Between Sisters

“This isn’t about my job, Harriet. My sister is in trouble. I have to save her. ”

“Is she in love?”

Meghann waved her hand impatiently. “Of course. ”

“You don’t think that matters?”

“They’re always in love in the beginning. It’s like going out to sea on a huge throat lozenge. The water disintegrates it. After a few floating years, you’re swimming with nothing to hold you up. Then the sharks move in. ”

“That would be people like you. ”

“This is no time for lawyer jokes. I have to save my sister before she marries the wrong man. ”

“How do you know he’s the wrong man?”

Meghann fought the urge to say, They all are. That admission would only fill up another round of observations and questions. “He’s practically jobless. They’ve known each other less than a month. He’s a musician. He lets people call him Bobby Jack. Take your pick. ”

“Are you jealous?”

“Yeah. I want to marry an itinerant Country and Western singer who can’t even headline at Cowboy Bob’s Western Roundup in Lake Chelan. Yes, Harriet, you’ve hit the core of it this time. I’m jealous. ” She crossed her arms. “He’s probably marrying her for the so-called resort. He’ll try to talk her into building condos or dentists’ offices. ”

“That would show some initiative. ”

“Claire loves that tired piece of land. She would hate to pave over it. ”

“I thought you said the land was underdeveloped and that Claire was wasting her life there. I believe you mentioned building a spa on the property. ”

“You’re completely missing the point. ”

“The point being that you need to ride in on a white horse and save her. ”

“Someone has to protect her. I want to be there for her this time. ”

“This time. ”

Meghann looked up sharply. Of course Harriet had pounced on the two words that mattered. “Yes. ”

Harriet leaned forward. “Tell me about the day you weren’t there for your sister. ”

Meghann stiffened, drew back. The chair squeaked as it rolled backward. “That’s not what this is about. ”

“You’re smarter than that, Meg. I don’t have to remind you that everything between you and Claire is about the past. What happened?”

Meghann closed her eyes. Obviously, she was in a weakened state, because the sour memories were there, waiting to crowd to the front of her mind. She shrugged, tried to appear casual as she opened her eyes and looked at Harriet. “You know it all. You just want to hear me go through it. ”

“Do I?”

“I was sixteen. Claire was nine. Mama went to Los Angeles for the Starbase IV audition and had so much fun she forgot about the kids she left in Bakersfield. For her, it was a common oversight. Then Social Services started poking around. They threatened to put us into foster care. I was old enough to run away, but Claire . . . ” She shrugged. “So I pulled a Nancy Drew and tracked down Sam Cavenaugh—her biological dad. I called him. Sam couldn’t save his daughter fast enough. ” Meg heard the adolescent hurt in her voice. Even now, all these years later, the memories of that summer were hard to bear. She hated to remember how much she’d wanted Sam to be her father, too. Meg straightened. “None of this old shit matters. Sam was a great father to Claire. Everyone ended up happier. ”

“Everyone? How about the girl who lost her mother and sister and had no father to turn

to?”

The observation hurt. Meghann had never been able to discover her own father’s name; all Mama ever called him was That loser. “Enough. Tell me this, Harriet. Is it smart to marry a man you’ve known a few weeks? Would you like it if your daughter did what Claire is doing?”

“I’d have to trust her, wouldn’t I? We can’t live other people’s lives for them. Even if we love them. ”

“I do love Claire,” Meghann said quietly.