The Sister Between Us

THE SISTER BETWEEN US HAILEY DICKERT CONTENTS Author’s Note Preface Playlist Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Epilogue Also by Hailey Dickert Acknowledgments About the Author This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2023 by Hailey Rose Dickert All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. First released April 2023. ISBN: 978-1-960497-00-0 Developmental Editing: Alli Morgan and Anonymous Proofreading: Alli Morgan Cover: Books and Moods Cover Image: Adobe Stock with commercial licensing permission Published by Hailey Dickert www.haileydickert.com AUTHOR’S NOTE To anyone who’s been swallowed by the darkness of grief, unsure if you’ll ever return to the light, the day will come when you'll remember them and smile without the tears. This one’s for you. This book contains topics that could be difficult for some readers. For a complete list, please visit: haileydickert.com/tsbu-authors-note Should you be having a mental health crisis, please reach out to 9-8-8, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Your mental health is important. Your life is important. For my grandpa, who encouraged me endlessly to pursue a career in writing before I even knew I wanted one. Look at me now, Pop-Pop. I’m doing the damn thing. Your copy is waiting in Heaven’s library – please skip over the spicy stuff. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” —Martin Luther King, Jr. PLAYLIST Listen here Not Like I’m In Love With You – Lauren Weintraub Butterflies (Acoustic) – Abe Parker Little Things (Acoustic) – Jade Facer, John Buckley this is what falling in love feels like – JVKE Best I Ever Had – Drake What Keeps You Up At Night – Dan + Shay die first – Nessa Barrett Bigger Than The Whole Sky – Taylor Swift Safe & Sound – Taylor Swift when the party’s over – Billie Eilish I Lost a Friend – FINNEAS you’d never know – BLÜ EYES break my heart – Matt Hansen Turbulence – Jonah Kagen i wish u knew – vaultboy broken – Jonah Kagen I’d Run to You – CJ Starnes Something in the Orange – Zach Bryan blue jean overalls – Wilfred Ghost – Micky WYD Now? [Feat. Zai1k & Zakhar] – Sadie Jean Breakups – Seaforth Locksmith – Sadie Jean Forget About You – Devin Kennedy Doppelgänger – Joshua Bassett the way i used to – Kelsea Ballerini 25 in Barcelona – JP Saxe Halfway – Ber ceilings (sped up + reverb) - pearl, fast forward >>& Tazzy Amsterdam – Wild Rivers Till Forever Falls Apart – Ashe, FINNEAS this is how you fall in love – Jeremy Zucker, Chelsea Cutler Until I Found You – Stephen Sanchez, Em Beihold PROLOGUE What would you do if the most important person in your life vanished? One second, they’re there. The next? Gone. Unfortunately, you can’t always protect the people you love. No matter how much you wish you could. No matter what you’d give up to do so. Split-second moments change the trajectory of our entire lives. We often don’t realize how impactful the moment is until much later. The first stroke of a paint brush that ignites a new passion. A single second of eye contact with a stranger who becomes your lover. An accident that has irreversible consequences. You weren’t aware it was coming, and you could have done nothing to prevent it, yet the entire direction of your life is flipped upside down, for better or worse. The previous version of yourself is yet to exist ever again. The last moment I remember is her telling me she loves me. Then it all goes dark. 1 JAKE I’m yanked back to reality by scalding grease splattering my skin. “Shit!” I jump away from the sizzling skillet, patting my exposed stomach in an attempt to brush away the pain. A mild burning smell reminds me to flip the pancake in the other pan. “If you’d put a shirt on, you wouldn’t have that problem,” my younger sister, Sophia, snarks from her position next to me on the white marble countertop. She supervises as I struggle to make the most basic damn meal of the day—breakfast. I know I don’t have to do this, but I want things to feel normal for the girls. I don’t want them to notice the gaping hole in our life the way I do. So I make the bacon. And I scramble the eggs. And I burn the pancakes. Every Saturday, we used to wake up to the house filled with the smell of freshly cooked maple bacon. That was our cue to get out of bed and come to the kitchen. It was highly effective. Mom even bought a bacon-scented candle once to test if it would get us downstairs as quickly. It worked. And I was pissed. The mouthwatering smell and no bacon? Come on. “But then I’d have bacon grease on my shirt,” I say pointedly. “And Mom’s the only one who can get that shit out.” “Well, maybe you should learn,” she sasses with raised eyebrows. “Maybe you should learn.” I smirk while pointing the spatula at her. “You’re