January 5th, 1971

    I was woken by a repeated knocking at my bedroom door. I groaned and turned over in the bed to look at the clock; it was nearing two in the morning. The knocking paused only momentarily before the door opened a few inches and my sister hissed my name.
    I crawled out of bed and went to the door, seeing my sister standing on the other side of it. I stepped into the hallway and softly closed the bedroom door behind me. 
    “Is everything okay?” I asked her.
    Liliane didn’t answer. Instead, she met my worried gaze with her own.
    “What the hell happened?” I grabbed my sister’s hand and pulled her into her room, turning on the lamp as we entered.
    Without a word of explanation, Liliane sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. She was still dressed in the outfit she’d left in for her date with Lee earlier this evening.
    “Say something,” I demanded after a tense moment.
    “He likes me,” was all she said.
    I sat beside her. “And that’s a bad thing?”
    “God, Emily! Don’t you get it?” she cried.
    I kept silent and gave her time to think.
    “I can’t love him,” she said in a sigh. “I just can’t.”
    I let out a huff and spoke softly. “It doesn’t really matter what you can or can’t do, Lil. It only matters what you feel.”
    “Well,” she replied without missing a beat, “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
    “What happened?” I asked her once more. “Did you have a good time, at least?”
    “It was great,” she assured me. “We went out to eat and he was a gentleman the whole time. He offered me to spend the night at the house he’s renting,” she added.
    “In Balmedie?”
    “I don’t even know, Emily. It was only a fifteen minute drive from the restaurant,” she explained. “Anyway… we had coffee and he put on a record.”
    Liliane took a few moments before continuing her recollection.
    “We kissed. It was really sweet, the whole time,” she insisted. “I know that Lee has feelings for me. I feel things too.”
    “But you’re afraid,” I said softly.
    “Absolutely terrified,” Liliane whispered. “It’s been so long since I’ve been with someone, Emily. And even longer since I’ve felt loved.”
    I smiled weakly, despite the strong emotions I could feel emanating off of my sister. “I guess it’s my turn to ask,” I said with a chuckle. “Do you love him?”
    “I very easily could,” Liliane answered.


    I spent the rest of the night with my sister. We shared her bed as we’d done as children, and talked for a while longer before falling asleep.
    Liliane had given me an expanded explanation of her date with Lee. After they’d arrived at his rented home, he had insisted that she take his bed and he would spend the night on the couch. Lee had also shared his feeling with Liliane, assuring my sister that he cared for her and didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.
    They’d kissed, Liliane told me, for a long time. It was only when she began to feel her own emotions rise that she panicked and said she had to leave. Refusing Lee’s offer to drive her back to our house, Liliane apologized to him and took a taxi home.
    I woke before my sister did, and saw Cameron in the kitchen. He asked what had happened, so I told him.
    “I know what she’s feeling,” I told him. “I won’t argue that it isn’t scary.
    Cameron didn’t have a chance to answer; the phone rang as he opened his mouth to speak.
    I went into the hallway and answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
    “Did she get home alright?” It was Lee, sounding worried and tired.
    “She did. She’s okay.”
    I heard him sigh. “I don’t know what I did wrong,” he said. The sadness was clear in his voice.
    “Nothing.”
    “What?”
    “You did nothing wrong,” I repeated. “She’s scared.”
    The line was silent for a long moment.
    “Why didn’t she just say that?” he asked. “What is she afraid of?”
    “Many things, Lee,” I said softly. I hesitated, but decided to ask anyway. “Did she tell you anything about her last relationship?”
    “Some,” he replied. “Though, I expect not everything. She did say she’d been hurt by him in the time they were together.”
    “That’s the truth,” I told him. “She was with him for a long time and he never understood what we went through. How it affected us.”
    “Your father?” Lee asked quietly.
    I was surprised that Liliane had told him, but I kept it to myself. “Yes.”
    “The moment I first saw her, Emily, I knew I would fall in love with her,” he stated. “And I wasn’t wrong.”
    “She knows you do,” I assured him. “She knows.”
    Lee stayed silent for a few moments, so I suggested something. “We’re going out to eat on Saturday, for her birthday. Why don’t you come along?”
    “I wouldn’t want her to feel bothered,” he mumbled.
    “I’ll let you in on something, because I know my sister,” I said. “She thinks you hate her now. If you show up, she’ll be happy.”

    I could almost hear his smile. “I will, then. When’s the reservation?”