Season of Sisters (43 page)

"Not air-conditioned." Nicholas nodded toward the oscillating fan. "Chloe, it's August in Texas. This trailer is like an oven."

She lifted her chin. "I like the heat. And you're supposed to keep the house warm for babies."

Nick pinned her with a skeptical look.

"Okay, maybe not this warm, but I'm going to buy a new window unit next time I go to town. Snake left me some money."

Thirty-seven dollars and twenty-nine whole cents. She'd found it yesterday stuck in the pocket of an old pair of jeans he'd left behind. "Besides, pioneers didn't have air-conditioning, and they made out okay. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here now. All the babies would have died on the prairie."

"If they'd all been born inside this trailer, you're right." Sighing, Nick continued, "Okay, think about this instead. You're a long way out from town here, Chloe. A long way from the hospital. From doctors. The cops."

"Cops?" Her muscles tensed. "Why do you say cops?"

Nick waited a measured beat before saying, "You're a woman alone. Soon, a woman and child alone. What if you need help?"

"Snake will come back." She folded her arms and propped them on her stomach. "We love each other."

"He's a lucky man to have your love. Once he comes home, there is nothing to stop y'all from moving back out here."

"I am not leaving. This is where Snake wants me to be." Besides, she didn't have the money to live anywhere else.

Nicholas leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. "The Widow Duncan won't let you stay here, Chloe. She's adamant about it. Snake might own a half-share of this mobile home with his mother, but since she owns the land outright, Snake's share isn't enough. If you won't leave, she's determined to have you evicted."

"What sort of lady evicts a pregnant woman from a trailer house?"

"She believes she's protecting her grandchild. She's offering you a place to stay."

"With her!" Chloe scowled at him. "I'd rather live in an outhouse than live with that woman. And you! I can't believe you're siding with her. What kind of lawyer are you, anyway?"

"A retired one, last I checked," he muttered. Frustration flashed in his eyes, then he sighed. "Look, Chloe. She has the legal right to force you out of here. Help me help you. Let's figure out a way both you and Widow Duncan can be happy."

"She doesn't really want me to live with her. She's just being mean."

"You probably shouldn't have thrown Jell-O at her at the Piccadilly in front of her Sunday school class."

"She shouldn't have told everyone I'm not good enough for Snake." It was because of the weight gain. Chloe just knew it. How fair was that? "If I hear her say one more time that she only gained twelve pounds carrying Snake, I'm going to have morning sickness all over her orthopedic shoes!"

"Herbert. Mrs. Duncan always uses his real name." Nick sat back, considered her, then said, "I know of a nice place in town that would be perfect for you and the baby."

"I won't leave here, Nick. I won't. My sister's flying in from California. She'll take care of me. She always does. I won't be alone, and we'll buy an air conditioner, and everything will be okay."

Chloe watched the lawyer process this new information, and the subtle change in his expression told her he'd decided to wait and argue his case with Tess. Well, Chloe couldn't wait to see that. Nick might be a hotshot negotiator, he might be the best attorney in Texas, but Chloe would bet those last thirty-odd dollars that once her sister came to town, Nicholas Sutherland would finally meet his match.

Chapter 3

"Cedar Dell, Texas," Tess read aloud as she drove her rented Lexus sedan past the green and white city limit sign a little after eight that evening. Deserted streets and blinking traffic lights fulfilled her preconceived notion of the town two hours west of Fort Worth. "Welcome to Mayberry on Valium."

Chloe's directions took Tess past a charming town square where a gazebo trimmed in white mini-lights sat at the center of a park. With no traffic to interfere, Tess slowed the car and glanced around. Ornate streetlights illuminated the park area. A brick walk meandered past wrought-iron benches and beneath the spreading boughs of huge oak trees. Flowers bloomed in riots of color everywhere she looked. Tess had to give the small town credit. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a city park this warm and welcoming, especially at night.

More streetlights and modern spotlights added to the illumination provided by the strings of lights that outlined the buildings surrounding the park. Carved stones set above the doorways dated construction to the 1880s. Striped awnings added a festive air, even in the absence of people.

At the stop sign, Tess turned right. The bowling alley where Chloe had told her to meet her if she arrived before ten o'clock should be coming up. There it was—a red, white, and blue neon sign shaped like a bowling pin. Harmon Lanes.

"Must be thirty cars in the parking lot," she murmured. Obviously, this was the small town's hot spot on Monday night.

The tires of the Lexus crunched on the gravel parking lot. Tess parked, switched off the ignition, and climbed out of the car. Heat hit her like a fist, the nighttime temperature continuing to hover in the nineties.

She stood staring at the neon lights on the building. A strange sensation rolled through her stomach, and it took her a moment to recognize it. She was nervous. The fact that she was nervous annoyed her.

It shouldn't be this way. Chloe was her sister, the only family Tess had left. They should share more than occasional telephone conversations. They should be friends, confidantes. They should spend holidays together. They should shop for shoes together. That's what sisters did.

"That's what we'll do," she declared, punching the button on the keyless remote to lock the car. "Chloe and me and her baby."

Her baby. Wow. Maybe it'd be a girl. A little Chloe. Imagine that. "I wonder if the world is ready."

Tess slung her purse over her shoulder and started for the door. A couple exited the building as she reached it. They smiled at her and said hello, and the man stepped back to hold the door open for her.
Welcome to the South.

The smells hit her the moment she walked in the door. Not bad odors, just a strange combination. Popcorn and perfume and... perm solution?

The sounds were more what she expected. Balls rolling down wooden alleys, the hard clatter of pin striking pin, the buzz of conversation spiced with laughter. It was a happy, relaxing sound. Her lips lifted in a little smile as she gazed around the room, looking for her sister.

"Miss McKinney?"

Tess turned toward the pleasant male voice. Her first impression placed him with the computer whizzes of Silicon Valley rather than the bowlers of Cedar Dell. Mid-twenties, she'd guess. Tall and lanky, he had a long, thin face, freckles, and auburn hair. He wore a Texas-friendly smile.

"Yes, I'm Tess McKinney."

"I thought you must be. You and Chloe share a strong family resemblance. I'm Stewart Mooney, and Chloe asked me to watch for you. I'm a friend of hers. We met at the library a few months ago. Chloe is a voracious reader, although you must know that. Has she always been a sci-fi fan? That's how we got to be friends, you see. We're both big into sci-fi."

Tess couldn't help but smile at him. So filled with enthusiasm, so eager to please, if the man had a tail he'd be wagging it right now. "She liked fantasy novels when she was a child. I thought she read mostly self-help books now."

"Self-help? Oh, no. Not that I've noticed."

"Good." That had been another one of Chloe's phases. Every week she'd had a new condition to overcome.

Tess glanced around the bowling alley, searching for her sister. "Chloe asked me to meet her here. Do you know—"

"They're having the shower back in the community room. It's a female-only event. I know in other places it's become popular for men to attend gift showers, but in Cedar Dell we're still traditional about those types of things. In fact, I probably should warn you that some folks in town were against having the baby shower. Because she's a... well... nontraditional mother."

As in unwed, Tess supposed.
Welcome to small-town Texas.

"The community room is this way." Stewart motioned right.

As they walked, he explained to her about the hodgepodge that was Harmon Lanes. Established in the years following World War II, Harmon Lanes had evolved into something bigger than a simple bowling alley after a tornado leveled much of the town back in the 1960s. The storm's path took it just north of the square and destroyed many of Cedar Dell's churches and much of its commercial space. Jack Harmon, the owner of the bowling alley, responded by closing off half his bowling lanes and making the area available for meeting space.

Stewart pointed toward what first appeared to be an office with a door and a large plate glass window. "That's Profile Beauty Salon. Jack remodeled a storeroom into a beauty shop for his wife's hairdresser. Over there is our little restaurant, with the soda fountain he salvaged from the drugstore after the tornado blew through it."

Tess read the sign above another glass-fronted room: "Harmon Lanes Gift and Antique Shop."

"The gift shop came later," Stewart explained, noting her interest. "It's now one of the most successful shops in town. In fact, you might want to make a stop in there. I can't help but notice you don't have a gift. Your sister is registered at Harmon Gifts, so you can get her something she needs. They stay open late on Monday because it's bowling league night."

Well. She'd certainly received her marching orders. In the gift shop, Tess chose a cellophane-wrapped basket of diaper-changing supplies. She signed a card while the teenager running the register tied a blue-and-pink bow around the handle.

Tess was tired and stressed and anxious to see her sister. She walked with quick, determined steps toward the double doors marked "Community Room."

Smiling, she thanked Stewart for his help, then pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The room was empty. A half-eaten sheet cake, used punch cups, and cake plates were piled upon a tray. Unwrapped boxes sat stacked on a table. Baby monitors, boxes of diapers, an infant carrier, Tess noted. A crib, a cradle, and clothing. But no Chloe.

The door opened behind Tess, and she swung around. An attractive blond in her mid-thirties smiled at Tess. "Are you looking for Chloe McKinney's shower?"

"Yes."

"You must be Tess." The blond woman set down the empty punch cups she carried, then extended her hand. "I'm Kate Cooper. So nice to meet you."

Tess shook hands. "It appears I'm too late."

"Oh, no. Not at all." She ladled yellow punch into a cup. "In fact, this is great timing. Chloe has worked herself into a tizzy, and I think she needs you."

"What's wrong?"

Kate Cooper winced. "Oh, one of Cedar Dell's old busybodies said something critical about her weight, and then Snake Duncan's mother showed up with a cheap gift and an eviction notice."

"An eviction notice!"

"Yeah. I wouldn't worry too much about that. Nicholas Sutherland is a stand-up guy. He's the lawyer Mrs. Duncan talked into drawing up the papers. He'll watch out for Chloe."

Tess smiled grimly. Damned lawyers. "Where's my sister?"

"She's crying in the bathroom."

That, Tess knew from experience, was not a good sign. "Which way?"

Kate led Tess out of the community room, then down a hallway. Taking a right into another corridor, Tess halted abruptly. The half-dozen women wearing worried expressions huddled around the ladies' room door looked up when Kate Cooper announced, "Her sister's here."

She felt like Moses at the Red Sea as the crowd parted before her. As she placed her hand on the door to push it open, a woman wearing dangling grape earrings reached out and patted her shoulder. "Good luck, dear."

Oh, lovely.

The restroom smelled like vanilla potpourri, and to Tess's surprise contained a sitting area with a large lighted mirror and vanity, a small floral love seat, and two wingback chairs. No normal, slightly dingy ladies' room for a place like Harmon Lanes. Beyond the sitting room in the stall section, Tess heard the rattle of a toilet paper roll and the honk of a nose being blown. Tess set her purse and gift basket on the vanity and waited for Chloe to emerge.

If she hadn't recognized the sound of her sobs, Tess might not have recognized the woman who shuffled into the sitting room. She'd gained weight, true. A lot of weight. But the rest—from her dowdy lace-trimmed maternity dress to her ragged, untended fingernails to her—oh, my—total lack of makeup, the Chloe McKinney Tess knew and loved had gone missing. More shocking, frightening even, was her sister's choice of footwear. Maybe pregnancy had swollen Chloe's feet, and she couldn't fit into her shoes anymore. But couldn't she find a pair of sandals'? This was her baby shower. She was the star of the evening. Why in the world was she wearing house slippers?

Oh no, she's really let herself go.

"Chloe?"