Between Sisters - Kristin Hannah [4]
She glanced down at her watch. 4:20.
Her client was late.
You would think that charging well over three hundred dollars an hour would encourage people to be on time.
“Ms. Dontess?” came a voice through the intercom.
“Yes, Rhona?”
“Your sister, Claire, is on line one.”
“Put her through. And buzz me the second May Monroe gets here.”
“Very good.”
She pushed the button on her headset and forced a smile into her voice. “Claire, it's good to hear from you.”
“The phone works both ways, you know. So. How's life in Moneyland?”
“Good. And in Hayden? Everyone still sitting around waiting for the river to flood?”
“That danger's passed for the year.”
“Oh.” Meghann stared out her window. Below and to her left, huge orange cranes loaded multicolored containers onto a tanker. She had no idea what to say to her sister. They had a past in common, but that was pretty much it. “So, how's that beautiful niece of mine? Did she like the skateboard?”
“She loved it.” Claire laughed. “But really, Meg, someday you'll have to ask a salesperson for help. Five-year-old girls don't generally have the coordination for skateboards.”
“You did. We were living in Needles that year. The same year I taught you to ride a two-wheeler.” Meg immediately wished she hadn't said that. It always hurt to remember their past together. For a lot of years, Claire had been more of a daughter to Meghann than a sister. Certainly, Meg had been more of a mother to Claire than Mama ever had.
“Just get her a Disney movie next time. You don't need to spend so much money on her. She's happy with a Polly Pocket.”
Whatever that was. An awkward silence fell between them. Meghann looked down at her watch, then they both spoke at once.
“What are you—?”
“Is Alison excited about first grade—?”
Meghann pressed her lips together. It took an act of will not to speak, but she knew Claire hated to be interrupted. She especially hated it when Meg monopolized a conversation.
“Yeah,” Claire said. “Ali can't wait for all-day school. Kindergarten hasn't even ended and she's already looking forward to the fall. She talks about it constantly. Sometimes I feel like I'm holding on to the tail of a comet. And she never stops moving, even in her sleep.”
Meghann started to say, You were the same way, and stopped herself. It hurt remembering that; she wished she could push the memory aside.
“So, how's work going?”
“Good. And the camp?”
“Resort. We open in a little more than two weeks. The Jeffersons are having a family reunion here with about twenty people.”
“A week without phone access or television reception? Why am I hearing the Deliverance theme music in my head?”
“Some families like to be together,” Claire said in that crisp you've-hurt-me voice.
“I'm sorry. You're right. I know you love the place. Hey,” she said, as if she'd just thought of it, “why don't you borrow some money from me and build a nice little Eurospa on the property? Better yet, a small hotel. People would flock there for a good body wrap. God knows you've got the mud.”
Claire sighed heavily. “You just have to remind me that you're successful and I'm not. Damn it, Meg.”
“I didn't mean that. It's just . . . that I know you can't expand a business without capital.”
“I don't want your money, Meg. We don't want it.”
There it was: the reminder that Meg was an I and Claire was a we. “I'm sorry if I said the wrong thing. I just want to help.”
“I'm not the baby girl who needs her big sister's protection anymore, Meg.”
“Sam was always good at protecting you.” Meg heard a tiny flare of bitterness in her voice.
“Yeah.” Claire paused, drew in a breath. Meghann knew what her sister was doing. Regrouping, climbing to softer, safer ground. “I'm going to Lake Chelan,” she said at last.
“The yearly trip with the girlfriends,” Meghann said, thankful for the change in subject. “What do you call yourselves? The Bluesers?”
“Yeah.”
“You all going back to that same place?”
“Every