I locked the car door and crunched my way into the mall. It was only a little after ten, but I immediately got sucked into the crowd of obsessed shoppers, a worker bee thrown into the drone of hasty work.
I stopped in front of a pop-up Christmas decoration store, and a tiny silver reindeer ornament caught my eye. It was what Sawyer would have pointed at. He would have loved the simplicity of it. I went inside and pulled it from the display Christmas tree, the fake bristles scratching my hand.
I held up the smooth, metallic ornament in the light, studying it. Imagining it on our tree in front of the window. Perfect for our first Christmas in the house.
Perfect.
I smiled and went to the cash register and asked the store clerk if I could get the ornament engraved. I made arrangements to come back when they were finished with it in an hour. I was about to leave the store when my phone vibrated. I should have ignored it. I should have left it alone. But I did what I had done a thousand times before. I looked to find a text.
Isla. Need your help. Plz Call.
I felt a lurch in my body, a reaction to seeing her name on my phone. I hadn’t had any contact with her since before the photo incident. She had tried several times to contact me. But they had grown fewer and further between, until I assumed she had moved on with her life.
My throat became dry. I stopped at a coffee shop to get a drink and eagerly drank the bottle of water I purchased.
My phone rang. It was her. I closed my eyes and held my finger above the decline button. It was red and provoking as I let it hover.
She’s your sister. It’s almost Christmas.
I thought about Moni right then. Her gentle face and how she would have given me a small smile and an encouraging nod.
“Hello?” I answered as if it were an unknown number.
There was silence.
“Marlow,” I said quietly.
“You answered.” Her voice was muffled and slurry.
“Yes. You said you needed help?”
I heard a muted noise, perhaps her clearing her throat.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. I’m fine,” she said loudly.
I cocked my head away from the phone and took a deep breath. “What is it that you need help with, Marlow?”
“My flight got canceled. I need someone to pick me up.”
“Your flight? Where are you?”
“I’m at the MSP airport,” she heaved out quickly.
“You’re in town?” The thought of her being physically close made my stomach tighten.
“Yes. I can’t get on the plane.”
“I thought you said it was canceled?”
“Well . . . they won’t let me on it.” Her drawling words and randomly loud pitches were enough to clue me in.
“Can you get a cab? Doesn’t your agency usually have a car service?”
“I can’t find my wallet. I think I left it on the plane.”
“So, you did get on the plane, Marlow?” I asked impatiently.
She heaved a giant sigh, as if she had already explained it to me. “I was on the plane. But then they made me leave . . . I need you to pick me up, Isla. I need your help.”
“Marlow, I can’t just . . .” I looked over to the Christmas store, remembering I had to pick up the engraved ornament.
“Please. Please, Isla,” she begged.
I paced around. “Give me a minute. I need to think.”
“I need to go home . . . I need to go home, Isla.” I could hear the tears in her voice, real pain and panic.
I closed my eyes and could see her, a glistened face and twisted mouth.
She’s your sister. Marlow is your sister.
“Okay . . . I can’t get you right now. Can you wait just a little bit?”
“No, no! I can’t stay here anymore,” she said frantically. “These people . . . they keep staring at me. I need to go home now, I—”
“All right. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay, Marlow,” I tried to speak soothingly into the phone. “Have you tried Dad?”
