Page 11 of The Wish List
“I’m sure Mom would enjoy seeing Zach, Timmy and Shauna,” Freya continued. “I’m in charge of the food, so we’ll have plenty.”
Beth did her best not to gape. What in the world was her sister thinking to invite Declan and their neighbors to Thanksgiving dinner?
One glance at Declan’s expressionless features told Beth that he thought the invitation as strange as she did. She nearly breathed out a sigh of relief that he would reject the offer. Instead, he shocked her by nodding. “I’m sure Shauna would appreciate that.”
“Will you have extra whipped cream?” Zach asked. “Mommy makes it homemade because she said the tub is full of chemicals.”
At Declan’s choked snort, Freya gave a soft chuckle, open and appealing.
Maybe there was already something going on between her beautiful, sensual sister and Shauna’s guy.
Freya had been the demise of several high school couples when they were younger thanks to her constant flirting. Beth couldn’t say for certain that her sister understood her own appeal.
“The whipped cream tonight is going to come from a canister, but I’ll spray it into your mouth.” Even Beth smiled as both boys went wide-eyed.
“Cool,” Timmy murmured.
“Let’s go get your mom,” Declan said, ruffling both boys’ hair in unison.
He’d gone from irritation to affection in the blink of an eye like it was natural. Beth wished she could manage a trick like that.
When both boys were loaded in the car, he backed out of the driveway. Beth moved toward her sister. “You shouldn’t have invited them.”
“Why? Shauna was nice when I first got here. I think she and Mom are friendly.”
“Birds of a feather,” Beth muttered. “We’re going to have our hands full today.”
“That could be the understatement of the century,” her sister told her. “When was the last time you were inside Mom’s house?”
“Years. Why?”
“It’s pretty bad in there.”
Beth blinked. “What are you talking about?”
Freya nodded her head toward their mother’s two-story home. It had been built in the sixties in a Cape Cod style. It was a three-bedroom, which meant Beth and Freya had their own rooms until Trinity was born.
Their parents moved Beth and Freya in together to give the baby more space. But Trinity had wanted to sleep with May when their father left, so Beth kicked Freya out of their room. That’s how the arrangement had stayed until Freya left town after high school.
At the time she’d forced the change, Beth hadn’t figured Freya would care. She and Trinity had always been closer but looking back she wished she hadn’t insisted that, as the older sister, she deserved her own space. At this point, she couldn’t remember what had been so awful about sharing a room with her sister in the first place.
“Mom and I meet in town or she comes to my place,” she told Freya. “Seriously, what’s wrong with the house?”
Freya grimaced. “You can see for yourself. She’s not exactly a candidate forHoarders, but it’s going to take a lot of cleaning to get the first floor ready for her to move back.”
Beth glanced at her watch. “Is it going to be okay for today? We don’t have much time until I’m scheduled to pick her up.”
“It’s under control,” Freya said, wrapping her cashmere sweater more tightly around herself as she started back toward the house. “I’ve been working all morning. You’re not the only one who can handle important tasks. Trinity and I are both functional adults.”
“Is she functional enough to handle being a mother?” Beth asked quietly. “I still don’t understand why she didn’t tell us.”
Freya’s shoulders seemed to deflate slightly. “I’m sure she didn’t want to upset you, but why wouldn’t she have told me?”
“What do you mean upset me?” Beth demanded.
Freya glanced over her shoulder. “Everyone knows how much you wanted to have a baby. I’m sure Trin is sensitive to that.”
“My infertility issues don’t prevent me from being happy for her. What kind of person do you think I am?”
