Chapter 3
Chapter Three
T he Secret Sisterhood meeting was usually held in the hayloft of the Holiday’s big ol’ red barn. As far as Sunny was concerned, it was the ideal spot to cozy up with all six sisters and share secrets. Being that she was the newest member, Sunny felt obligated to be the first sharer. She definitely had a lot of secrets she’d been keeping.
Unfortunately, once Sweetie, the oldest sister and president of the club, called the meeting to order and asked if there was anything that needed to be discussed, Sunny struggled to reveal the sad truths about her own life and instead blurted out someone else’s.
“Sophie Mitchell stole her uncle’s truck and ran me off the road today!”
The sisters looked stunned—and probably more by Sunny’s sudden outburst than the actual information—before Liberty laughed.
“That sounds like something I would do.” She glanced at Belle sitting next to her in the hayloft. It still boggled Sunny’s mind how much the Holiday twins looked alike. They were both gorgeous with their raven hair and Holiday green eyes. Although, interestingly enough, as their pregnancies progressed, their bodies were starting to look different. Liberty’s hips had widened and she had a noticeable baby bump while Belle was barely showing. “Remember when we stole Daddy’s truck and went for a joyride, Belly?”
“You stole Daddy’s truck,” Belle corrected.
Liberty huffed. “Po-ta-to po-tah-to. You were with me.”
“Only because you needed a voice of reason with you—not that you listened to me when you ran straight into that ditch.”
“You were lucky neither one of you got hurt,” Cloe said. Clover Holiday Remington was the soft-spoken, protective sister. Her green eyes filled with concern when she turned to Sunny. “Are you okay?” Once Sunny gave the sisters all the details, Cloe looked even more concerned. “Are you sure you got it across to Sophie the seriousness of what she did?”
Sunny had spent the entire afternoon worried about the same thing. Which was probably why she’d blurted the truth out. “I tried to, but what if I didn’t? What if she drives and texts again and gets in a serious accident? It will be all my fault because I didn’t want her to get into trouble. But maybe she needed to be severely disciplined by Reid.”
“Severely?” Hallie laughed. “Reid? He’s a big ol’ pussycat.”
“He doesn’t seem like a pussycat to me. He seems more like a grumpy lion with a thorn in his paw.” Or a sexy panther who made Sunny weak in the knees.
“He’s just quiet and a bit of a loner.” Hallie tossed Sunny a can of Sprite from the mini cooler she’d brought up to the hayloft. Since they now had two nursing mothers and three pregnant women in the group, they no longer drank Mimi’s homemade elderberry wine at the meetings.
As she popped open the can, Sunny couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. She had spent years dreaming about what the sisters did in their secret meetings. Her wild imagination had conjured up blood rituals, male voodoo doll stabbings, and lots of shared naughty secrets. But so far, besides skinny-dipping at Cooper Springs, the meetings had been pretty tame. Which explained why Sunny hadn’t shared any of her wild exploits or best-kept secrets. She worried the sisters would toss her out of the club if they found out all the mischief she’d gotten into over the years and all the lies she’d told her brothers—and them.
And as tame as the meetings were, Sunny loved being part of the Sisterhood and a group of women who loved and supported each other. Hopefully, in time, Sunny would get the courage to share more truths.
“I think Reid is really trying to be a good guardian to Sophie,” Hallie continued. “He’s been asking me a lot of questions about teenage girls. Poor guy. It can’t be easy to deal with a grieving teenager while you’re doing your own grieving.” Tears entered her eyes, which was completely unusual for tough Hallie. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost a sister.”
Sunny stared at her. “Sophie’s mama died?” She had thought her mama just hadn’t wanted to raise her. She knew all about parents not wanting to raise their own kids.
Hallie nodded. “I don’t know all the details. Reid isn’t exactly the sharing type.”
“Poor Sophie.” Noelle entered the conversation. She was the youngest Holiday sister and the sister Sunny was the closest to. Probably because she was a bit of a fibber like Sunny. Noelle had fake dated Casey Remington, all to appease her thousands of social media followers. Sunny was only lying to her brothers . . . and the Secret Sisterhood . . . and the townsfolk. She cringed as Noelle continued. “I just feel for that sweet thing. Sophie looks so unhappy every time I see her. Now I get it. She’s grieving her mama. Not to mention that she had to move to a new town and a new school. High school can be so brutal.”
Hallie rolled her eyes. “Please don’t get into the entire thing about Casey bullying you, Elle. Especially when you ended up marrying your bully and are living happily ever after on a ranch bigger than this one.” Noelle had recently married Casey, who owned the Remington Ranch with his father, Sam, and brother, Rome—Cloe’s husband. Now she and Casey were expecting their first child. It really was a happily ever after. Sunny couldn’t help feeling a little jealous.
Noelle always seemed to get everything a girl could want.
All the Holiday sisters did.
Which explained why Sunny had been infatuated with them ever since she and Corbin had arrived in Wilder to live with their uncle. Or more like been forced on their uncle like unwanted baggage. Sophie wasn’t unwanted baggage. Her mama had no choice in leaving her. But Reid had had a choice. He could have refused to take his niece and left her to foster care. Instead, he had accepted the responsibility and seemed to care enough to ask Hallie for advice. Sunny’s uncle hadn’t given a crap about her and Corbin. The only reason he’d taken them in was because of the money her daddy sent him monthly. Money he had spent on booze and lottery tickets.
Reid might be grumpy, but at least he was trying. Still, Noelle’s comments about high school had Sunny worried. High school had been brutal—at least for her. While she hadn’t been bullied, she had been ostracized as the weird new girl who carried her sketchpad wherever she went. She couldn’t stand the thought of the same thing happening to Sophie.
“Does Sophie have any friends?” she asked.
Liberty scratched her growing belly and shook her head. “Not that I have seen, but I don’t hang around with teenagers much.” She glanced at Noelle. “What about you, Elle? Don’t all the kids come in for muffins after school?”
“Yes, but not Sophie. She only comes in with Reid and she never looks happy about it.”
“She might just be a moody loner like Hallie was,” Sweetie said.
“I was not a moody loner!” Hallie snapped. “I just wasn’t trying to win Miss Popularity like you and Lib.” Her brows knitted. “But maybe Sunny is struggling to make friends at school. I’ll talk to Jace and have him keep an eye out.” Hallie’s husband was the football coach at the high school. If anyone could spy on Sophie at school, it would be Jace.
“Good idea, Hal,” Sweetie said. “Once you find out, text us on the sister loop.”
“And what then?” Sunny asked. “If she doesn’t have any friends, how can we help her? It’s not like we can fix her situation at school.”
Cloe nodded. “That’s true. But maybe we can give her support outside of school.”
“Great idea, Cloe,” Belle said. “We could be like her big sisters.”
“I hate to rain on your big sister parade, Belly,” Liberty said. “But just when are we going to find the time to do that? We have obstetrician appointments and all our events here and in Austin and Houston. Not to mention, I have to help Jesse get the bed-and-breakfast ready for its grand opening. And don’t you and Corbin still have to finish decorating your new house? I just can’t see us having any spare time.”
Belle sighed. “You’re right. Corbin has already asked me to cut back.”
“And you should,” Cloe said. “You, Libby, and Noelle will need every ounce of spare energy for when your babies get here. Autumn Grace is over four months old and I still don’t have time to shave my legs.”
“I think I got to shave one armpit . . . a week ago,” Sweetie said. “Thank God Decker is as tired as I am and doesn’t notice.”
Hallie scrunched her face in disgust. “All it takes is one sisterhood meeting to scare me away from having kids.”
Sweetie laughed. “Kids are the best, Hal. They just don’t leave much time for anything else.”
“So I guess it’s up to me and Sunny to be Sophie’s big sisters?” Hallie heaved a sigh. “Fine. Maybe I’ll see if she wants to help out on the ranch after school. That might improve her and Reid’s relationship as well. And maybe you could teach her how to paint, Sun.”
Sunny got the same anxious feeling she always got when anyone brought up her painting. Luckily, she had an excuse for why she couldn’t teach Sophie to paint. “I wish I could, but I’m only staying a few days.”
The sisters all exchanged looks before Hallie spoke. “That’s right. I forgot. I guess that leaves me being the sole big sister. Now if that’s all we need to talk about, I vote we adjourn the meeting. I have a cute coach waiting for me.”
“I second that,” Cloe said.
Sweetie jumped in. “All those in fav?—”
Sunny was so disappointed about the meeting being cut short, she couldn’t help blurting out once again, “But it’s a full moon!” She pointed at the cloudy skies out the open hatch doors of the hayloft. “You can’t see it, but it’s full tonight. I checked. Isn’t it a rule that we have to go skinny-dipping at Cooper Springs on a full moon?”
“We don’t always skinny-dip on a full moon,” Liberty said. “Just when the weather is nice. It’s still a little to chilly for this sister.”
Sunny wouldn’t mind swimming in an ice block as long as she got to do something exciting with the Sisterhood. But she could tell by everyone’s faces that they didn’t feel the same way.
“You’re right, Libby.” She smiled and tapped herself on the head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Y’all need to get home to your sweet babies and good-lookin’ men.”
When everyone stood and headed toward the hayloft ladder, Noelle came over and gave her a hug. “We’ll go skinny-dipping next full-moon meeting. I promise. And it’s not like we won’t get to hang out together tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night?” Sunny looked at her with surprise. “Are we having a sister get-together?”
Noelle’s cheeks turned pink. “No . . . uhh . . .” Before she could continue, Hallie came over and hooked an arm around her sister—or more like put her in a headlock. “Come on, Elle. It’s obvious we’re both too tired to think straight.”
“Sunny!” Belle called. “We need to get home before it starts to rain.”
Since Corbin and Belle’s new house was only a hop, skip, and a jump from the Holidays’ house, Belle and Sunny had walked to the meeting. Because of the weather, Corbin hadn’t been keen on the idea. So Sunny wasn’t surprised to find her brother waiting outside the barn with an umbrella.
“How did the meeting go?”
Belle lifted up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Didn’t trust us to walk home in the dark, did you?”
“It’s not about trust. It’s about you two running off without being prepared.” He popped open the umbrella before clicking on the flashlight in his hand.
Belle laughed and hooked her arm through his. “My chivalrous, overprotective villain.”
Corbin smiled down at her with a dopey look. “You mean a whipped hero who would do just about anything for his lady?” He glanced at Sunny and winked. “Ladies.” He held out his other arm. “So what mischief did the sisters get into tonight?”
Sunny slipped her arm through his and sighed. “No mischief.”
None at all.
Once they got back to the house, Sunny talked Corbin and Belle into watching one of her favorite movies, The Shape of Water . But before the cleaning lady could fall in love with the amphibian guy, both Corbin and Belle were sound asleep with Gilley and Tay-Tay cuddled between them. Since she had lost interest in the movie too, Sunny turned off the television, tucked a throw blanket around them, and headed out to the front porch.
The storm had passed and the temperature had returned to the moderate night temps of early March in Texas—obviously, Liberty had just used the cold as an excuse to cut the meeting short. Which was weird. Sunny had heard stories of the sisters skinny-dipping in much colder temperatures. And what was the get-together Noelle had been talking about? Had the sisters planned something tomorrow night and Noelle had messed up by inviting her? As much as the Holiday sisters had welcomed Sunny into their fold, she knew she was still the outsider—the one with not a speck of Holiday blood running through her veins.
She didn’t know why she felt so upset. She should be used to it by now. She had spent her entire life being the outsider—the new kid who never quite fit in. When Corbin had been in elementary school with her, it hadn’t been so bad. They’d had each other. But when he had moved to middle school, she’d had to brave school all by herself. Most of her teachers had been understanding and nice. It was on the playgrounds and during lunch when she felt the most alone . . . and terrified.
Bullies preyed on kids who sat all alone looking scared.
So Sunny learned to hide her fear behind a bright smile and her sketchpad. She acted like she was perfectly fine sitting by herself under a tree or at a cafeteria table, drawing away.
She’d done the same thing every time her parents split up and she and Corbin were pawned off with another relative. She had smiled, with her sketchpad tucked under her arm and her trash bag of clothes at her feet, and waved until her mama’s or daddy’s car had driven out of sight. Unlike Corbin, who had grown angrier and angrier each time they’d been dropped off, Sunny had remained cheerful and positive.
There was no use getting angry over something you couldn’t change.
Or holding grudges.
While Corbin refused to even talk to their parents, Sunny called them once a week and sent them money every month. If she ever felt a twinge of bitterness or anger about her past life, she pushed it way down deep and did something exciting.
She glanced at the full moon hanging in the starry sky and smiled.
Like night skinny-dipping.
By the time she reached Cooper Springs, the full moon had risen even higher in the sky. It reflected in the dark pool of water like a rippling sheet of gold satin. Sunny didn’t hesitate to strip off her clothes and dive in.
Liberty was right. The temperature outside might not be that cold, but the water was freezing. She swam vigorously for a few minutes to get her body acclimated before she floated onto her back and looked up at the moon.
Beneath its huge glowing magnificence, she felt small and insignificant . . . or maybe she’d always felt small and insignificant. Maybe that was why she tried so hard to be liked. She wanted to prove she mattered. But as she floated there, she realized she didn’t matter. Everyone seemed to be moving on with their lives just fine without her. The Holiday sisters had their new husbands and babies . . . and each other. Corbin had his investment business, the ranch, Belle, and a baby on the way. Jesse had the bed-and-breakfast, Liberty, and another sweet baby arriving soon. Once they started their families, Sunny would just be the ditzy sister and auntie who showed up occasionally, but didn’t really contribute anything.
Now she didn’t even have her art to hide behind.
Just her stupid smile.
“Bullshit!”
The shrieked word had her heart almost jumping out of her chest as she popped up and glanced around.
Something moved toward her through the water.
Something big and fast.
She couldn’t help thinking of the scaly monster in the movie. She scrambled to get out of its way, but she wasn’t fast enough and it plowed right into her, taking her down under in a tangle of . . . hard muscle and warm skin.