“So,” I said brightly. “Therapy. Let’s unpack some trauma.”
Harper sighed. “Must we?”
“Have you met Iris? She left us achecklist. You think she won’t haunt us if we skip steps?”
June stared out at the yard. “She’d wait until 2 a.m. and knock over a lamp just to make a point.”
“Exactly,” I said. “So let’s get our emotional gold stars and start talking.”
Another pause.
Then, quieter: “I don’t know how to do this,” Harper said.
I looked at her. For once, she didn’t sound sarcastic or annoyed. Just… honest.
“Do what?”
“Sit still. Be seen. Not perform.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Me neither.”
We sipped in unison. A tiny, messed-up chorus line of coping.
“I hate how hard this is,” June said after a minute. “I thought it would get easier. Being around each other.”
“Itwill,” I said, nudging her knee with mine. “Right after we all cry in a circle and maybe scream into a pillow. Classic sisterhood stuff.”
Harper almost smiled.
I leaned back and let the swing move. The breeze kissed the back of my neck. Someone a few blocks over was mowing their lawn. Lily’s laughter echoed from the kitchen, soft and distant.
This moment felt stitched together. So I said the thing I hadn’t said before.
“I don’t stay anywhere because I’m afraid if I do, people will start expecting things I can’t give them.”
June’s head turned toward me, slow and sharp.
Harper stilled.
“I loved a man once,” I said. “Enough that it scared the shit out of me. I wanted to be everything. And when I couldn’t… when I wasn’t… it fell apart. Fast.”
No one moved.
I didn’t look at them. “I left before he could ask me to. Because I knew I wouldn’t survive being told I wasn’t enough.”
The swing creaked again.
I sipped my coffee.
Nobody said anything for a long time.
The wind moved through the porch rails. A truck passed on the next street over. My coffee was cold, but I kept holding the mug like it was keeping me anchored.
Eventually, June shifted beside me. Her voice, when it came, was soft. But not unsure.
“I’m scared of staying, too,” she said. “But for different reasons.”
Harper glanced over, and I stayed still. Didn’t interrupt. Didn’t lighten the moment with a joke.
