Timber Creek (Sierra Falls 2)

“That girl?” Claire tsked. “Too skinny. ”

She glanced over again. “What did that other woman do to her eyes?” Then leaned in for a closer look. “Who is that, anyway?”

“Who knows anymore?” Sorrow flipped to another page. “So many of these people are just famous for being famous. ”

The stylist steered Laura back upright. “Are we going to do this or not? I’ve got to pick up Abbie from swim team soon. ”

“You think I should?” If she still lived in the city, she wouldn’t have thought twice about lightening her natural highlights. But now the prospect made her feel oddly self-conscious. “I’d feel kind of weird about strolling into the tavern with Marilyn Monroe hair. ”

Sorrow rolled her eyes. “It’s not goi

ng to be Marilyn Monroe. You’re too thin for that, anyway. I’m the one who got the curves in the family. ”

Laura’s mind flashed back to Eddie and his skilled hands. He seemed to like her curves just fine.

“Nobody will be able to tell,” Claire assured her. “You’ll just look…brighter. ”

“And by that, she doesn’t mean smarter. ” Sorrow smirked, not looking up from her magazine.

“Shut up. ” She rolled up the ancient People magazine that was in her lap, reached over, and swatted her baby sister. “You’re the one sitting there reading old news about Brangelina. ” She sat back up, all settled. “Okay, Claire. Do it. ” She shot Sorrow an evil grin. “My sister will just have to wait for me. ”

An hour later, Claire left to pick up her ninth-grader, and Laura sat there with dozens of tiny foil strips in her hair, Sorrow at her side.

Her sister was clearly engrossed in some article, but she wanted to talk. “What are you reading?”

Sorrow didn’t even look up. “My magazine. ”

“I can see that. What is it?”

“Johnny Depp interview. ” Sorrow held it closer, reading the fine print on the photo spread. “H-O-T hot. ”

“He tries not to be,” Laura said, trying to make conversation. “You know, he tries to play it down. Living in France. Wearing all those hobo clothes. ” She paused, but her sister wasn’t taking the bait. “But there’s no stopping the hawt. ” Finally she just leaned over. “Can I see?”

Sorrow sighed and flopped the magazine onto her lap. “What is it?”

“What is what?” She gave Sorrow an innocent look. “I just wanted to see the Johnny Depp pictures. ”

“Are you all right?”

She slouched in the chair as much as she could without mussing her bleaching hair. “Eddie’s ranch project is still freaking me out. ”

“I thought you said he was scaling back the construction. ”

“He is, but I ran the numbers again, estimating the size of their hotel. Even with the new smaller scale, our projected loss is still too high. ”

“I think you’re making too big a deal out if it,” Sorrow said. “Think about it for a sec. ”

“That’s all I’ve been doing,” she shot back.

Sorrow kept her patience and said gently, “I know, but the numbers will work out. Their resort will be totally different from the lodge. It’ll be more like a spa. Mud baths, massages…it’ll draw visitors to Sierra Falls we’d never get otherwise. ”

“I guess we do mostly get hunter-hiker types. ”

“Now we’ll get hunter-hiker wives. ” Sorrow reached over and put a hand on her knee. Earnestly, she said, “We’ll be fine. It might even be good for us. Have you thought about that?”

“I guess it would be nice to have a place to get a decent mani-pedi without having to drive all the way to Silver City. ”

“There you go,” Sorrow said brightly as she riffled through the stack and grabbed a new magazine. “You’ve got to have a good attitude about it, because I don’t think there’s any stopping it. If Eddie tried—”