Page 74 of Whisper of Temptation (Whisper Lake 4)

Shelby’s mouth was agape as she shook her head. “I thought you meant he was talking to her on the phone.”

“No. She’s here.”

“And you left them there!?” her sister screeched.

Sara was really happy that she’d put earbuds in. “Of course I did. I was the one that said that he should answer her calls.”

“Why?!” Shelby’s voice went up several octaves.

“Closure.”

“How are we related?” Shelby shook her head. “You think the stair mom is nice. You tell Mr. Magic to talk to his ex.”

“I’m an adult.” Sara didn’t think that her behavior was that out of the ordinary.

“You’re a saint, that’s what you are.”

“Mama!”

Sara looked up to see Charlotte waving furiously as she and Sally were led on the stage, by Chrissy’s daughter Fiona. Sara had run into Chrissy earlier while she and the kids were walking around the lake. They’d talked for a few minutes and she genuinely seemed okay. She said that it had just taken her by surprise. It wasn’t that she’d never thought about divorce, it was that she’d always thought she’d be the one to file, so it was a blow to her ego more than anything.

The talk had given Sara the push she needed to write a blog post on the subject. There wasn’t one way that people experienced a marriage ending, and Sara wanted to give people a safe place where they could talk about it.

Familiar music started. “Charlotte’s about to dance.”

Sara switched the view on the phone so her sister could see the rehearsal. In the earbud, she could hear her sister oohing and ahhing at the cuteness overload. When the music stopped and they returned to their starting places to run it once more, she switched the view back.

“She looks so adorable,” Shelby exclaimed. “And she’s so good.”

Shelby might just be seeing Charlotte through proud-aunt rose-colored glasses, but since Sara saw her daughter through proud-mom rose-colored glasses, she agreed wholeheartedly. “I know, and she loves it. And she said that she and Sally have decided they’re sisters.”

“Sister’s huh? I didn’t know that you could choose those,” Shelby commented sarcastically. “And how’s the Trevinator?”

“He’s good. He’s actually kind of excited about performing in the talent show because he gets to go to the haunted castle afterwards.”

“You’re going to a haunted castle.”

Shelby knew how Sara felt about being scared. She hated it.

“No actually, Austin’s taking him.” Or he was before his ex showed up. Sara didn’t want her sister to read any emotion about that on her face so she quickly followed up with, “We decided that it would be better if Charlotte sat it out, so I’m going to take her to get cotton candy, which I’ve been putting off because you know how she gets when she’s hopped up on sugar. But tonight is the final night of the festival so it’s now or ne—”

“We decided?” Shelby’s eyebrows slowly rose.

Sara knew exactly where her sister was going with this, and she wasn’t going to play into her hand. So she ignored her. “How’re the girls doing? I saw the picture Amy posted on Facebook yesterday. They’re getting so big.”

“They are. We’re all fine. And nice try.” Shelby leveled Sara with a knowing glare. “Who is this we?”

“You know who we is.” Sara lowered her voice even though the nearest person to her was at least twenty feet away, and they probably couldn’t care less about her conversation.

“Oh, I do.” Shelby nodded. “I just was checking to see if you did, since you’re apparently still planning on leaving tomorrow.”

“Shelby, I don’t want to talk abou—”

“Nope. Sorry, you don’t get to play the I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-it card. That card is a privilege you have not earned in this situation,” Shelby stated proudly.

It was odd for Sara to be on the receiving end of the exact words she’d used on her sister and brother more times than she could count, especially through their teen years—and ninety percent of the time, she’d said those words to Shelby and not Matt. If Sara really thought either of her siblings were headed down a path that would end in disaster, she wouldn’t let them off the hook when they’d told her they didn’t want to talk about it. She’d revoke their card, explaining they hadn’t earned the right to use it, since they hadn’t thought their actions through.

“Wow. How long have you been waiting to say that to me?”

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