“It’s not the body we love,” Neil said, swooping in to kiss El-Mudad’s cheek.
“I’ll tell Julia to tone it down with the cheese,” I promised. “And the carbs.”
Neil got serving utensils and joined us at the table. Once we were all three settled in our seats and dishing food onto our plates, he said, “So, what was it that you didn’t want to tell us before?”
“If you want to tell it, now,” El-Mudad added, his gaze flicking to Neil.
I smiled gratefully. “No, I can tell you now. Except…I don’t want anyone to get angry or flip the table or anything.”
Neil raised an eyebrow.
“My sister visited me at work today.” I stumbled over “sister” a little. I wasn’t used to saying it in that context.
El-Mudad frowned. “I thought you were an only child.”
“I am. I mean. I was.” My face flushed. It was so embarrassing, having to admit to yet another person that my father had chosen a different set of kids over the one he’d already had. “My father wasn’t in my life, like, at all. But he did have another family. I just never met them.”
El-Mudad nodded, his frown more sympathetic than confused, now.
“Until very recently,” Neil added cautiously. “What was she doing in New York? Certainly, she didn’t come all this way without any word—”
“No, no. She wasn’t here to see me. Her husband is at a trade show or something.” I waved my hand. “And she tracked me down.”
“What did she want?”
I flinched at Neil’s question. I wanted to tell him that she hadn’t asked me for anything—that she’d come to forge our sisterly relationship and make up for lost time. Neil’s distrust was natural; he’d spent his entire life trying to guess people’s motives for desiring proximity and access to him. That was just how things were for people with lots of money and influential families. But I didn’t like him applying that thinking to someone I desperately wanted to trust.
“She wanted… It’s difficult to explain.” I reached for my water glass and took a big swallow before going on. “Apparently, the younger of the sisters has Alport Syndrome. It’s something genetic that affects the kidneys. And since it’s genetic and it’s from their mother’s side…”
Neil’s expression hardened.
“She didn’t ask for money or anything like that,” I offered as a paltry defense. And really, I didn’t know why I was defending her. Maybe because all I could think of was the fact that she was there trying to save not just her sister, but her mother.
“Oh, well, that’s a relief,” Neil snapped. “Just a kidney? Is that all?”
“Neil…” But I didn’t know how to go on.
“Are you going to go through with it?” El-Mudad asked, his tone softer.
“She will not,” Neil pronounced quite certainly.
“I asked you not to be angry,” I reminded him, clenching my fist under the table.
“No, you asked me not to flip a table,” he shot back. “And I’m still undecided about that!”
“This all happened this afternoon?” El-Mudad asked, and when I nodded, he said to Neil, “She’s barely had any time to think about this.”
Neil’s anger dimmed somewhat, and he glanced guiltily sideways at El-Mudad. “You’re right.” To me, he said, “Sophie, I’m sorry. My reaction was disproportionate to the situation. I simply feel defensive on your behalf, after what happened at the reunion.”
I filled El-Mudad in on the details. “I ran into her at my class reunion recently. That was the first time I’d ever seen her.”
“It was intensely stressful for Sophie,” Neil added.
“And you wish to protect her. I understand.” El-Mudad laid his hand over Neil’s on the table. “But you can’t do that by shouting at her.”
I could have crawled across the table and hugged El-Mudad, I was so grateful.
“What was your reaction, when she asked you?” He tilted his head and studied me.
I shrugged. “Well, I was angry. Which is natural, I think. After all these years, and knowing that they were aware I existed but just ignored it… I don’t know why they thought it was okay to ask me.”
“I don’t either,” Neil put in quietly.
“But then, she said…” I didn’t want to upset Neil, but it might be the only way to make him understand why I was torn on the subject. “This girl is just a teenager. And their mom just lost her husband a few years ago. She has to be feeling so helpless, right now. I mean, they obviously all do, if Susan was desperate enough to come to me.”
Neil looked down at his plate, his silverware, anywhere but at my face. I knew him well enough to tell when he was ashamed of himself. “You didn’t decide, did you? You didn’t make any promises?”
“No. I have so much conflicting—” I waved a hand in front of my forehead. “I told her I would call her, if I felt like it. She’s in town for the next week. I don’t know if I want to see her, or if I just want to let the thing go and never speak to any of them ever again.”