Like One of the Family. Kimberly Meter Van

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СКАЧАТЬ firmly believed that strong women were often labeled out of insecurity. She lifted her chin. “Yes, well, I’m here now.”

       “Yes, finally.”

       “There you go being dramatic again,” she muttered, adjusting the thin band of her watch against her skin, hating that every square inch of her skin was damp. She could already feel sand in all sorts of places it didn’t belong. “You said Pops was about to lose the resort. Something about back taxes and a lien against the property, which honestly isn’t something I’m going to freak out about until I’ve had my lawyers take a look.” Oh, damn. She no longer had lawyers. The company had a vast stable of lawyers at its disposal, something she’d learned to take for granted, which is why the statement had rolled so blithely from her tongue. But why admit that to Heath, she thought churlishly, the heat and the situation leaching away the last vestige of grace available to her. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’re making it sound,” she snapped, wiping at the sweat dotting her hairline. She’d forgotten how awful the island humidity was. It felt as if a big, wet elephant were sitting on her chest. Just the act of breathing was a chore. How had she ever lived here without keeling over in a drippy, soggy mess?

       “If it were just the taxes, I wouldn’t have taken your precious time,” Heath said, the caustic note in his voice hard to miss and stinging just a bit. “You knew that Lilah wasn’t up to the job,” he said, not even trying to hide the accusation in his tone. “She was in way over her head and now…”

       “So what is it then? What weren’t you willing to tell me about Pops unless I came? Lilah wouldn’t say, either.” Well, Lilah wasn’t exactly speaking to her at the moment, not after Lora berated her within an inch of her life for not handling things herself, which may have been a little harsh but she’d deal with that later.

       Heath’s mouth firmed and he seemed to falter under her direct query. His obvious hesitation gave her an odd, apprehensive tremor in the pit of her stomach. What could be so bad that Heath didn’t just spit it out? Oh, God, not cancer… Her fear conjured images of her mother and grandmother dying and she felt sick. “Just tell me,” she said, the words tight in her mouth but it was becoming hard to breathe.

       He shook his head, waving away her fear. “On the outside, Pops is healthy as a horse,” he said, confusing her. He shot a quick assessing gaze her way, then finished with a sigh. “It’s not his body that’s failing. It’s his mind. Pops has early onset dementia. He’s losing it and I don’t mean in the general sense that he’s becoming forgetful at times. He… Well, you need to see for yourself.”

       A chill washed over Lora. Pops? Dementia? Her grandfather was the only father figure she and her sisters had since their biological father decided he couldn’t handle being a daddy any longer and split, which was followed with impeccable timing by the death of their mother from cancer. It’d been a double tap of anguish with a nice sledgehammer slam just for fun. There were parts of her childhood she’d purposefully blocked out. Her parents splitting, both voluntarily and involuntarily, was a particularly painful topic that she rarely visited.

       Lora didn’t dare risk a glance at Heath. She didn’t want to see his condemnation. She heard it in his voice plain as day. If it was true that her grandfather was slowly losing his mind and she’d left Lilah and Heath to deal with it, she could understand why they were so pissed at her. Wouldn’t she feel the same? Yes. A small part of her wanted to rail at fate for being so cruel to her family. Wasn’t it enough that cancer had struck twice? Now they had dementia to deal with, too?

       She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat but she refused to let Heath know he’d struck a nerve. She made a living by concealing the tiniest flicker of unease or distress and she’d found a certain usefulness for the ability in her personal life. She focused on the road. “Last time I checked you were a handyman, not a doctor. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

       “You’re a piece of work,” he muttered, throwing the car into the next gear without finesse, causing her to jerk against the seat belt. “Chicago is the perfect place for someone like you.”

       “Is that so? And why is that?” she asked without a trace of humor to soften the sarcasm in her tone.

       “Because all the snow and ice is perfect for the frigid bitch you’ve become. I can’t believe you and Jack are related and, frankly, if anyone else’s name had been on the legal documents I would’ve gladly given them the information. As it is, you’re the one listed as the next of kin in the event something were to happen to Jack, and obviously Lilah isn’t cut out for this kind of stuff. I didn’t have much of a choice,” he added with a dark scowl.

       Lora stared out at the passing scenery, ignoring the sharp stab of hurt his words caused. As the oldest sister, she had assumed the responsibility of the family estate, such that it was, if one resort could be considered an estate, but Pops had never made it a secret that he wanted his little “sugar birds” to inherit the resort when he passed. With her other sister Lindsey, Lilah’s twin, in Southern California doing the actress thing, it seemed appropriate for Lilah to come and help out since she was the only one of the three who was still searching for a career—and failing miserably—but Lora hadn’t imagined that things could implode so badly with Lilah at the helm. “Just drive, please. I didn’t fly all the way here from Chicago to listen to you lecture me.”

       She longed to pinch the bridge of her nose to stem the sudden pounding in her sinuses caused by too much flora and fauna all at once, but she’d allow nothing that would betray her discomfort or the nagging sense of guilt that she’d shrugged off her responsibility and dumped it on her baby sister when deep down she’d known it wasn’t a good idea. But honestly, the woman had to grow up sometime and now had seemed as good a time as any, particularly when Lora had been too busy to attend to the issues herself.

       “Yes, ma’am,” Heath replied, the flip tone smacking in the face of his obvious anger. He kept his attention on the road, for which Lora was inordinately glad; it kept them from suffering through too much eye contact.

       It hadn’t always been like this between them, though the time when they’d actually been friends seemed far away now. She supposed she might’ve been to blame for the change, but it was so long ago she saw no point in picking apart history to reminisce.

       In an effort to ease the silence filling the car like a throat-clogging perfume, Lora asked, “So…how are things on the island? Everything seems pretty much the same as when I left.”

       “Small talk, huh? You sure you want to try something out of your field? I know your penchant for success in all things. I’d hate to witness your attempt at niceties crash and burn so badly.”

       “I’m just trying to be civil.”

       “Don’t bother. I lost any respect I had for you four months ago when my last email went unanswered and I had to sit in the urgent care with Pops after he’d wandered out and fell and hit his head. He needed twenty stitches, by the way.”

       Pops had fallen? Lilah hadn’t told her. “I don’t recall that message,” she said stiffly, shifting against the uncomfortable squeeze her conscience gave her for losing Heath’s message—not intentionally, she’d been buried under deadlines, meetings, dinner appointments and whatnot of her hectic life, she was tempted to point out—but she held her ground. “Neither you nor Lilah must have tried very hard. I’m always accessible as you discovered when you sent me the certified letter demanding I come home over this situation with the resort.”

       He cut her a short look and snorted. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. If I want to get your attention, a certified letter is necessary.” Heath scrubbed at his head, irritation hardening СКАЧАТЬ