“Thanks, Grayson,” I said. “I really appreciate your understanding. It means a lot.”

“Well, we need you,” he replied, barely audible over the loud music in the background. I had no idea where he was that was so loud so early in the morning, but that was L.A. for you. “When are you getting back?”

“I’ll be back next week. I'm just spending a couple of days here before I head home.”

“Good. See you then.” He chuckled. “And don't get into any trouble in the meantime. Stay away from that sister of yours.”

Not a chance.

“See you soon.”

We hung up and I let out a happy, relieved sigh. I couldn't be more relaxed if I tried. The rain pattered happily against the roof as I lay on my bed in Chelsea’s and my childhood bedroom, and outside the window, all I could see was the thick fence of fir trees that bordered my parents' backyard. Everything was so green and so lush…and so wet. I'd forgotten how much I loved Seattle. Not that that would ever be enough for me to stay, but it was a good place to relax and recharge after the most draining experience of my life.

We had gotten in late last night after a luxurious, first-class flight that I could still hardly believe Joel had bought us all. Chelsea and I had gone straight to bed, sleeping right through until Dad had called us downstairs for a family breakfast. I'd never been so appreciative of a few strips of bacon and a couple of eggs before.

The door opened, and I turned my head to see my sister in the doorway. “Mind if I come in?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. Enter at your leisure.”

She chuckled and closed the door behind her, sinking down on her own bed and pulling her knees up to her chest.

“I heard you on the phone. Was that Grayson?”

I nodded. “We're starting a new project next week, and he said that he'd love to have me on it, even if I am a reformed criminal.”

Chelsea smiled. “Good. I was worried that I'd really screwed things up for you there.”

“No,” I said. “Not at all. Even if I had lost my job, I could have found a new one.”

“All the same.”

We sat in silence, neither one of us knowing what to say after the raw, emotional rollercoaster we'd gone on together. Small talk didn't seem to be enough, but were we in the right spot to dive right into the heavier stuff?

Chelsea decided before me.

“I think I'm going to stay in Seattle for a bit longer,” she said. “I don't have a job right now, and I think it would be good for me to spend some time with Mom and Dad.”

“Mom must be thrilled,” I replied.

Our mother had been trying to get us to come back home since we’d first moved out. We'd only gone to California, but as far as she was concerned, we may as well have moved to another planet.

Chelsea laughed and nodded. “She tried to hide it. I think Dad's been trying to make her realize that we're adults now and that we need our space.”

“That'll never work.”

“Like I said.” Chelsea grinned. “She tried. She did not succeed.”

The two of us shared a comfortable, relaxed laugh. We hadn't had a chance to talk about what had happened yet, and it seemed like it was about time.

“Megan, I’m sorry for everything,” Chelsea said. “I know it all worked out in the end, but it's a fluke that it did. If it weren't for Joel, we'd still be in that cell. Or we'd be somewhere worse.”

“Chelsea...”

“No, let me finish.” She held out a hand. “I've thought a lot about what I want to say.”

I nodded and she continued.

“You've been an amazing sister to me my whole life, but I know we’ve grown apart recently. After I took the money, I came running to you because you were the only person I trusted to help me. I knew I was in a bind and I knew you would help me. I put you in that position on purpose, and I regretted it the moment I stepped off that plane in Nassau. I just wanted you to know that.”

I got up and moved over to her side of the room, wiggling myself onto her bed and forcing her to move over.

“I forgive you,” I said. “For everything. And, hey, if none of this had ever happened, I would have never met Joel.”

A pained look crossed her face. “Have you heard from him?”

“No.” I shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean I regret having the experience in the first place. And hell, it was quite the experience.”

Chelsea smirked and hit me in the ribs me with her elbow. “I bet it was.”

“So, you’re going to stay in Seattle, huh?”

She sobered a little. “For right now, I think that this is the best place for me to be. I clearly have some stuff I need to work through.” A small smile flitted over her mouth. “I was a little afraid I’d never get to see Mom and Dad again, either. That they’d put me in some prison in Florida and Mom and Dad would be too mad at me to ever come visit.”

“They wouldn’t do that,” I assured. “The not visiting thing. The Florida prison thing, I could definitely see happening.” I bumped my shoulder against hers. “But Mom and Dad love us. They wouldn’t forget about us so easily.”

“I know that now, but it was a real anxiety I had while we were locked up.” She grimaced. “Ugh. Listen to me talking like we’re some sort of badass gang ladies or something.”

“I was thinking about getting a tattoo,” I joked.

“Let’s get matching ones with our incarceration dates.” She pulled up the sleeve of her t-shirt, exposing her shoulder. “And maybe a skull or two. What do you think?”

We both stone faced it for a couple seconds, and then burst out laughing.

“Can you imagine?” my sister giggled. “The worst part is that I feel like we’d totally goad each other into actually doing it.”

“Oh, I know.” I wiped a tear from my eye, reveling in how good it felt just to laugh for the first time in a while. I felt like I hadn’t laughed in years. “But we’ve done stupider things.”

“Like embezzling thousands of dollars and nearly getting plastic surgery?” she probed.

I had to nod. It sounded ridiculous when she said it like that, but at the time, neither of us had seen any better options.

“At least we can say we’re definitely on the right path now,” I offered. “And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re staying with Mom and Dad. I think they were really worried about us, and it’ll do them good to have you around. That being said…” I bumped her shoulder again. “It was nice getting to spend so much time with you, even if we were on the run from the law.”

“Yeah, I did think it was exciting, in a weird way.” Chelsea shrugged. “I figure that means I need some sort of therapy or something.”

I laughed. “I’m sure Mom’s got a whole pack of therapeutic stuff she’ll want you to try out during your stay.”

Our mother was infamous for the assorted ‘cures’ she’d thrust on us over the years. Calming herbs to fight anxiety, burning sage to aid sleep, that kind of thing. I don’t think any of it actually worked, but Dad always claimed to feel better after he would let her have a go at him. Maybe that was why their marriage was so strong.

“I am gonna miss being so close to you, though,” I said after a moment. “I know we didn’t see each other much—even though we were in the same state—but we should have.”

“Yeah. What happened?”

It wasn’t an accusatory question, just a question, directed at both of us. I knew she didn’t blame me for our estrangement any more than I blamed her.

“I guess we just got busy,” I said. “And I think after so many years of living the same life, maybe it was nice to have different ones that were completely our own for a while.”

Chelsea nodded. “I have to say, I identified as a twin for so long that I think I forgot what it was like to be an individual. I did get that out of San Diego, at least. I just got a heaping pile of bullcrap as well.”

I smiled warmly at her, glad that she was out of there. I wished I could have been there for her when she had been going through all the drama with her boss, but I hadn’t even known about it.

“Let’s promise not to get like that again, okay?” I said. “If there’s something crazy going on in your life—even if we haven’t talked for months for whatever reason—can you please make sure you tell me?”

“I promise. And the same to you, as well.”

“I promise.”

We sat in silence for a few moments, leaning against each other and listening to the sound of the rain tumbling over the roof tiles. It was so natural, so comfortable, that it felt like our mini-estrangement had never happened.

Better yet, I knew that it would never happen again. For now, that was all that mattered. Even if my heart hurt and I missed the face of the handsome doctor who had saved my life as I knew it.