The Forgotten Girl Read Online Free PDF

is it?” Nora called.
    But Jason didn’t say anything. His hands felt sweaty as he undid the two locks and the chain and pulled the door open. She turned around as the door came open, and there, in the sickly pale glow of the porch light, Jason came face-to-face with his sister, Hayden, for the first time in five years.
    “Hey, big brother,” she said through the screen.
    Jason was surprised by what he saw. Hayden looked . . . clean. Her hair, her clothes, her hands. All clean. She wore black slacks and black shoes and a neatly pressed blue button-down shirt. One hand rested on the sleek leather purse she wore over her shoulder and the other held a smartphone. She had always been tiny, almost frail. In the years since high school, when her drinking was at its worst and she was likely consuming most of her calories in the form of alcohol, Hayden always appeared fragile, her skin nearly translucent. She looked like that the last time he saw her, the time that caused the five-year break. When Jason hugged her or touched her during her longest benders, it felt as though her bones might snap beneath his touch. Like she was a bird.
    But the version of Hayden on the front porch looked healthy and trim. Her cheeks were full and carried a trace of color.
    “I bet you wish this was the pizza guy, right?” she said.
    Jason still hadn’t spoken. “No,” he said finally. “I don’t.”
    He couldn’t think of anything else. He stared at his sister through the screen as june bugs and moths dipped and dived in the space between them.
    Hayden raised her eyebrows. “Am I allowed to come in?” she asked. “I understand if after last time . . .”
    Jason undid the lock on the screen door and pushed it open. “Come in,” he said, stepping back. “Of course you can come in. Jesus, Hayden, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just stand here.”
    Hayden slipped past him and through the foyer, trailing the faintscent of cigarette smoke. Jason didn’t know what to do. He flipped on the lights in the living room and let his sister go ahead of him.
    Nora asked again from the top of the stairs, “Jason? Who was it?”
    Jason looked at Hayden, who had taken a seat on the sofa. Then he said loudly, “It’s my sister. It’s Hayden.”
    “What?” Nora said. “Really?”
    Before anyone could say anything else, Nora was coming down the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood. She wore a modest, knee-length nightgown and brushed past Jason as though he weren’t there. Hayden rose from the couch when she saw her sister-in-law.
    “Hey, girl,” Hayden said.
    “Oh, Hayden. Look at you.”
    The two women hugged in the living room. They held on to each other and swayed side to side. Then they stepped back, and Nora gave Hayden a long appraisal.
    “You look great,” Nora said.
    “Thanks.”
    “You look . . .”
    “Sober?” Hayden said.
    Nora nodded. “Yes, you do. Healthy, I guess I was going to say. But sober works.” The two women sat next to each other on the sofa and Nora asked, “What on earth are you doing here? Are you moving back to town?”
    Hayden looked up at Jason. He remained standing, his hand resting on the back of a chair. A tension hovered between the two siblings, something unspoken. As always, Hayden was the one most ready, most eager to give it voice.
    “I wasn’t sure if I would be welcome back,” she said.
    “Of course you are,” Nora said. “Right, Jason?”
    “Sure,” Jason said, but he still didn’t take a seat. “I’m just kind of blown away. You’re the last person I expected to see on the porch.”
    Hayden maneuvered the purse around to her lap and undid the clasp. “I wanted to give you something,” she said. She dug inside and extracted a plain white envelope. She held it out toward Jason. “Here,” she said.
    “No,” Jason said.
    “It’s five hundred dollars,” Hayden said. “I know the car cost more—”
    “Oh, no,” Nora said. “Jason, tell her. We don’t