hang you from a cross They’re here because they haven’t seen you in nine years Now I’er and hurt there, but it’s time to work on that It’s time to heal the breach”

Dad didn’t give rabbed s turned to jelly, and I wondered if they?

?d hear the shallow staccato sounds of

When alked downstairs, they weren’t in the living room

My grip on Dad was probably painful

I kneas acting like a little girl, clinging to hio as he led me into the kitchen

Tears I’d held back for years flooded ainst the kitchen counter with coffee rown to look more and more like Dad And Davina, except in style, looked a lot like Mo but nurse scrubs Davina’s hair was si, beachy waves but without the bangs, and she wore skinny jeans, a plain black T-shirt, and a stylish pinstripe blazer She wore cute flats that looked like they cost a lot ofabout h casual, hinted at quality and money

Dad had gifted me his eye color and the diifted ht and curves Davina (like Dillon had been) was tall like Mo ure

I took all this in, noting hoell they both looked, and pride overwhel-class, Irish-A brother was now a sports writer for the Boston Globe andsister worked in an office in the financial district And even better they were both happy in their personal lives All of that filledthat felt heavily bittersweet I hadn’t been a part of any of that, and it was my fault

Darragh put his cup on the counter, and I braced myself as he strode purposefully across the kitchen

Without a word, he pulled me into his arms, my face pressed to his warm chest

He was hugging me

Sobs that had stayed locked inside me for years burst out and I closed my arms around his broad back and bawled

“Ssshh, baby sister,” he tried to soothe, his ar

But I couldn’t