Her Last Day (Jessie Cole #1)(90)

“I wish I could have met her.”

“Apparently you did.”

It was his turn to smile. “I’ll be right back,” she heard him say as she turned back toward her sister, ignoring the sting of prickly thorns as she walked closer, removing the thickest brambles until she was at Sophie’s side. She kneeled down and took Sophie’s brittle fingers in hers as she remembered all the things they used to do together. Making clothes from scraps of fabric for their dolls, running around the backyard hunting for Easter eggs, putting on lipstick and their mother’s heels and playing dress-up. They rode bikes and pushed each other on the swing set. They loved playing Monopoly. They laughed often, and mostly they loved each other.

None of it had been a figment of her imagination.

Her mother, father, Jessie, and Sophie.

The memories were real, and for a moment in time, they had all been happy.