Chapter 11 #2
Bailey glanced around before sinking down into one of the patio chairs with a heavy sigh. “I called in sick. I guess I should have knocked, but I didn’t know if Rhett would be resting.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You mean you were avoiding Dad.”
She glanced up at me and grinned, her brown eyes wide and guileless. “Is it that obvious?”
Looking at her, you’d never know we were sisters.
We were opposites in every way. Her hair was brown, where mine was almost white blond.
Her eyes were also brown, mine were a clear, vivid blue.
People always said I got the looks in the family.
But my sister made up for it by being sporty and outgoing, impulsive and passionate.
She was always one to act first then think later.
When we were younger, I found her eager to please nature aggravating.
Now, as adults I still found it aggravating, but I hid it better.
“So obvious we’ll start calling you captain,” I joked.
Over the years, the relationship between Bailey and our dad had become fraught.
Whenever they were in the same room, an argument ensued.
Mom, however, mostly avoided my sister. Her affection was more distant, and I knew it affected Bailey as much as it affected me.
Our mother’s brand of parenting involved steely judgment and unreasonable expectations.
In Fern River, everyone loved Mabel Jean.
Yet, her own daughters’ feelings for her were more complicated.
Bailey waved her hand in the air between us. “Anyway, is the general home, or is the coast clear?”
“You’re good. Rhett and Dad are at his lawyer’s office, and Mom is at the park with McKenzie.”
“Phew!” Bailey sat up in her chair and grinned. “I couldn’t deal with them today. I haven’t been able to relax in days, you know, with everything going on.”
“You can’t relax?”
Bailey cringed. “Sorry, I know it’s nothing compared to what you and Rhett must be going through. I wanted to make sure you were both okay. I’ve been so worried about Rhett. I hate that he’s going through all this. Do you want to talk about it?”
She sounded agonized, her pain obvious. She and Rhett had always been close.
When she was a teenager, he’d make it a point to spend time with her, even when she was annoying the crap out of me.
Her constant demands for his attention didn’t seem to put him off.
He didn’t have any siblings and had always felt he missed out on having someone younger looking up to him.
So, any irritation I felt faded at her genuine concern. She had no idea that Rhett’s current situation was self-inflicted.
I sat beside her, feeling my limbs sag as the exhaustion I had kept staunchly at bay seeped into my bones.
“Not really, Bai. It’s been easier not to talk about it.
” I pulled at a loose thread on my blouse.
“At least that’s what our attorney says we should do.
Don’t want us tainting our testimony by corroborating.
” I looked around the large backyard. “I try not to leave the house if I don’t have to.
Every time I go into town, I feel everyone looking at me.
And you know there are certain people that are loving all this. ”
Bailey grimaced. “It’s pretty bad at work. Everyone either offers fake sympathy or wants details. It’s awful.”
“I figured it was better to keep to myself. Otherwise, Rhett won’t be the only one in a courtroom.” I shared a side-eyed glance with my sister, and we both chuckled uneasily.
Bailey chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes glassy. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“There’s nothing anyone can do, unless you could invent a time machine so I could go back fifteen years and stop that bitch from ever coming to Fern River in the first place.” If the voracity of my anger surprised my sister, she didn’t show it. In fact, she smiled, as if she appreciated my ire.
I pressed the heels of my palms to my eyes, willing the painful thud to dissipate. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not her. Well, at least, not just her. It’s Rhett too. It’s everything.”
Bailey watched me with a mixture of concern and apprehension. It was times like this that I wished we had the kind of sisterly bond where I could tell her everything. But that wasn’t our reality.
“You shouldn’t blame him, Lucy. He loves you. And you love him. You’ve always loved him. Remember, she’s the one who got between you two. None of this would be happening if she had kept her nose out of your relationship.”
I wanted to tell her that while I appreciated her defending me, it wasn’t that simple—she had no idea how deep this went. But instead I said, “Be thankful you don’t have a man in your life making a mess of things.”
Bailey had never gotten married, but she had a job she loved, working as a domestic violence advocate at the local women’s shelter.
Her days were spent accompanying women and children to court and devising safety plans for those fleeing abuse.
I often wondered how she could be happy with such a stressful job, but she insisted it was her calling.
Though she wasn’t the only one who donated to worthy causes.
However, my philanthropy was a bit more selfish.
Regardless of reasons, she always seemed content to play the doting aunt to McKenzie and spend time with Rhett and me.
Bailey’s face hardened before relaxing into a smile. “Yeah, I guess so.” She looked like she wanted to say more, and if I was a better sister, I would have asked, but I was too lost in my own problems to give it much thought.
“So, anyway, look what I dug up last weekend when I was going through some of the boxes from when I moved out.” She pulled a decorative wooden box out of her purse and held it out to me. I could see the initials LAH on the top.
My insides froze.
“Why did you have it?” It came out as a raspy whisper. I cleared my throat and forced a smile. “I thought I threw that out.”
Bailey gave me a confused look. “Why would you throw it out? This was your memory box when you were a teenager.” She gave me a sheepish look. “Okay, so maybe I took it and hid it in my closet when I was sixteen. I never really grew out of wanting anything that reminded me of you.”
“That’s … sweet?” It came out more as a question because I didn’t want to tell her how irritating I found it. Bailey always had sticky fingers. Our father used to call her his little magpie.
Though, when it came to my things, if it mattered to me, she was drawn to it. I would find my jewelry, my clothes, my diary, hidden away in the nooks and crannies of her room.
We’d have explosive fights and then she would return them, only for the same items to go missing again months later. Mom and Dad knew how annoying it had been—their things had also gone missing from time to time—but they had hoped she would grow out of it.
“Yeah, well, I’ve always been overly sentimental.” Bailey laughed as if it were all a big joke. I wanted to snatch the box from her and set the damn thing on fire, but didn’t dare. My reactions, especially from here on out, had to be measured. Controlled. Even around my own family.
Especially around my family.
“I wasn’t sure what this was.” Bailey lifted up a scrap of sequined fabric.
I couldn’t help but grin. “That’s from my pageant dress freshman year.”
“That was the first year you won the Young Miss Fern River Fair, right?”
I couldn’t help but glow with pride. “That’s right. The first of many wins, I might add.”
Bailey spread out the small scrap of material on her knee. “Where did the rest of it go?”
I chuckled. “That was the piece MaryBeth Rutz ripped from my sleeve after losing.”
Bailey’s eyes widened with a smirk. “And you kept it? Why?”
“Because I hated MaryBeth, and I wanted to remember the look on her face when the judges said my name and not hers.” Even to this day, the memory warmed me up inside.
Over the years, I had developed a nasty habit of collecting enemies. And just as good a habit of defeating them.
Bailey continued to rummage through the box. “Awww, look.”
My stomach dropped.
“Rhett’s class ring,” I said quietly, watching as Bailey slid it on her finger and held it up to the light. The gaudy gold band hugged a chunky blue stone with an embossed FR on the top for Fern River Highschool. I had felt so special when he asked me to wear it our junior year.
And devastated when I saw it around someone else’s neck years later, having never realized he had taken it back.
“Take it off, Bailey,” I commanded a little too harshly.
Bailey was admiring it as if it were a ten-carat diamond.
“Bailey, give it to me. Now!”
I reached over, grabbed her hand, and wrenched it off.
“Ow, Lucy, what the hell?”
Before I had time to defend my overly aggressive behavior, the patio door opened and Rhett came out. He looked haggard. He came up short when he saw Bailey and me.
“Oh. Hi.” His words were deadened.
I quickly tucked the ring in my pocket.
Bailey went over and gave him a hug. “Rhett, how are you?”
He wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes briefly. “I’ve been better.” He glanced at me, then looked away.
“Lucy says you were meeting with your lawyer? How did it go?”
Rhett looked worn down, like he was at the breaking point—spending the afternoon with my father and his lawyer would do that.
“Fine, I guess.” Rhett let out a beleaguered sigh that made me want to scream.
“Though I’m not sure Glynn is worth the money your dad is paying him.
He doesn’t seem very confident about my case. ”
I had no doubt that my father paying for his defense was grating on him. Well, tough cookies. We were in this mess because of him. His feelings had little say in any of this anymore.