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Now, that excellent, hot, comfort-food meal was completed. Mom had disappeared to the master bedroom, as she always did after dinner because it made her antsy to watch the kids clean the kitchen. Dad and Duncan were downstairs in the rec room, playing pool. Rowdy was running around the house, probably looking for Mr. D, who was probably hiding in Kelsey’s room, getting a break from the Energizer Bunny of dogs.
And Kelsey and Hannah were here, doing chores. But Kelsey didn’t mind. She enjoyed cleaning. She’d enjoy it more if Hannah were sighing loudly somewhere else in the house, but actually, maybe this was a good moment for some sister bonding time.
Kelsey and Hannah didn’t have a bad relationship, but they’d never been very close. She thought Hannah saw her more as a parental assistant than a sister, probably because by the time Hannah was old enough to form an opinion about her, Kelsey was old enough to be left in charge when their parents went out.
Their parents had spaced the kids out really far; there were about five years between Kelsey and Duncan and more than six years between Dunc and Hannah. Hannah was twelve years younger than Kelsey. In some segments of Oklahoma society, that was nearly old enough to be her mother.
However, Hannah at fifteen seemed a lot more mature, or at least wanted to seem a lot more mature, than Kelsey had. Kelsey hadn’t really felt a big urge to hurry up and grow up until her senior year of high school, when she was applying to colleges. She hadn’t dated until she’d been in college, which was as much due to her own lack of interest as it was the fact that their father was not good with anything that even approached the topic of his daughters’ sexuality. He looked on any boy, or man, who expressed an interest in Hannah or Kelsey as an obvious threat and treated them as such.
Kelsey’s experience with Greg had done nothing to mellow their dad out on this point.
Greg was—had been—a veterinary pharmaceutical rep; she’d met him when he’d come into the clinic on his first week in the territory. He was good looking, well groomed, nicely dressed, and charming, with a pretty, ready smile. On his second visit to the clinic, he’d brought a couple dozen Krispy Kremes for the staff, and a caramel macchiato just for Kelsey—he’d noticed that she’d been drinking one that first day.
On his fourth visit, he’d asked her out. Their first date had been wonderful—a romantic dinner, tickets to a new exhibit at the art museum, and a gentle, sweet kiss to end the night at her front door. The next few dates had been just as good, and Kelsey thought she might have found someone she could fall in love with. Something that hadn’t happened since her freshman year of college.
On the fourth date, she’d asked him into her apartment; they’d had a lovely night, and they’d gotten serious. It only took a few weeks after that for everything to change. It was like he’d molted into a monster and left the skin of the good guy to rot in the dirt.
Funny, though, how long it took Kelsey to realize that he wasn’t having ‘a bad time’ just now, to stop convincing herself that the abusive behavior ‘wasn’t like him,’ to stop believing his apologies.
She was an intelligent, accomplished woman who’d grown up in the bosom of an outlaw MC and had excellent role models for love in her parents. She’d known Greg only a few months in all. Yet she’d let herself be hurt and humiliated forweeksbefore she finally saw what was happening for what it was and stopped it.
When she couldn’t stop it herself, she’d gone to her family.
One thing about her often overbearing, pathologically protective family: one way or another, they’d always make sure she was safe.
Now Greg would never Jekyll and Hyde another woman ever again.
And probably Hannah wouldn’t be allowed to date until she was drawing Social Security. Not that something so trivial as ‘being allowed’ was going to slow Kelsey’s little sister down.
“How’s school?” she asked as she set glasses in the top tray.
“It’s school,” Hannah replied.
“I guess finals are coming up soon?”
“Yep.”
Okay, so no sister bonding. Kelsey gave up the effort and continued her task.
Eventually, Hannah brought the glass lasagna dish over and dropped it beside the sink. “Done.”
“Thanks for the help.” Kelsey added a dry edge to the word, but Hannah didn’t seem to pick up on that. She filled the dish with hot, soapy water and left it in the sink. There was no room in the dishwasher, anyway. That, she slammed closed and turned on.
Her phone buzzed on the counter. Hannah lunged for it, and Kelsey threw her arm out and got to it first.
A text from Maisie, her lifelong best friend:
Hey. You safe?
Yep. Dad kidnapped me from work
and brought me to the house. We’re
all being snowbound together, which
should work out GREAT. /sarcasm.
You?
