Evening Stars (23 page)

Averil nodded. “I have no idea what they’re going to do with it. I hope they sell it, but I wouldn’t put it past Mom to give it to orphans, like she said.”

“It’s a tax deduction she’d be living off for the rest of her life.”

* * *

After the painting discussion, Averil returned to her bedroom. She booted her laptop, but instead of opening the file for the article she’d been writing, she went to her picture file and started a slide show.

These were photos she’d scanned in from when she was a kid. They showed her in costumes, her with a neighbor’s dog, her in school plays and other events. Nina was with her in some, but mostly her sister was behind the camera.

Nina had always handled things, just like she’d done today. She’d taken care of the details. No matter what, Averil knew she could depend on her sister.

Bonnie opened her door and walked in.

“Hi,” her mother said, walking over to her desk and staring at her computer. “Oh, look at how adorable you were.”

Averil glanced at the screen. She was maybe seven or eight, dressed as a pumpkin, for Halloween. Bonnie had made the costume herself—it had taken days.

Her mother crossed to the bed and sprawled across the comforter. “I remember trying to convince you to be something else,” Bonnie said. “But you wanted to be a pumpkin.”

Averil smiled. “I could be stubborn.”

“Yes, you could. You always had such a strong personality.”

Not like Nina.
Bonnie didn’t make the statement, but she didn’t have to. Bonnie loved her firstborn, but sometimes Averil wondered if her mother had resented her, too.

Bonnie had been sixteen when she’d gotten pregnant. She’d refused to marry the boy, despite pressure from both sets of parents. They’d broken up and gone their separate ways.

Four years later love, or at least sex, had flared between them again and Bonnie had gotten pregnant for a second time. Twenty and a single mom with a four-year-old, she’d accepted her boyfriend’s proposal this time. Averil had been born a few months later.

But within a year, he’d been gone, and Bonnie had been living with her mother. Averil did the math and realized that when Bonnie had been
her
age, Nina had already been nine and running the household.

Bonnie rolled toward her. “Remember when you were little and we used to pretend we were princesses held in a tower?” She laughed. “We would plot our escape and then travel all over the world. I wonder if those old maps are still up in the attic. Remember how we always looked for the most exotic countries and cities with the strange names?”

Averil nodded. While Nina had taken care of things like cooking and urging her mother to go grocery shopping, Bonnie had been content to play pretend and dress-up with her youngest. All those years ago, Bonnie had insisted they were both princesses. When Averil had tried to tell her that Bonnie needed to be the queen, she’d gotten upset. She didn’t want to be the queen.

Averil realized now that there had been a message in that protest. Being the queen meant being the grown-up in the room. Worse, the escape they had planned had been from Nina—a child herself who was simply trying to survive.

Their grandmother had helped out, Averil thought. But after she died, it had all fallen to Nina. Bonnie had resisted the rules imposed by her oldest daughter even as she’d looked to her to handle things. It had been an impossible situation for all of them. Averil had survived with a relatively normal childhood, but she’d been left with a confusing relationship with both her mother and her sister.

Bonnie sighed. “What do you think about the painting?”

“That you got lucky.”

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it. All that money if we sell it. Or we could keep it. Or give it away. Bertie will decide.” She sat up. “We could get a reality show. That would be fun.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for reality television,” Averil told her. She had a feeling that if there was a camera trained on her 24/7, she might not come off in the best light.

“What are you ready for?” Bonnie smiled at her. “Why are you here, Averil?”

“I don’t know. I needed to think, but I’m not spending much time doing that. I’m at the store or writing my articles.”

“Is it Kevin? Are you escaping him?”

“No. I love him.”

“From a distance? Is he easier to love from up here?”

An unexpectedly insightful question, she thought wryly. “Maybe. He’s so good to me and I’m not sure I deserve that.”

“Of course you do. We all deserve to be loved. Is it because he wants to start a family?”

“Some. I thought I was ready, but I’m scared. I don’t want to mess up. Being a mom will change everything.”

Bonnie continued to smile without comment. Averil wondered if that was because, for her mother, little had changed with her children. There had always been someone there to take care of the details. Averil didn’t want to be like her, but she also wasn’t ready to sacrifice herself the way Nina had. Of the two of them, Nina had been the one who’d wanted to escape the island, yet here she was. Stuck.

“Did you discuss children before you got married?” Bonnie asked.

“Sure. I do want them. I just don’t know how they’ll fit. Or how I’ll change.”

“Love makes us stronger,” Bonnie told her. “You’re such a gentle spirit. Your children will be a blessing.” She laughed. “Besides, I’ll be a great grandmother.”

“They will adore you, that’s for sure.”

Bonnie clapped her hands together. “They can stay with Bertie and me for the summer. We’ll love it.”

Averil thought about how Bonnie would allow her grandchildren to do anything they wanted, which was both good and bad.

Bonnie’s smile faded. “What do you want, Averil? Deep in your heart, what moves you?”

Averil considered the question. “I want to be with Kevin. I love him and he’s a good man. I want to make him happy.”

“Happiness comes from inside. You can’t make anyone happy. That’s their choice.”

“Okay, then I want to be a better wife. I want him to be proud of me.”

“Isn’t he now?”

“I don’t know. I keep talking about writing a book and I’m not. I can’t seem to start it. Every time I think I have a great idea, it falls apart.”

“Write about a family that finds a famous painting. How it changes them.”

“You think it’s going to change us?” Averil asked.

“No,” her mother told her. “Because we’re strong. But it would change others.”

An arrogant statement clothed in charm, Averil thought. The painting had already changed things.

Her mother stood and crossed to her. After hugging Averil, she straightened. “Find your own way. Follow that path to wherever it leads. That’s where you’ll be happy.”

Averil wasn’t sure what her mother meant, but she nodded. Bonnie left.

Averil clicked on her word processing program, then stared at the blinking cursor. Its unceasing urging reminded her of Nina. How her sister had insisted she leave the island and go to school somewhere else. Averil had decided on UCLA mostly because of the location. And because she’d heard of the paper. Majoring in journalism had seemed her best option.

But she hadn’t really wanted to go. She’d wanted to stay on the island, at least a while longer. She unexpectedly saw the connection to her mother in not wanting to be the queen. Because staying on the island meant not having to grow up so quickly. But life wasn’t like that, and eventually every young girl had to grow up. There came a time when one had to stop pretending to be a princess and accept the role as queen. At least of one’s own life.

The picture of a princess lodged in her brain. Her hands moved to the keyboard.

No, not a princess, she thought. A rich teenager in a house full of staff. A cliché, maybe, but one she could work with. And not a teenager. Maybe twenty-three was a better age. Post college. Assuming she’d made it through college. Unless that was what the fight was about.

“We’re cutting you off.”

Averil paused, wondering if that was really where she wanted to start her story. Then she told herself it didn’t matter. At this point it was all about getting the pages down. Or in her case, page.

Tracy Galloway rolled her eyes. It was a threat she’d heard a thousand times before.

“I know you’re not happy about Bryce,” she told her father. “But seriously Daddy, you can’t cut me off. What will your friends say?”

Averil paused to read what she’d written. She carefully deleted everything after the first line. For a second, she thought about tossing her computer across the room, but stopped herself. She said she was going to write a novel, and by God, she was going to do it. Word by word, if necessary. Word by frigging word.

Chapter Sixteen

ANDI LOOKED AT the vacation spreadsheet. “I feel bad about making everyone take time off while I’m giving birth,” she said.

“It makes sense.” Nina flipped to the second page. “You’re only going to be home a month. We’ll take the first two weeks and then come back and get things going.” There was plenty to keep everyone busy, even if they didn’t have as many patients as usual.

Andi had been careful to let everyone know about her pregnancy and when she would be taking off to have the baby. Most parents were getting their well visits done before then. While the office was closed, Dr. Harrington would pick up the slack. Then a contract doctor would come in for a month—two weeks while Andi was still home and for her first couple of weeks back.

“You’ve helped me organize all of this,” Andi said with a sigh. “I’m not sure I could have done it without you.”

“You would have been fine,” Nina told her.

“I like to think so, but I’m not sure. How are you doing? You look tired.”

Nina tried to take the comment in the spirit she was sure Andi meant it. “There’s been a lot going on. Bertie and my mom are back. They’re fun but exhausting. Averil’s here, too.” Then there was the painting, but she wasn’t going to mention that. Even if Boston and Deanna had talked about their meeting, she hadn’t been very specific with them, beyond her need for an art expert.

“Dealing with my family is like herding cats,” she continued, thinking Kyle was a bright spot. He was good for easy conversation and better sex. He’d been on one of his task force ops and away for a few days, but he was due back anytime now. She had to admit that she and her girl parts were looking forward to spending time with him.

Andi smiled. “Family is tough. I know mine makes me crazy, so you’re in good company. We do what we have to and we love them anyway.”

“Mostly because we don’t know any better.”

Her boss laughed.

“Bertie helps,” Nina admitted. “She’s great. I wish she would just take charge, but she doesn’t want to step on any toes. I keep telling her to step away. I won’t mind.”

“You take on too much,” Andi said. “God knows I let you run my life. But it’s not healthy. Who takes care of you?”

“I’m like the cats. I’m very self-sufficient.”

Andi raised her eyebrows. “Will we be seeing more of Dylan?”

“I have no idea.”

“You’re not dating him?”

“We’re friends. He came by the other day to talk to me about a few things.”

“He’s very handsome.”

He was, Nina thought. And dependable. Sometimes, the latter was a whole lot more appealing.

Andi nodded slowly. “Okay, your silence on the subject is very clear. I won’t meddle. I’m just pointing out that he’s a great guy.”

“Thanks for the update.”

* * *

Nina threw herself onto a sofa, then coughed as dust billowed out from the tufted piece.

“Bad day?” Averil asked. While Nina did show up in the store from time to time, it wasn’t usually at three in the afternoon.

“No worse than any of the others. Mom called.”

Averil sat on a stool and waited. She had a feeling she knew what her sister was going to say.

“She wants to wait to move the painting to Seattle,” Nina told her. “She’s not ready to sever the connection.” Nina’s eyes closed as her mouth twisted. “It’s a painting, not an umbilical cord. Sever the connection? Why can’t I have a normal mom? They have to exist, right?”

Averil had spoken to Bonnie earlier and had the same conversation. Bonnie claimed to have been dreaming about the painting, and she felt she had a spiritual connection with the work. Until she understood what it wanted from them, she couldn’t allow it to be moved.

“Have you talked to Bertie?” Averil asked. “She can reason with Mom.”

“She can, but she usually won’t.” Nina opened her eyes. “I can’t blame her. She doesn’t want to always be fighting, so she picks her battles. But still. I have no idea what message is going to come from that painting. I only know it’s going to be a pain in my ass.”

Averil was pretty sure Nina was right. If there was a mess that needed cleaning, it generally fell on Nina.

No one had ever expected much from her, she thought. Nina took care of things, including her baby sister. Averil had just been along for the ride. She’d been able to go hang out with her friends, to have free time and not have to worry about things like getting food in the house or keeping the lights on.

“Remember when we used to play dress-up?” she asked. “That was always fun.”

Nina looked around the store. “Some of my best memories are in this store. We did have a good time.”

“You told me what to do,” Averil mused. “What to wear and what my lines were.”

Nina, still dressed in her scrubs, shuddered. “Okay, I’ll admit it. Today is not a day when I can deal with everything I did wrong back then.”

Averil stared at her. “No,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean it that way. You always took charge, so all I had to do was have fun. It was nice.”

Nina didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, right. Bossy older sisters. Everyone wants one.”

“You took care of me, Nina. When Mom was off doing whatever, disappearing to buy stuff for the store, you were here. I knew you wouldn’t leave me. I depended on you.”

Nina relaxed. “Okay. Thanks. Sorry to be so sensitive. I didn’t take the call very well. I’d just gotten out of a meeting with Andi when she phoned to explain why we had to keep the painting here.” She touched the side of her head. “I’m still throbbing. Apparently I got shrill and pale. Andi told me to take the afternoon off.”