Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(60)

“You going or not going to college has nothing to do with what happened to me,” Sophie said gently. “We’re four years apart in age. CK’s mom wasn’t even born then.”

“Then I would have found another cat.” Amber glared at her. “I don’t understand why you think you can come around here, lording your success over all of us. No one is impressed, Sophie. You think you know more than everyone else, but you don’t.”

Heather waited for Sophie to get upset or lash out, but she only seemed to shrink a little in her chair.

“Is that what you think?” She looked from Amber to Heather.

“No,” Heather said quickly. “Sophie, you’re amazing. You’ve built CK from nothing. Look at where you are, and all by yourself. You’re a role model.”

“Suck-up,” Amber grumbled.

“I’m not a suck-up.” Heather swung back to Sophie. “What I said is true. All of it. I admire you so much.”

“She’s not all that.” Amber waved her hand. “She doesn’t have anyone in her life.”

“None of us do.”

“Oh, I could if I wanted.” Amber sounded ridiculously confident. “I’m just not interested in a man right now. There’s too much going on.”

“Sophie has Dugan.”

“You always take everyone else’s side, Heather. You’re really a wretched child, you know that?” Amber turned to Sophie. “You should buy this house. You’ll feel better.”

Sophie’s eyes widened. “What?”

“From my mother. I don’t think she’s going to sell, but if she decides to, you should buy it and give it to me. So I’ll have a home to call my own. You can certainly afford it and we’re family. You owe me, what with stealing the idea for the linens. Plus, her selling the house is your fault.”

“Mom!”

Sophie straightened. “You’re crazy. It’s not my fault. None of this is my fault. I’m working my ass off every single day and all I hear is how I’m screwing things up. Well, you can forget it. All of it.”

She sprang to her feet and raced out of the house. Heather stood and stared after her.

“I have no idea what that was,” Amber said. “If you ask me, she’s losing it.” She smiled at Heather. “Did you see how I put it out there? You don’t get what you want if you don’t ask for it. Sophie’s going to buy the house for us. You’ll see.”

“Oh, Mom.”

“Don’t ‘oh, Mom’ me. I know what I’m doing. You could learn a lot from me.”

She was still talking when Heather headed down the hall to her room. Something was up with Sophie, that was for sure. But what? And what, if anything, should she do about it?

There weren’t any answers, so she pushed away the questions. Rather than worry, she opened her laptop and loaded the City of Boise website, then began to search for apartments for rent.



Chapter Seventeen


Kristine had debated printing out her material and posting it on large boards on an easel. But she wasn’t sure multicolored pie charts would help her cause. Jaxsen was either going to support her or he wasn’t.

She’d prepared one of his favorite dinners—pork chop casserole—and made sure she was up-to-date on the state of play in the basketball world to ensure fun and friendly dinner conversation. After the boys had helped with kitchen cleanup, she’d retreated to the basement to get set up.

Grant went up to his room while JJ and Tommy went downstairs with her. They threw themselves on the huge sectional, both watching her as she organized her materials on the coffee table.

“You’re going to do great, Mom,” Tommy said. “When you get the bakery opened, I’ll help on weekends. So I can be saving for my car.”

Kristine smiled at him. “I really appreciate the offer, but you’re four years away from being old enough to drive a car.”

“Time goes fast. You turn around and it’s been fifty years.”

She laughed. “Where did you read that?”

“In a book. You know the teacher still makes us read books.”

“I heard that. Are you horrified?”

“We could download them from the library, but she wants us to have real books you’ve gotta carry around. Just like you do with our bedtime books. It’s so primitive.”

JJ shifted so his back pressed against the seat of the sectional and he was staring at the ceiling, his feet high in the air.

“I thought women weren’t supposed to be in business.” His voice was matter-of-fact.

Kristine stared at her oldest. “What are you talking about? Look at Sophie. She’s incredibly successful, all on her own. Of course women can be in business. They should be. Everyone deserves the chance to follow his or her dream.”

Where on earth had JJ heard otherwise? Before she could ask, she saw Tommy jab his brother in the ribs and shush him.

JJ immediately looked guilty. “You’re right, Mom. It’s going to go great.”

Right on time, Jaxsen walked downstairs. At the sight of him, the boys headed to the main floor.

“We’ll be in our rooms,” Tommy called. “Far, far away.”

Jaxsen joined her on the sofa, his expression quizzical. “Do they know what this meeting is about? Because I sure don’t. You were very mysterious when you mentioned it.”