AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sounds like you have a customer,” Talulah said. “I’ll let you go.”
“Okay, but...do you have any idea when you’ll be back?”
“Not yet. The funeral isn’t until tomorrow. Then I’ll need to finish dealing with my great aunt’s house and its contents.” Sadly, thanks to all the distractions, as well as the cooking she’d taken on for the funeral, she hadn’t gotten as much done as she’d planned.
“I hope that goes well.”
“Thank you,” she said and disconnected. She was just gathering the nerve to try to reach Paul again when she received a call from her sister.
Grateful for the reprieve, however short-lived, she answered immediately. “Debbie!”
“Wow,” her sister said with a laugh. “You sound incredibly relieved to hear from me.”
Talulahwasrelieved. As embattled as she felt, her sister’s voice came across like a warm hug. “I’ve been waiting for you to call,” she said. “You’re not in labor, are you?”
Debbie’s sigh made it sound as though she was just as beleaguered as Talulah was. “Not yet. At this rate, I don’t think I’lleverhave this baby.”
“I don’t want you to go into labor too soon. If you started now, I’d miss the birth. Wait until after the funeral, okay?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” she said with a chuckle. “How’s life in Coyote Canyon? Are you prepared for the funeral?”
Talulah grimaced while peering around the messy kitchen. Last night she and Jane hadn’t cleaned up the salad mess they’d made to go with the pizza they’d ordered. They’d been too set on going out for more drinks after that and having a good time. And now she had to contend with the mess as well as the rest of the cooking. “Almost.”
“You’ve got the food done?”
“Not quite, but I still have today.”
“I hate that you’ve had to carry the entire load. How’s everything else?”
Attempting to put fresh energy into her voice, Talulah drew a deep breath before she said, “Great. Fine. Perfect.”
She knew her answer had rung false when Debbie said, “Oh, no,” in a much lower voice. “What’s wrong?”
Blinking quickly in an effort to stave off tears, Talulah meandered into the dining room. “Nothing. What do you mean?”
“Lu, come on. You can’t hide anything from me. What is it?”
A single tear escaped Talulah’s eyelashes and began to roll down her cheek. “It’s Charlie.”
“What’s going on with him now?”
She sniffed. “He hates me.”
“He’s hated you for fourteen years. Why would that bother you enough to make you cry?”
Sinking into one of the hand-embroidered chairs that went with her aunt’s Duncan Phyfe dining table, she rested her chin on the fist of her good arm. “He wrote Paul on Instagram and told him about Brant.”
“No!”
“Yes,” she said glumly.
“What’d Paul say?”
“He hasn’t said anything yet. He won’t pick up.”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
She straightened the large doily she and Jane had folded back when they were eating and once again centered the vase full of dusty silk flowers that had been on her aunt’s dining table since she could remember. “It’s my own fault. But... I don’t know why I hooked up with Brant to begin with. I’m having a tough time coping since I got here and seem to be making all the wrong decisions.”
