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"So how are things on the home front? Mom? Dad?" Laurel asked after catching us up with some lively gossip and making us all laugh.
I topped off my wine glass for the third time. It had definitely been the three-glass-kind of week.
"Everything’s fine. They’re fine. You should come home for a visit sometime and see for yourself." I snuggled back against the couch pillows and threw a blanket over my legs. I took a sip of my wine, knowing ahead of time what her response would be.
"It's not that easy. My schedule and—"
"Quit making excuses” I scolded. “It's been two years, and we miss you, ya know.
"Not just us,” Faith added. “Daddy misses you, too, even if he's too stubborn to tell you himself. Not that you didn’t inherit that same trait,” she added under her breath.
“I heard that.”
“Well, it’s true,” Angie said.
And it was. Laurel hadn't returned home since her abrupt departure almost two years ago. I missed her like crazy. I never thought she’d stay away this long; none of us did. We’d always been so close, even with Daddy’s…zealous protective nature.
Laurel stared at her wine as she swirled it around in her glass. "I'm thinking about it." She drained her glass.
My drink went down the wrong pipe.
Angie leaned over and pounded me on the back. "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry. I was just so surprised. I thought Laurel said she was coming back east."
Laurel chuckled. "It won't be for a while. I can't get away from filming right now, but I'm hoping to work something out soon. I miss everyone. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the idea. The BAGs will have a field day treating me like I'm one and the same as my character."
She was right. Not only would there be plenty of crow to serve between her and our father, but it would make a delectable dish for the gossip feast the BAGs loved to feed on.
"That just means they watch it." Faith laughed.
I pointed my finger at the screen. “Besides, after what I did last summer, you're small potatoes on the drama scale. I gave them enough fodder to last a lifetime.”
Angie one-armed hugged me. "You know that wasn't your fault, right?"
"Doesn't matter. It still comes back to me.” I moved closer to the screen. “So, come home. You'll get to be the prodigal daughter."
Laurel sighed. "Well, don't kill the fatted calf too soon. But it's...it's been a little crazy here, and I'm about due for a break."
My sisterly Spidey sense kicked in once again. I'd gotten the distraction I wanted tonight, but now it was replaced with concern. "Are you okay, Laurel? You sound, I don't know, a little tired or something."
She disappeared offscreen, and I heard some clinking and guessed it was her turn to refill her wine glass. "I'm fine. It was a long day on set. Mandy is causing trouble again, so the scenes have been more intense."
"Is there ever a time she doesn't?"
"Aw, Mandy's just misunderstood," Laurel snorted, defending her character who was the stereotype femme fatale. "So, what else is happening in your lives? Please tell me they’re not as dramatic as Mandy’s."
“Well,” Angie said. “Ask Grace about the stranger she kissed.”
"You let a stranger kiss you?" Laurel's laughter filled my ear through the phone. I brought all three of them up to speed.
“I wish I thought I would have had your courage,” Faith said after hearing about the “cock” challenge. “I think I would have just run out of the office.”
Laurel wiped tears from her eyes. "Wow, sis. That sounds like something Mandy would do, but not you."
"It's not like he's a total stranger. He's Derek's cousin. Besides, Mandy wouldn’t have stopped with just a kiss."
"True. But you must have channeled her when you weaseled the extra money from him. I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall,” Angie exclaimed.
