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Her tone had changed Coh he’d been cut adrift

Not because she was against him But she’d becomeimpartial He didn’t like it

So he was going to set her straight right then and there She and Kacey ht have had the perfect fareat your parents were, or how close you were to therandparents were in and out all day long, or how many cousins and aunts and uncles filled church peith you

“You’re wrong” He’d tried to soften the blow, but there were sos that ju

st werewhat they were

“Tressa is a walk in the park compared to my sister, JoAnne”

She stopped in her tracks, only inches fro dusk They really should turn around, even though there were enough ho up the beach that they’d be fine even when it was fully dark out

“Your sister talked that way to you, too?” she asked softly, studying him He allowed it because she was back with hiaze was completely personal

“My sister was the devil herself when I was growing up”

Every fa you could to make certain it wasn’t you

Unless you were JoAnne She’d had no reason Not like Tressa

“How so?”

She was his sister, his only sibling Family He wished he’d been a little more circumspect in his word choice

He looked for a way to explain without co off like a complete jerk

“JoAnne was five when I was born,” he said He’d probably gone back a little too far “Up until I arrived, she was it My folks’ whole lives revolved around her They’d had a tough tiift from heaven to them”