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***
There are three of my sisters’ cars in the driveway in front of the house, which means there could be just the three sisters at home or there could be significant others as well.
My phone rings as I’m walking up the porch steps. Since it’s Lila, I walk back to my car and put my phone to my ear. “Hey.”
“Hey, Honey. I did it. I got accepted to law school. You have to come out and celebrate with me.”
I glance at the house. “I can’t tonight. But I’m so happy for you. Congratulations.”
“If you can’t come out now, come out later. What do you have going on tonight?”
“Game night with my sisters.” I cross my fingers behind my back. I’m hoping I can get together a sisterly game night, which is close enough to the truth, right?
Unfortunately, Lila knows me too well. “You have a game night planned, or you’re hoping you can corral your sisters into a game night? Are they even home?”
“They’ll be here. I want to celebrate with you, Lila, but I’ve only got a few more months with all my sisters in this house. I have to make the most of it.”
“You’ve only got a few more months before I move to New York City for law school. Come out with me. Your sisters all have men in Catalpa Creek. They aren’t going anywhere.”
But they won’t be living in my house and the chances of getting us all to hang out together will be even less than they are now. “Where are you going? If they aren’t available, I’ll come out and join you.”
She sighs heavily. “You better appreciate how empathetic I am, Honey, or I might be offended that I’m your second choice.”
“You are the best person I know, and you’re going to be an amazing lawyer. Thank you for understanding.”
She huffs. “Don’t waste the whole night hoping your sisters will just magically decide to show up. Tell them how much this means to you.”
I sigh and lean against my car, my chest aching. “They won’t listen. They never have before.”
“If they don’t listen, they aren’t worth it. I know you have wonderful memories of them from when you were a kid, but maybe it’s time to stop recreating the past and accept that sometimes blood family isn’t better than chosen family.”
My eyes sting, and I swallow hard. “I’ll text later.”
I hang up, stuff my phone in my back pocket, and tiptoe up the front porch stairs. As a kid, my favorite thing to do was eavesdrop on my sisters. They think I’m supernaturally gifted at reading them, but I’m actually just an amazing listener.
I’ve never felt bad about it, because listening made me feel like I was part of the family instead of the baby who always got in the way.
The front door creaks unless it’s opened super-humanly fast. I turn the knob slowly, rip it open, and hop inside without making a sound. I close it just as quickly, slowing to pull it fully shut as gently as I can.
I tiptoe across the living room, the sound of silverware clinking like someone is unloading the dishwasher, and lean against the wall between it and the kitchen.
“I’m just tired of waiting to live with you,” Clover says. “It’s not like my sisters would mind you moving in with us, and it doesn’t make sense for you to be paying rent when you’re over here all the time, anyway.”
I roll my eyes. Isn’t it enough that they see each other at work every day?
Wood scrapes against wood, probably Asher pulling out a chair at the kitchen table. “Are you sure your sisters won’t mind? You know I’d rather be with you, but I don’t want to interfere with what you’ve got going on here with your family.”
“It’s not like I see much of them,” Clover says. “Everyone’s so busy all the time. It feels like we’re all just waiting for the year to be up so we can start living again.”
I press a hand to my chest to quiet the ache there and close my eyes against the tears that want to fall. The downside to eavesdropping is hearing something painful.
I’ve heard enough, so I tiptoe to the back of the house and up to my room. As much as I want to spend time with Clover and whoever else might be here, I need a few minutes to get myself under control, so I don’t say something I regret.
I sink onto my comfy chair, pull my fuzzy pink blanket over me, and just breathe through my hurt feelings for a few moments. Clover was just talking to her boyfriend. They’re still in the honeymoon stage and obsessed with each other. Of course, she wants to spend more time with him.
It doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to spend time with me. Maybe she’s as upset about never having all the sisters together at the same time as I am.
Except, she didn’t sound upset. And the dark, sinking feeling in my gut seems like a promise of doom.
