Page 10 of Booth

“Don’t be absurd.Of course, I don’t approve all marriages, that wouldn’t even be possible.What is wrong with you?”He laughed some more as the first of her luggage came around the conveyor belt.“That’s mine.Get it.”

“No.”He wouldn’t want Dee to get it either, so she didn’t.They all three watched as it made its way around the conveyor belt again.“You packed it, and I’m not sure how much it weighs.From what I’m to understand, you were only going to be here for a couple of days.For all I know, that could besomeone else’s luggage too, and you’re trying to get me into trouble for laughing at you.”

“Lydia, you get it when it comes around.That’s the least you can do for me since I have to be here instead of you getting my luggage for me when I told you to.”Dee said she had better things to do other than to tote and fetch for her much older sister.“Be quiet about that.No one needs to know that I’m older than you.Just you shut up about that and get my luggage when it comes around again.”

It went around two more times before Lynn got the message that no one was going to get her luggage for her.By the time the third and final piece came around, it had been on the belt for so long that it was the last piece there, and the luggage crew was ready to take it to lost and found.So far, this was turning out to be more fun than he’d thought that it would be.The big sister was in for a rude awakening if she thought that either him or Dee was going to be giving in to her demands.

The ride to the hotel was made in tense silence.Lynn had said she was staying with her sister, and he said no, they were just getting their house put together and she wasn’t actually.He couldn’t wait for his mom to meet her.He’d told them all about the judging of who is marrying or not, and Mom was going to go with that.Booth couldn’t wait.

The first thing that was out of her mouth was that the hotel wasn’t five-star, and she wasn’t going to stay there.Dee told her that since she’d never volunteered any money toward her staying, she’d stay where she put her or pay for her own upgrade.He was never so proud of his wife as at that moment for her standing up to her sister, being a bully.

Not only did she stay, but she also paid for an upgrade to her room, and told Dee that they’d settle this up before she left.Dee told her as far as she was concerned, it was finished, and if she charged anything to the room, she was going to be responsible for it.She’d only paid for part of the room.

“I don’t know who you’re trying to show off for, but I’m not going to allow you to talk to me this way.You’ll get yourself straightened out, or there will be hell to pay.I’m not going to be putting up with this, just so you know.”Dee told her that what she knew was that she wasn’t going to be her punching bag while she was here, and for her to get used to her having a backbone.“We’ll see about that, now won’t we.I can and will make a call to our parents if you continue acting like you are.They’ll have plenty to say to you, I’m sure.”

“I’m sure that I’m over twenty-one and have plenty to say to them right back.They’ve had no part of my life any more than you’ve had over the last decade and a half so whatever you tell them you make sure that you mention that you were a bitch first.”Lynn was pissed off if the vein in her forehead was any indication.It was throbbing like a heartbeat and doing a good job of making sure that everyone around her knew it.“Since I have a job tomorrow and Booth has to work, too, we’ll be forgoing the dinner tonight.I’m tried and you’ve been a bitch.So I’ll see you tomorrow.Don’t forget to rent yourself a car, Lynn.I won’t be at your beck and call while you’re here.I didn’t want you to visit, and I don’t plan on changing my plans to accommodate you anymore than I have to.”

They left.The two of them went to the car and got in.Booth was positive that Lynn was still standing outside her door with her mouth hanging open, wondering what had happened.By the time they had left the parking lot of the hotel, Dee was laughing so hard she told him that she hurt.It was a good day for the two of them, and they still had three more days with the other woman.

~*~

Dee greeted her sister at the front door of her home.She was quite proud of the fact that she’d not remembered to give her the address last night and got to time her visiting because she’d had to send her a link on Maps to show her how to get here.The car that she rented wasn’t made for back roads like they had in town, but it suited her sister quite well when she got to the house with a dusty car.

“This is my mother-in-law, Betty Dixon.And in the event you need to approve my marriage to this family, you’ll have to go and get a copy of our license when you’re in town.We are married, and I don’t care what you have to say about it.”She told her to stop being a shit.“I’m only giving back to you the kind of energy you’re giving me.I’ve read about that so many times that I understand how it works now.Until you start acting like a human being, I’m going to be acting out at you the same as you are to me.See how that works?”

“I see that you’re showing off in front of your supposed in-laws.That’s all I see.”Dee shrugged and told her that she could believe what she wanted.“I want you to take me to lunch today.We have plenty of things to discuss.Also, don’t think I didn’t notice this house has to be in the five figures.So I know that you’re not hurting for money.You’ll give me what in that regard, too.”

“The house is in the five figure range but that doesn’t mean shit for you.It’s our house and what we wanted and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be messing with my payments to suit whatever you have going on in your head.”Dee sat down at the table she’d been working at when her sister arrived.“I talked to Mom and Dad last night.You having them call me was quite nice.But that didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to either.They told me that you should be minding your own business when it comes to what you’ve said to me up until now.They also congratulated me on my recent marriage.”

“They were just buttering you up for the strike.They want money too.”Dee told her that she’d turned them down as well.“Just like that, you have money and you’re not going to help out your family?You’ve heard the old saying, family comes first.I guess not for you.Sounds so like you.What if I told you that I’ve been to your bank and they’re going to give me access to all your money?”

“I’d say you’re a liar and that there is no way that the bank is going to allow you free rein over my money or the savings accounts that Booth and I have together.I did talk to them before you got here, so I’m sure they have a better understanding as to what would happen to them if they were to give you so much as a penny from all my accounts.”She said bullshit.“Whatever you call it, Lynn, it’s not going to happen.I’m no longer a child where you can bully me into getting what you want.Not now, not ever again.”

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?”She said that was the second time she’d said that, and it still made no sense to her.“I’m the oldest, and what I say goes.”

“You’re definitely the oldest, but that ship has sailed a long time ago.I’m my own person, and what I say goes when it concerns my life.What did you really come here for?When I spoke to you on the phone, I told you that I wasn’t going to give you any money.Especially for the amount you said I owe you.I’ve never owed you anything in my life, so I have no idea where that might well have come from.”Lynn said that she was willing to have half a million dollars instead of the entire amount.“That’s very generous of you, but not going to happen even if you’re willing to take ten bucks, I’m not going to give it to you at all.”

“You’ll at least give me the money for my ticket to get here and the upgrade on my hotel.”Betty laughed and said she’d heard about that.She still thought it was funny.“You stay the fuck out of our family issues.I’m in charge right now, and the sooner she gets it into her head that what I say is gospel, the better off everyone will be.Now go and knit something and leave us to talk.”

The slap to her sister’s face startled her as much as it looked like it did her sister.But she felt like if anyone deserved it, it would have been Lynn.She stood her ground, too, when she drew back her fist to hit her.

“You let that fly, and I’ll have you arrested so quickly that you’ll be in jail before you connect with my cheek.As I’ve said to you before, I’m not the same person I was before, and you’re not going to be bullying me anymore.”She not only dropped her hand but shook off the anger that was still evident on her face.“Now, I’m not giving you money.That is written in stone.And if you ever talk about my family like that again, I’m going to knock you three ways from Sunday.I will not tolerate you being mean to them simply because you’re a bitch.”

The look of confusion on her sister’s face was perfect.She wasn’t understanding how she’d lost the upper hand on her.Dee knew it was having a family that were normal around her.Knowing that they didn’t demand money from you simply because they thought that they deserved it more than you did.As soon as her cell phone rang, Dee turned back and walked away from her sister, knowing how much she hated to have people turn their backs on her.Answering her phone, she was just as surprised by the caller as she was her sister being a bigger bitch than she’d been the last time she’d seen her.

“It’s Shawn, your brother.Is Lynn causing you any trouble?”She said that she was, but nothing she couldn’t handle.“That’s what Dad said about you when he called me just now.He also told methat Lynn had gone to you, demanding a million dollars from you.You’re not going to give it to her, are you?”

“No.You either if you’re going to ask.”He said that he didn’t need her money; he was doing just fine on his own, thanks.“Why are you calling me then?I mean, the last time I heard from you, you were demanding things from me as well.”

“Let’s just say that, like you, I’ve met someone.And unlike you, I got my ass handed to me when I started treating him like I did you.It didn’t bode well for me, and after getting out of the hospital for a long three-month stay, I learned to keep my mouth shut and out of other people’s business, too.”She congratulated him.“Thank you.Mom and Dad are different as well.They’re good people now, if only a little on the broke side, but I’m helping them when they really need it and not all the time.Lynn has blown any kind of chance to get to know me and my new family just by being the person before you.”

She could see that Betty was ignoring her sister.Lynn was making demands, but the older woman wasn’t worried about them, apparently.As soon as her brother asked to speak to Lynn, she told him that she’d rather he call her on her cell phone, as she liked the one that she had.That made him laugh, which was what she’d been hoping for.Lynn’s cell phone rang as soon as the call was disconnected from her own phone.

While she didn’t know what was going on with what Shawn was saying to Lynn, she could tell that it was a mostly one-sided conversation.Whatever he was saying to her was pissing her off at him and she went back to work on the calendar she was putting together with Betty’s help.

They were going to share a calendar, but Dee wanted to have a hard copy of one that she would put in her office.Right now, they were using the dining room table as a desk, as there was so much information going on between them, and she didn’t want to miss any of it.But her desk and chair were going to be delivered tomorrow afternoon, and she’d be able to hang it up then.So far, she was loving working for the other Dixon woman.

“There are dates, too, that the other two have.Milly and my mom have their own timeline on getting things done as well.You’ll have to have theirs as well, honey.They do a lot, the two of them, but they’re much more relaxed about timetables.You’re like me and want it done now.Aren’t you?”She said that she likes things to be finished so she’s not scrambling at the deadline.“That’s me, too.They make an art of getting to the deadline on time.”

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