Beyond Repair by Kelly Lincoln

Her voice raised an octave, and I knew I had her full attention. “Tell me.”
    “I found his credit card in my couch, right before he came home, and went outside to give it back.” I paused to take a sip of my wine. “He wound up coming in for a little while to … um, talk.”
    “Yeah? Yeah? About what?” She was so excited for me. It was fun to finally talk about guys again.
    “Oh, nothing big. But Mia woke up so Chris left.”
    “That’s it ? I paused my show for that boring story?” She sounded pissed. I made a mental note never to call her during drunken reality TV time again.
    “No, that’s not it . God. He texted me to see how she was, I texted back that she was already asleep, and then …”
    “Well?”
    “He came back over and started kissing me.”
    Zoey screamed so loud that I held the phone away from my ear. “Calm the hell down. You’re going to wake your kids up.”
    “I know, I know, I’m just so happy for you. I’m so glad you’re moving on, and you finally … well, I’m just happy.” She took a break from her rant and caught her breath. “So, are you going to go out—hey!”
    “Zoey?”
    Kyle’s voice came through the phone. “He kissed you?”
    I should have known he’d jump in. “Yeah. He did.”
    He didn’t say anything for a moment. “You were okay with that? You’re going to try to make this work?”
    I was a little offended by his question. “What’s with you? I know he’s your friend, but I’m your frigging sister-in-law and you know this is a big deal for me. Do you really think I’d do something like that and then ditch him?”
    “No, but I know this much. Chris doesn’t have it in him to get attached only to have you freak out. Just like you don’t have it in you for the same thing to happen to him.” He sighed. “I’ll be asking him the same thing, don’t worry.”
    “No, don’t. I’ve got this.”
    “Brooke?”
    “Yeah?”
    “If you’re ready, then I really am happy for you. Here’s Zoey.”
    My sister’s excited voice came through as if he’d never taken the phone from her. “So, are you guys going to go out?”
    “Yeah, on Saturday night.” I couldn’t help smiling as I answered her. “Can you watch Mia?”
    “Sure, she can sleep over.”
    “Thanks … I’m exhausted, but I’ll talk to you more tomorrow. Sorry I made you miss your show.”
    “That’s okay; they were just yelling at each other next to their minivans.”
    We disconnected, and I went to work closing the wine bottle. I put the cork back in and pulled two hairs out of my head. I tied them together and wrapped the long string lengthwise around the bottle, tying the ends securely at the top of the cork.
    I stared at the bottle. The hair was barely visible. If anyone opened it, then I would know because my hair wouldn’t be there anymore. Such a gross thing to do, but I couldn’t help myself. I put the bottle back in the refrigerator and headed upstairs for bed.

Chapter Eight
    M IA CLUTCHED THE PILE OF envelopes and brushed her fingers over the top one as she looked at the name. “S is for Sidney.” She raised her eyes up at me to verify.
    “You’re right, that is Sidney’s. Go ahead and put it in her cubby.”
    Mia and I slowly worked through the pile of party invitations until there was one in each cubby. She looked at the last envelope. “R. Who’s that for?”
    “Oh, that’s for Ryder. I meant to leave that at home.” I put it in my purse. “We’ll give it to Chris later, okay?”
    She nodded as her eyes moved across the room, landing on a table with kids coloring. “I want to color! Mrs. Myers has castle pictures.” Her voice rose in her excitement and it sounded scratchy.
    I frowned after Mia spoke. “Does your throat hurt?”
    “Nope.” Her voice still sounded rough, but she was dancing around, practically pushing me out the door so she could go color.
    I laughed. She sure was acting like herself. “Those must be some pretty castles.” I