Chapter Eight #2
Her sister. Sloane didn’t know if she would ever get used to that.
Putting on her pajamas, she brushed her teeth, then buried herself under the covers while she debated whether to call or wait until her dad got back from Hawaii to tell him about Clara.
He still had a couple of more days to enjoy his time with his sister.
She decided on sooner rather than later.
Between them, they’d never kept secrets, even when she wasn’t sure what his reaction would be.
Like when she’d turned down an opportunity to work with one of the major car manufacturers so she could be near him and stay on at the family business.
He hadn’t been pleased, but he’d been supportive.
And when she bought her house, he’d argued it wasn’t necessary, insisting she could live with him for as long as she wanted.
But he’d understood that it was time to move out of her childhood room.
Would he be happy about Clara? He’d been a good dad to Sloane, even though he’d spent most of his time working at the garage. She’d helped him whenever she could.
Turning on her side, she stuffed the pillow under her head, pulled the blankets up to her chin, and felt again the brush of Jonas’s lips on her temple.
She’d wanted to kiss him properly when they said good night.
Not one of those cheek-to-cheek kisses one gave their best friend, but a kiss that involved more than a brief touch of lips.
Mistake. Big mistake.
*
The next morning, they got a late start.
While she waited for Clara to surface, Sloane rearranged her workload at the garage.
Her part-timer, Dean Quillan, could handle some of the work.
He’d started at the garage when she went to college and then decided to stay on part-time when her dad retired, so she didn’t have to move too many customers.
Leaning against the counter, she watched the coffee brew.
Just because she got distracted by Clara and making sure her sister settled in properly did not mean she had forgotten that she’d told Jonas they couldn’t be friends.
He’d argued against breaking up their long friendship.
It didn’t escape her that as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was already missing him. So, she hadn’t stood her ground.
Sloane shook her head. Her usual calm, practical self had disappeared. And here she was, taking Clara out to the Lohmen ranch. To visit the horses, not Jonas.
After pouring her coffee and adding milk and sugar, she dialed her dad. He answered right away, as he always did when she called. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Hi, Dad. How’s your trip going? And Aunt Dorothy? Are you having a good time?”
“We always have a good time here.” Here was Oahu’s north shore and the bungalow they always rented in Haleiwa. “Dorothy is fine. She wants to stay another week.”
Sloane wouldn’t be surprised if they did. But she’d procrastinated enough. “I’ve got some news.”
“You found a guy on that dating app you’re using?” He didn’t come right out and chuckle, but he might as well have. He wouldn’t use a dating app himself, but he was quietly pushing for grandchildren, so he wasn’t opposed to his daughter giving it a try.
Sloane rolled her eyes. “No luck so far.” An image of Jonas protecting Clara from the big, bad social worker flashed through her mind. “Um, the reason I called... I have a half-sister,” she blurted. And got crickets. “Dad? Are you still there?”
“Yeah. How did that happen?”
She suspected he was still a little in love with Tracy, but as far as she knew, he’d never tried to find her.
“Tracy died in a car accident a week ago. Clara—she’s thirteen—found a letter that Mom had written to me when she was born. It never got mailed.” Sloane still didn’t understand how that happened, except Tracy had never been good at following through.
“Clara ran away from the social worker and came to find me. Long story short, Jonas found her hiding in his office and he contacted me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t want her to end up in a foster home with strangers—”
“Of course not,” he interrupted. “You have plenty of room in your house for the girl. Do you need any help? I can keep my original flight back and work for you at the garage or take care of Clara while you work. Whatever you need, kiddo.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, kiddo.” He used the nickname he’d given her when it was just the two of them.
“Jonas is handling the paperwork, and Dean has the garage covered.” She considered the options. Ever since Tracy left, her dad had been there for her every minute of every day. He deserved an easy retirement. “Stay with Aunt Dorothy for as long as you like. We’re working out the details here.”
“I’m proud of you, baby girl.” He paused before continuing. “I think I’ll come back when I originally planned to, anyway. I can’t wait to meet Clara. If she’s anything like you, she’s very special. Remember, you don’t have to pick me up at the airport. My car’s in long-term parking.”
“You’ll text when you board the plane?”
“Yup.”
She wanted what was best for her dad, but this time she had to admit, she was glad he decided not to stay longer in Hawaii. “I’ll air out your house.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.” When she put her cell down, Clara was watching her from the living room.
No point in beating around the bush. “That was my dad. He’s excited to meet you. I think you’ll like him.”
“Tracy had boyfriends, but I never met my dad,” Clara said indifferently as she sat at the table.
“Do you miss her?” It was better that her sister talk about how she felt than keep it all bottled up inside.
Clara shrugged. She laid her head on her arms.
Even though Sloane let her feelings for Tracy go a long time ago, it still made it hard to speak to realize this was her final goodbye.
“I’m sorry she died.” Pulling a chair close to Clara, she rubbed slow circles on her sister’s back.
Tears spilling down her face, Clara threw her arms around Sloane’s neck. “I took care of her the best I could. Made her breakfast and stuff,” she hiccupped.
“Shhh...” Sloane held the girl close, her heart aching for her sister... and for herself. “You couldn’t keep her safe or make her act responsibly. Neither could Dad and I. When she left, we had to let her go.”
“I know, but I didn’t want her to die.”
“Of course you didn’t. Neither did I.” Sloane got them napkins to wipe their faces. She brushed her thumbs on Clara’s cheeks. “How about we make breakfast?”
Grabbing one of the napkins to wipe her nose, Clara nodded. “I can help.”
“What do you like?” she asked the girl, who didn’t have the childhood Sloane’s dad had given her. “I have enough eggs for cheese omelets.”
Scrubbing her face with both hands, Clara got up and rifled through the fridge until she got all the ingredients she wanted while Sloane found the omelet pan and placed it on the stove.
After taking her first bite, Sloane smiled gently at Clara. “You make a mean omelet. This is very good.”
The teen blushed, looking down at her food. “Most of the time, breakfast was the only thing I could get Mom to eat.”
“I told Jonas we would stop by the ranch this afternoon if that’s okay with you.”
“I guess—”
“You can see the horses, and on the way, I’ll show you Strawberry Ridge.” Sloane was glad to see that perked Clara up.
Sloane didn’t want her to run again. Somehow, she had to convince the teen that Strawberry Ridge and the family she had here were her home now.
Opening her texting app, she handed Clara her phone. “Will you text Jonas and tell him we’ll be there in a little while?”
The teen’s fingers danced across the face of the cell. She hesitated a second, then—“He says he’ll be there.”
Sloane wasn’t surprised. She knew he would be.
He’d only ever let her down by not taking her hints that she would welcome more from him than friendship.
While she disagreed with him, he may have made the right decision.
With Clara in her life now, she didn’t have time to try to figure Jonas out, or go on dates, or spend her energies looking for the perfect guy.
She should probably close her Perfect Match account too.
Making a home for her sister was more important than finding a guy who would hang around forever.
After they cleaned up from breakfast, Sloane helped Clara unpack her things. The girl spent more time looking out the window at the back garden than she did talking. Sloane hoped to change that.
When they were done, she said, “Your room is kind of plain—” It felt cozy, but it was a guest room, not a young girl’s sanctuary. “Should we liven it up a bit with new sheets and a comforter, and some colorful curtains? We can look online and see what you like.”
“I’d like that.” Sloane put an arm around her sister’s shoulders as they stood just past the doorway and took in the room. Clara leaned into her, whispering, “Will you always be my sister?”
“I will always be your sister,” she said, tilting Clara’s chin up. “No matter what.”
“Even when I do something stupid?”
“Like what?” Sloane was curious about what the girl considered stupid. Something as crazy as having a crush on her BFF for more years than she wanted to admit, then deciding to find someone else on a dating app? Nothing could be more foolish than that.
“I’m not good in school.” Before Sloane could reassure Clara that was an easy thing to fix, she rushed on, staring down at her hands. “If I hang out with my friends and don’t tell you where I am. Or have a boy in my room, even if he’s just a friend.”
“Well... I’ll help you with your schoolwork, so that’s not a problem.
When you’re out with your friends, you have to tell me where you’re going, with no exceptions.
And you will not have boys in your room, even if all you’re doing is homework or watching a movie.
You can do that in the living room. Can you live with that? ”
Clara looked up at her, a look of guarded hope in her brown eyes, and nodded.
Could she be a good parent to her sister? That was the question. The kind of parent the kid needed? Love was not the issue. Sloane already loved Clara more than she’d ever thought she would love a sister if she’d had one. It was all the other parenting skills she had to acquire.
“Good.” Sloane gave Clara a quick hug. “If you ever wonder if something you’re doing is right or wrong, just ask me, and we’ll talk it out.”
Clara stepped out of the hug. “Do you do stupid things?”
“On occasion,” Sloane confirmed with a tiny frown, admitting, “I’ve never been a big sister before.”
“If you ever wonder, you can talk to me,” Clara repeated with a contagious sparkle in her eyes. “I’ll tell you if you’re making a mistake or not.”
Sloane laughed. “I bet you would.”
Clara wasn’t saying out loud that her life with Tracy had been problematic, but Sloane figured it had.
Her dad had let her mom go because she’d had a hard time always being there for her husband and daughter.
It wasn’t unusual for Sloane to come home from the first grade—even after they moved to Strawberry Ridge—and most of the time find Tracy gone. That much, she remembered quite well.
Clara deserved more. Sloane silently promised to do better. “Are you ready to see Jonas’s ranch?”
Clara almost smiled back. “I’m ready.”
And off they went.
Sloane rolled her eyes. Would her heart ever stop madly pumping every time she got a chance to see Jonas Lohmen? Having him for a best friend had always... mostly, until recently... been a good thing. Maybe she should think again about calling their friendship quits?