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Am I opening up to my sisters?

“Is that part of the reason you came out here?” Tracey asked. “You got sick of the business?”

“To be honest with you, I had writer’s block,” Elise confessed with an awkward smile. “And I was sad and strung-out and just exhausted. I stood in the center of all of my mother’s things and knew I couldn’t go through it yet. I didn’t want her clothes to be on racks at Goodwill; I didn’t want to give away her books. I just wanted to leave her house as it was and dive into a new chapter—a new chapter that I really hoped had retained something of her.”

She gave a light shrug and then turned her eyes back toward the door. “Obviously, that hope is shriveled up. Dean Swartz doesn’t want to remember even though deep down, I think he does.”

Cindy and Tracey made eye contact for a long time. They seemed to have some kind of conversation in the air over the table.

Me, being the younger sister, hoping that my two older sisters will give me the time of day.

“Maybe you should consider getting a DNA test?” Cindy said suddenly.

“It would just make your case over the situation a little stronger,” Tracey said.

“And maybe make Dad slow down, listen, and actually tell his story,” Cindy said.

Elise furrowed her brow. “I don’t want to push anything too far. Not if he doesn’t want it.”

“Right now, I’m not very pleased with Michael,” Cindy admitted with a light laugh. “I go between wanting to hug him to pieces to wanting to strangle him sometimes. But he’s my son. Half of him is half of me. I see it in his smile and in his laugh and in his strange sense of humor. I’m sure Dad looks at you and sees part of himself. You’re a true gift, Elise. It’s up to us to try to make the man see this, even if he doesn’t want to.”

Their conversation found a way to better, brighter things. Elise was grateful to have this window into her sisters’ lives and learn about their personalities. Every time she made Tracey burst into laughter, Elise felt warmed from the inside. Every time Cindy said, “Wow. That’s such a clever sentiment...” she congratulated herself—thinking,Wow. My eldest sister thinks I’m smart.

They were silly thoughts, ones that got increasingly wild as the wine flowed but even so, it warmed Elise’s heart.

It wasn’t till just after ten that Wayne and Michael returned to the dining room. Michael looked a bit tipsy with his drink. He bowed his head toward Elise and said, “I want to formally apologize for what I did to you, Elise. You and Grandpa don’t deserve it. Although I do think, after all I’ve seen, honesty is the best way forward.”

“Don’t go back on your apology,” Wayne said, rolling his eyes.

Elise was too tipsy not to let the night’s chaos go.

“It’s okay, Michael. Really,” she told him.

Michael shuffled his fingers through his hair, creating wild bed-head. “Okay. Well, I just hope I didn’t create too much damage.”

“I’m sure all the damage involved in this situation was created forty-two years ago,” Elise said.

“Forty-two? You don’t look a day over thirty,” he said with a wink.

“All right, Michael. Be careful,” Wayne said, cutting his elbow into Michael’s upper bicep.

“Don’t tease me,” Elise said as she giggled madly. “I’m a little too sensitive tonight.”

After Michael went upstairs, Wayne suggested that he walk Elise back to the Bloomingfeld. Elise stood, hugged her sisters, and thanked them for everything.

I keep calling them my sisters in my mind.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this soon,” Tracey said in the doorway, watching as Elise and Wayne disappeared into the darkness. “Cindy and I will help you find the answers you need.”

At that, Wayne slipped his hand over Elise’s and winked.

“Maybe you’re not such a pariah after all,” he said with that ridiculous, handsome smile.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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