I didn’t blame her.
Cannel, although not exactly mean last night, hadn’t been exactly welcoming, either.
I still hadn’t figured out why, either. If her attitude continued, I’d be sure to confront her about it.
It was weird having a surly Cannel, who was, as of late, all flowers and hearts.
“Want to go to that place that throws rolls for lunch? We’re about to leave.”
I looked at my sister, then looked at the woman on her porch, then back at my sister.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s only nine in the morning,” I hesitated.
I looked at my watch to confirm, and sure enough, it was only eight fifty-five.
“It is,” she confirmed. “But it’s really hard to get in there. If you don’t get in line early, then you won’t get in. And I’ve been wanting to go forever.”
I sighed. “Can’t one person just go and get in line, then get the names on the list, and everyone doesn’t have to wait?”
Cannel wrinkled her nose. “I guess that would work, but Will and I were going to go up there with everyone.”
“How about I go,” I suggested. “And I’ll bring this one with me.” I jerked my thumb in Sabrina’s direction. “We were just talking about going to get coffee.”
Cannel’s eyes pinched slightly, but I could tell that she wanted to say something and didn’t.
“You’ll sit there for the entire time?” she asked carefully. “Wait for us to get there? Trinket, that means that you’re going to be there for over two and a half hours until they open.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, sister. I do realize how long I’ll have to sit there.” I paused. “I’ll have to bring one of y’all’s cars, because I can’t sit on my bike for that long.”
She immediately handed me the keys to her car. “We’ll ride with Haggard.”
I fisted her keys and said, not to Cannel but Sabrina, “You ready?”
When I looked over at Sabrina, it was to see her glancing down at herself.
“I can’t do my hair and I can’t do my makeup,” she hesitated. “I guess I’m ready. I think I need a bra, though.”
I’d been really trying not to stare at her unbound tits, but the moment she said something about them, I couldn’t stop myself from taking a peek. I’d noticed them last night, of course, but I’d tried just as hard then as I did now not to look.
But the difference between then and now?
Then, she was mourning her best friend, and crying.
Now, she was standing two feet directly across from me with her tits leaned on her forearms as she leaned against a railing. And I couldn’t see anything else.
Her nipples were hard, her breasts were great big handfuls, and if she hadn’t just lost her friend yesterday, I’d be making a move.
But she had lost a friend, and I wasn’t a complete douchebag all the time.
“Why can’t you do your makeup?” I asked just as I heard the door behind me close with a solid thunk.
Jesus Christ, I was going to have to figure out what her problem was.
Because, once Sabrina was over the shock of losing her friend, I would be making a move.
“Because I need a light.” She rolled her eyes. “I can do mascara and eyeshadow, but the rest, not so much.”
“The rest?” I wondered.
“I cover up the freckles.” She gestured at her face. “They annoy me.”
“They’re cute,” I told her as I stood and walked toward the back door of my place. “Go get ready to go with whatever you’re going to do.”
Sabrina immediately started toward the door, but before she could shoulder her way inside, I called out.
“Sabrina?”
Sabrina stopped partially in the door and glanced over at me. “Yeah?”
“Don’t cover up your freckles,” I ordered. “I like them.”
Flushing, she nodded once and headed inside, and I followed suit.
When I saw Cannel banging around the kitchen, I stopped and stared at her.
When she finally glanced up, a narrow-eyed look on her face, I said, “What?”
Cannel sighed. “That girl.”
I tilted my head. “Yeah?”
Cannel swallowed. “She looks like someone I know… knew. From then.”
I instantly felt horrible. “Shit.”
“I just…” She hesitated a second before saying, “She brings back really bad memories, Price. Really, really bad ones.”
I looked down at my hands as I said, “You want me to uninvite her?”
Because I would.
I’d do anything for my sister.
Even tell the girl that’d just lost her best friend that she couldn’t come with us.
Cannel swallowed hard and shook her head. “No. You can hang out with her this week. I can handle anything for a week.”
My stomach sank.
A week.
I only had a week?
Would I be able to give her up after a week? I’d already been thinking nonstop about Sabrina for weeks leading up to this stupid vacation, and I’d done nothing but see her sitting on a bench outside the hospital.