AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dave will need his car,” she said, rather submissively.
He didn’t like that. Twyla rarely gave in. Not without a much more gallant effort. “I’ll give him a ride back to get it.”
She let go of the door handle and slumped against the car seat. “Fine.”
The ride to the resort was cold, but the chill had nothing to do with the cool early morning temperature or the open top car. Twyla didn’t say a word, not even when he parked the roadster in front of Dave Sutton’s bungalow—one of the many cabins surrounding the resort building. As she clasped the door handle, he laid a hand on her knee.
“Your father’s leaving for Chicago today, to go get Ginger, and I’d appreciate it if you’d stay close to home while he’s gone.” It was the most he could say.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment before pushing the door all the way open. “There are several things I’d appreciate, Forrest.”
“Twyla—”
“Thanks for the ride home,” she interrupted, climbing out.
He knew better than to go after her.
Chapter Eleven
On Tuesday morning, Twyla sat in the office, not doing much of anything, just as she had the day before. She couldn’t concentrate, not on her duties. The fact Forrest had planned on leaving years before was front and center in her mind. He’d never planned on telling her about it.
It shouldn’t surprise her. It didn’t, really. But it did have a profound effect on her. It was almost as if her heart was breaking all over again.
She hated that feeling. His disappearance had changed so many things in her life. She was not willing to experience that again.
The doorknob clicked and Twyla grabbed a pen to hold over the paper lying on the desk. The paper was blank, but she wanted it to appear as if she’d been working.
Norma Rose walked in, and after closing the door she laid a glossy magazine, open to a specific page, on the desk. “What do you think of that one?”
Twyla laid down the pen to lift up the magazine so the sun shining through the window didn’t distort the picture. The gown was gorgeous, white with a dropped waistline and covered with lace, but Twyla pointed out, “It’s a wedding a dress.”
“I know it’s a wedding dress,” Norma Rose said. “Ty and I have decided to get married on the eighteenth of July.”
“That’s only a month away,” Twyla said, setting down the magazine. Marriage was not something she’d see. Not in this lifetime.
“I know it will go fast,” Norma Rose said, “but it seems like forever to me.”
Twyla had admitted, more than once, that Norma Rose had changed lately. The transformation had amazed her. Right now, in her state, her sister’s starry eyes and dreamy expression filled her with the ugliest jealousy she’d ever experienced.
Norma Rose picked up the snow globe that sat prominently on the desk. “Ty’s taking me to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon and I can hardly wait.”
Twyla examined Norma Rose more closely, including the way her sister stared at the globe. How had her sister found such happiness? “You’re really in love with Ty, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Norma Rose set down the globe and sighed as she sat down in one of the chairs beside the table near the window. “I am.”
Loving a man wasn’t what Twyla didn’t understand. “How’d you make him love you in return?”
The smile on Norma Rose’s face was serene. “That’s the wonderful part. I didn’t. He just does.” She sighed dreamily. “I wake up every morning thinking about him, and I go to bed every night thinking about him. And I know he does the same.”
Twyla refrained from pointing out that was because Norma Rose was in Ty’s cabin most every night and morning. Her sister thought no one knew that, and as it was Norma Rose, no one was about to admit otherwise. Besides, that theory held no creditability. Twyla had spent half her life or more thinking about Forrest every morning and every night. He, on the other hand, hadn’t even planned on telling her he was leaving.
Norma Rose giggled slightly. “It’s like knowing the sun will come up in the morning. I can’t explain it.” Norma Rose folded her hands over her heart. “It’s like his heart talks to mine. I can look at him and know what he’s thinking.” Shaking her head, she continued, “It’s hard to explain, but I know Ty will always be there for me. Like we know Father will always be there for us. But this is different. It’s stronger. I know Ty needs me as much as I need him.”
Her sister giggled again, and Twyla’s stomach clenched as if she wanted to throw up.
