Chapter 8 - The Bridge Between Cousins
On Saturday afternoon, a small, gray Honda Civic pulled into our gravel driveway, parking beside Sterling’s work truck and Sage’s Mustang.
Brinley stepped out alone. She had left her designer sunglasses and expensive boutique jacket at home, wearing simple blue jeans and a high school track sweatshirt. She stood by the front gate for nearly two full minutes, staring at the front porch, her hands shoved deep into her pockets, before finally gathering the courage to walk up the wooden steps.
Sage was sitting on the porch swing, a thick textbook on financial accounting open on her lap. When she saw Brin, she closed the book and set it beside her.
I stayed inside behind the screen door, watching through the lace curtains with Sterling standing behind me, a cup of black coffee in his hand.
""Hey,"" Brin said, her voice shaking slightly in the cool breeze.
""Hey,"" Sage replied gently.
Brin pulled a simple white envelope from her sweatshirt pocket and held it out with both hands, exactly the way Sage had held that pathetic plastic clearance box a week earlier. ""I brought this. You don't have to read it right now. You don't even have to read it at all. But I wanted you to have it.""
Sage didn't take the envelope immediately. Instead, she patted the wooden cushion beside her on the swing. ""Sit down, Brin.""
Brin hesitated, then stepped onto the porch and sat down, keeping a cautious distance between them. For a long moment, the only sound was the gentle creak of the porch chains swinging in the autumn wind.
""I didn't know Grandma stole that money, Sage,"" Brin choked out, tears instantly welling in her eyes. ""I swear to you, I had no idea. If I had known Grandma took Grandpa's savings—your savings—I never would have touched those keys. I felt like the biggest, most disgusting person on earth watching you put that Mustang key on the table.""
""I know you didn't know, Brin,"" Sage said softly. She reached over and took the envelope from Brin's trembling fingers. ""Grandma wanted a show. She wanted everyone to think she was the queen of the family, handing down fortunes to the people she liked and scraps to the people she didn't. She used you just as much as she used me. The only difference is she used you as a weapon, and she used me as a target.""
Brin buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. ""I was so mean to you in high school. I bragged about my clothes, my trips... I let Grandma tell everyone that you were going to community college because you weren't smart enough for MSU. I was such an idiot.""
""You weren't an idiot,"" Sage said, putting an arm around her cousin's shoulders and pulling her close. ""You were just listening to the loud voice in the room. But Grandpa always said the quiet voices are usually the ones telling the truth.""
Sage pointed toward the driveway, where the Mustang and the Honda Civic sat side by side on the gravel.
""Look at that,"" Sage said with a small smile. ""Two cars. Paid for with real work. No repossession trucks. No lies. No grandma pulling the strings.""
Brin wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and let out a watery, genuine laugh. ""Yours has three hundred more horsepower than mine.""
May you like
""Yeah,"" Sage grinned, nudging her shoulder. ""Which means whenever you need a ride home from East Lansing on weekends, I'll be there in half the time.""
From inside the kitchen, Sterling smiled into his coffee mug. He wrapped an arm around my waist, kissed the top of my head, and whispered, ""Thomas would be proud, Rowan. Real proud.""
