Certainly Sensible (5 page)

Caroline grabbed the remote and muted the volume. She turned to Susan, determined to bring up the subject none of them had mentioned. “Mom, you still haven’t talked to Allie, have you?”

“No, not yet, although I’m sure she’s already had an email from the new Mrs. Benedict.” Susan shook her head. “That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”

“Okay, she probably does know that Dad got remarried, but you can’t keep the rest of this from her,” Caroline insisted.

“I think it would be best to wait until she finishes final exams.” Susan returned to the kitchen. She turned off the burner under the stir fry pan and slid it to the back of the stove. Then she went to the fridge and started pulling out vegetables for a salad.

Caroline got between her mother and the open fridge door. “You know Allie doesn’t handle change well, Mom, and she doesn’t like to be blind-sided either.”

Susan nodded. “All I’m trying to avoid is telling her bad news while she should be concentrating on her exams.”

“Maybe you’re not giving her enough credit,” Caroline said.

“I’m just going by past experience. Do you remember when she was in high school and she lost that statewide piano competition? She thought she played brilliantly, but she was upset because the boyfriend
du jour
had dumped her, and she lost.”

Caroline shuddered at the memory. A small private college in Indianapolis, Bradley University, was hosting the finals in their Central Hall. Allie played well despite her distraction, but unfortunately, her main competitor played better, and the judges awarded first prize to the other girl.

“Second place?
Second
?” Allie had screamed. “No way! I was better than that no-talent fraud!”

Obviously Allie hadn’t played her best, but she refused to accept that. She yelled and cried so much it brought on a migraine, and she went to bed for three days. It was the longest three days of everyone’s lives.

Caroline nodded. “Oh, I remember. All too well. But she’s not in high school anymore, Mom.”

“Allie may be older, but she still reacts in the same dramatic way, and I’d never forgive myself if telling her this news caused her to flunk.” Susan reached around Caroline for the bag of lettuce and went to the sink to start rinsing its contents.

“I should call her,” Caroline said, drumming her fingers on the laminate countertops. “She’ll be furious if we don’t tell her.”

“Not until after her exams,” Susan insisted. “She doesn’t know it, but this is her last semester at Bryce, so let her have a few more days to enjoy it. Please, Caroline, promise me.”

This secrecy didn’t feel right to Caroline, but for her mother’s peace of mind—and her sister’s—she finally nodded assent. “But what if—”

At that moment Megan yelled into the kitchen. “Hey, Mom, if Allie’s leaving Bryce and I don’t go back to Willowby, where am I supposed to go to school next year?”

Susan turned her back to both daughters while tossing lettuce into the salad bowl. “If we’re going to live in Rosslyn Village, probably Rosslyn High School.”

Megan jumped up off the sofa, looking both stunned and angry. She shrieked, “No! Transferring to Belford High would be bad enough. But Rosslyn? Are you crazy?”

“You’d have to live here with Dad and Sharlene if you want to go to Belford…” Caroline didn’t finish her sentence because Susan quietly shook her head and made a slash mark under her chin. Caroline understood what her mom meant. Sharlene would never allow that.

Susan tried to hug Megan, who pulled away. “I’m sorry, Megs, but circumstances being what they are, things have to change.”

Tears spilled out of Megan’s eyes as she ran up the stairs two at a time and slammed her bedroom door. Caroline and Susan both stared after her, helpless and frustrated.

“Mom, don’t worry. Megan will adjust.”

Susan nodded. “I hope Allie will, too…” Susan’s voice trailed off as she went back into the kitchen.

Caroline stood there bewildered. And despite her mother’s insistence that Allie be kept in the dark, Caroline made up her mind to at least give her sister a hint of what she was coming home to.

The next morning Caroline sat on her bed, phone in hand, alternately punching in Allie’s number and hanging up before it rang. Her mother’s objections kept replaying in her head, but Allie needed to be told. So she gathered her courage one last time and hit her sister’s speed dial number. It rang several times and Caroline was about to give up, thinking it was going to voice mail, when her sister answered.

“Hi, Allie, I…”

“Caroline, hang on,” Allie said. “I’ve got Nathan on the other line.”

Caroline sighed and tapped her foot nervously while she waited on hold.

Allie clicked back in. “Sorry. Nathan’s on my case. I haven’t even started packing up my dorm room, and he’s ready to leave and head back to Belford. I told him to give me a couple of hours.”

Caroline remembered when Allie and Nathan had been in orchestra together at Willowby Prep and agreed to commute back and forth to Bryce. Since Nathan didn’t have a car but didn’t mind driving in Chicago, and Allie hated it, and Dad had given Allie a Toyota hatchback to transport her belongings to and from school, she and Nathan always carpooled.

“Are your exams over?” Caroline asked. “If Nathan wants to go ahead and leave, I could drive up there to get you. There’s something…”

“Well, if I let you do that,” Allie interrupted, “then what about my car? And how will Nathan get home? Your car isn’t big enough for all three of us.” Her voice trailed off, and Caroline could hear her kicking boxes around the room. “Are you still there, Car? Nathan’s mad at me because I went over to the music hall for one last practice session and lost track of time.”

That made Caroline cringe, because it was her sister’s last practice session there ever. Now she needed to spit the words out, let Allie know they were being forced out of their childhood home. “Well, yeah, but, Allie, we need to talk about…”

“Thanks anyway, Caroline, but I’ll just see you when I get home. I gotta go. I’ve got empty boxes and suitcases everywhere and nothing packed.”

“But…” Too late. Allie had already disconnected. Caroline chided herself for not speaking up. Now she had no idea how she was going to break the news to her sister about their impending move.

Getting accepted to Bryce Anthony Music Conservatory had been Allie’s dream, something she’d worked for all through high school. Allie had blossomed musically and academically at Bryce for two years, and now…

Caroline shook her head and slipped her phone in her handbag.
Mom was right. This bad news would be better delivered in person.

****

Caroline’s phone pinged with a text from Allie late that afternoon, just as Caroline was preparing to leave work and fight the rush hour traffic home.

—
Toyota’s packed, Nathan cooled down, and we’re trying to get out of Chicago. Bumper-to-bumper traffic. Nathan stored his stuff on campus. Mine’s in the car. Stopping for dinner in Lafayette. Tell Mom I’ll be home late.
—

Caroline typed in a reply.

—
I’ll wait up. We need to talk.
—

She grabbed her bag, slipped her phone in the pocket of her slacks, and headed for the front door, intending to stop and commiserate with Lucy at the front reception desk. However, Lucy was gone, the lamp next to her chair turned off, and the phones set to night messaging. “I sure could use a friend right now,” she said to herself.

“If you need a sounding board, I’m here.”

Caroline spun around to see Richard standing behind her, his briefcase in hand. “Oh, Richard,” she said, her heart fluttering, “you startled me.”

Richard smiled at Caroline, and she momentarily forgot all about the problems with Allie. “Walk you to your car?” he asked.

Caroline nodded as Richard held the door for her, then locked it, and set the alarm. Her Kia was parked at the other end of the office building’s open air parking lot from where Richard’s BMW was sitting under a shade tree, so the two of them walked leisurely toward her car. She beeped it open and tossed her bag on the passenger seat.

“So what did you need to talk to Lucy about?” Richard asked. “Not business, I imagine.”

Caroline looked up into Richard’s blue eyes and again almost lost her train of thought. Suddenly she felt over-heated and regretted that she was still wearing her denim jacket, even though she’d needed it inside the chilly air-conditioned office. She slipped it off and tossed it on top of her purse. “I was going to ask Lucy’s advice about Allie. Mom didn’t want her to blow her finals, so she still doesn’t know we’re moving.”

Richard leaned against Caroline’s car door, folded his arms in front of his chest, and frowned. “I feel like I should apologize for my sister’s behavior, but then again, no one’s ever been able to control Sharlene, not even Grandmother.” He glanced over at Caroline. “I guess Allie’s going to be surprised.”

“Shocked is more like it.”

Richard stood up straight and faced her. “I don’t know what Lucy would have told you, but my advice is to pull the bandage off and just get it all out there.”

Caroline realized he was probably right. “I’ll give it a try, but you know Allie’s kind of a drama queen.”

“Let me know how it goes,” Richard said. He opened the driver’s side door for her and shut it again once she was inside and settled.

Caroline rolled down her window. “Thanks, Richard. I…”

Richard glanced at her dashboard clock and suddenly looked stricken. “I’m meeting Misty for dinner, and she’s going to be furious if I’m late. Good luck with Allie.” He waved goodbye and hurried off to his BMW.

Caroline buried her head in her hands on the steering wheel and groaned. “Misty.”

****

Caroline had been watching out her bedroom window for Allie’s car. Turns out Allie’s prediction had been right; it was nearly midnight by the time she finally got home. Caroline stepped into her flip flops and tiptoed past Megan’s closed bedroom door and down the hall, intent on catching Allie before she got inside their house and stumbled over any of the packed boxes lying around.

Allie quietly opened the front door to the Benedict house and carefully set her suitcase on the floor inside. As she was attempting to make her way to the table lamp near the staircase, before Caroline could warn her, she stubbed her toe on one of the boxes and squealed in pain. “What the…?” Allie said. She fumbled in her handbag for her keys and got the attached penlight to illuminate the entry hall around her. With the tiny light in hand, she stumbled over to the table lamp and flicked it on. She stared in silence until Caroline flipped on the upstairs hall light.

“Allie?” Caroline whispered.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Allie called back, “trying to walk in the front door until I tripped over all these boxes. What is all this?”

Caroline sighed. “I tried to tell you this morning when I called, but you wouldn’t let me get a word in.” She walked down to the bottom of the staircase, faced her sister, and forced a smile. “So there’s news. We’re moving.”

Allie’s eyes widened. “Moving? What? Where?” She again took in all the moving boxes and shook her head in confusion. “Why?”

“I’m so sorry. I thought I’d be able to tell you about all this”—Caroline waved her arms around at the mess—“before you saw it for yourself. Dad and Sharlene are moving in here on the first of June. That’s when the lease on his penthouse is up.”

Allie all but collapsed onto one of the nearby boxes. Her gaze floated around the entry hall. The walls were bare, the bookshelves empty, decorations were missing, all packed in boxes. Slowly she got up and walked through the living room, family room, dining room, kitchen, circling back to the entry hall.

Susan came to the top of the stairs and whispered, “Allie, is that you? Where have you been? We expected you hours ago.”

“I’m here now!” Allie shouted. “What in the world is going on here?”

“Caroline, didn’t you tell her?”

Caroline nodded. Allie glared at both of them, hands on her hips.

Susan put a finger to her lips and pointed toward Megan’s room. “Sorry about the mess, Allie. We’ve got most of what we’re taking already packed, but…”

“Mom!” Allie interrupted. “What’s going on?”

“I just told you, Allie,” Caroline said. “Dad wants this house back, or really Sharlene wants it, and they want it in about ten days. Everything has just happened so fast.”

“If it helps, Caroline started packing some of the things in your bedroom,” Susan offered. “If you don’t unpack anything from school, it should save some time in the next few days.”

Allie ran to the top of the stairs and got in Susan’s face. “For God’s sake, Mom! Why didn’t anybody tell me about this? This is so unfair!”

Susan took a step back. “Caroline wanted to call you, but I was afraid to disturb you during finals, so…”

“Actually, Mom,” Caroline said, “I did try to tell her this morning, but…” She shouldn’t have given up so easily. She could see that Allie was devastated.

Allie crossed her arms and glared at them both. “So exactly where are we moving?”

Susan reached out to hug Allie, but Allie backed away. Susan’s arms fell limp at her side. “Emily was down from Chicago a few days ago, and she helped me find an adorable house in Rosslyn Village.”

Allie’s mouth dropped open. “Why Rosslyn Village?”

Susan offered a crooked smile. “Well, that’s the good news. I got a teaching job at Rosslyn High School for next fall.”

Allie narrowed her eyes at her mother. “So, great. Commute. And by ‘adorable’ do you mean small? What about my piano?”

Caroline and Susan exchanged glances.

“There’s no room for the piano, Allie,” Susan said. “It has to stay here. We’re taking a few things with us, but the new house is just too small for everything.”

“Then where am I supposed to practice? I can’t just quit for the entire summer! When I get back to school next fall…” Allie scrutinized her mother’s face. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

“Allie, we just don’t have any money for private education. Your dad… Well, there was a loophole in the divorce settlement that only requires him to pay for public-school expenses.”