Page 6 of Dance in the Light
The family held a short private ceremony grave side, then closed the lid on the casket.Goodbye old Tom, dear friend.
Every sister was in tears as it lowered into the ground—except Cindy. She stood her ground, stoic, staring off into space, acting strong.
No one knew her as well as me—her time was coming where she’d finally explode and tears would fall nonstop. Would I bethere for her like I was the day her mom died? Would she let me wipe her tears away again?
FIVE
THREE MONTHS
RYAN
The next afternoon, Megan texted and asked me to bring my truck over after work to the Hale farmhouse. She wanted me to help them move some things around, which seemed to me a little fast to be going through Tom’s things, but who was I to judge?
I parked in front and helped Rose out of her car seat.
“Papa?” she pointed, using the name she called Tom. Knowing she’d never really remember him as she aged hit me harder than I’d like.
“No Papa today, honey.” I chewed my cheek, uncertain if I should be here after all, when Gabby opened the door.
“Rosebud! Come here.” My girl went right to her, giggling. “You’re just in time to save me and Daphne from a sisterly fight.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Can you watch her for a while?” I stepped through the doorway and women fighting hit my ears.
Daphne crossed the crowded living room, headed for the door. “I’m out of here. You know they’re going to do whatever they want, no matter what we say, anyway.”
Did I need to be scared? I entered the kitchen to find Marcie, Megan, and Cindy at odds, each with twisted faces and arms folded across their chests, in some sort of sisterly tug-of-war.
“Hey. What’s going on in here?”
They all but ignored me. Megan, known to many as the bossy one, spoke up first. “These two don’t agree with me. We need to pack up all of Dad’s crap and put it into the barn. Kevin and Robbie want to have the house cleaned as soon as possible and make way for renters.”
“But why so soon?” I asked. “What’s the hurry?” This wasn’t my fight, but jeez, could these women chill out, ride things slowly for once?
The thought of someone else living in this house didn’t sit well. And when would I stop and admit how crazy the Hale sisters made me, especially the one with red hair?
Cindy was quiet, looking at the floor.
Marcie attacked Megan’s plan. “Is it money? Like the Kerrigan’s need more. I still cannot believe Dad made that deal with Kevin to take over our farm. Can’t you get Robbie to talk to him?”
Since the day Marcie was a runaway bride, leaving Kevin behind at the altar, I doubt he’d gotten over her. To make matters worse, Robbie, his brother, had to go and marry Megan. It’s a twisted tale that the townspeople still talk about to this day.
“What’s done is done. And no, it’s not about the money. It’s about a house sitting here empty, with no one living in it. And before you know it, three months turn into six, then a year, and the house gets dilapidated and Kevin and Robbie will have to do more work to fix it up for renters,” Megan explained.
“Are you kidding me? The house is full of crap, hasn’t been cleaned in ages, piles of junk everywhere, the porch is falling down . . . there’s plenty to fix, whether it’s now or later doesn’t matter,” Marcie’s voice trilled up with agitation again.
I never noticed how much stuff had accumulated since their mother’s passing. Hoarding seemed too much of an insane type of word for a decent man like Tom Hale. But now that he was gone, maybe we could all finally admit the elephant in the room.
“They’d rather deal with it now,” Megan countered. Back and forth it went between the two of them for a few more minutes.
Finally, Cindy threw a white kitchen towel onto the floor in the middle of the room and spoke up. “I’ll pay three months’ rent to keep Kevin’s hands off this place. That’ll give us until the end of August to go through the house and all the things.”
Her sisters gaped at her like she was crazy. My jaw hit the floor because—three months of Cindy in town meant I’d run into her more often. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“I just said, it’s not about the money, you don’t have to pay?—”
“Okay, Megan, but it’s aboutour time. We’re not ready. I can’t bear the thought of saying goodbye to this place yet. Can you?”
Marcie squints at her. “But you live in New York City. How often do you think you’ll be back to go through everything?”
