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“Patience. You’re worse than your daughter.” Samantha helped Tab with her snow boots and rose to her feet. Her hair slid smooth and silky over the shoulders of her white jacket. She was energized. Glowing.
Intrigued, Ella tugged her sister to one side. “What is going on?”
“I’ve told you, it’s a—”
“I’m not asking about the trip. I’m asking about why you’re glowing inside. It’s as if someone has changed your batteries, or—or—rebooted you. And where were you last night? You and Brodie didn’t come back for dinner.”
“He was showing me the area. We ended up at the far end of Loch Ness, so stopped for something to eat.” Samantha tilted her head. “Am I glowing? I’m excited about this place. My clients are going to love it.” She was smiling, and Ella was smiling too even though she had a suspicion that it wasn’t thoughts of her business that had put her sister in such a good mood.
“You’re not angry with me after yesterday?” She glanced at Tab, but her daughter had gone in search of Bear, who was her new best friend. “I thought maybe you were planning on burying me in a snowdrift after the hurtful, tactless thing I said.”
Samantha reached for Tab’s scarf. “You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
“None of it was true. I was upset about the whole Mom thing, and I felt you were judging me for overreacting about Tab, and—I don’t know. I don’t know what made me horrible.”
“You weren’t horrible—you were honest. Sisters should be able to be honest with each other. And you were right. I have closed myself off. But I’m trying to change that. Tell me what happened with Mom yesterday. And don’t give me ‘mmm.’ I want details.”
Ella was starting to wonder if her sister had bumped her head. She’d been reluctant to come on this trip, but now she was behaving as if she was having the best time ever.
“It started off okay. Great, actually. She was like a different person.”
“She was good with Tab? Didn’t say the wrong thing?”
“She would have won grandmother of the year.”
“That’s great. That’s hopeful.”
“I thought so, but then I messed up. But nothing new there. There is so much about her that we don’t know, and I tried asking—I thought it might help if we got to know each other a little better. Did you know she lived in Connecticut before moving to Manhattan?” Her sister’s surprised expression answered that question. “Me neither. But these little gems keep emerging, like the fact she thought her honeymoon was foolish. Or maybe she thought she was foolish.”
“Foolish?”
“Don’t ask me for clarification, because I don’t get it. I was trying to piece together a puzzle based on nothing. I tried asking her about Dad, but she shut down. Wham. It was like a door closing on my hand.”
“She’s not used to talking to us about personal things.” Samantha laced her boots. “We need to persist. Is she joining us today?”
“I think so.” What if her mother spoiled the trip? On the other hand, she’d been great with Tab the day before, and if this was truly going to be a family Christmas then it was going to take some flexibility on everyone’s part. “Which could be good or bad.”
“She’s trying. I think we should try, too. People can change.”
Was this really her sister talking?
“You’re very upbeat all of a sudden.” Ella glanced around to check where Tab was. Giggles and barks from the library answered her question. “What exactly happened yesterday? You and Brodie came back laughing and comfortable together. It wasn’t awkward?”
“It was hideously awkward, at least to begin with.”
“But?”
“But we spent an excellent, productive day together. We have a plan.”
“A plan?”
“For this place. Brodie talked about his plans and ambitions, and I talked about what I believed was possible.”
Ella knew her sister, and knew it had to be more than that.
“What else did you talk about?”
“Everything. I am so excited about adding this property to our portfolio. I almost called two of my favorite clients to tell them I’ve found their perfect vacation for next year, but then I realized I’m getting ahead of myself. We still have things to figure out. But Brodie is a genius with numbers so I think between us we’ll have this thing nailed in no time.” She laced her other boot and stood up.
