Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(59)
It made her feel hopeful.
oOo
She’d just come back from putting away the ladder and the rest of the leavings from her summer window project when the bell over the door tinkled. Show’s daughters, Rose and Iris, walked in. They’d been in town about a week and would be around for two more. This was the first time that Adrienne had spent much time at all with them. Only once before had their visits coincided—a couple of Christmases ago. But Adrienne had only stayed the weekend for that trip.
Rose was seventeen and Iris almost fourteen. They were pretty, girlie girls who loved pink and glitter and nail polish—especially pink, glittery nail polish—and boys. Rose was quiet and sweet. Iris never stopped talking. Almost literally.
“Hi, girls. What’s up?”
Rose smiled. Iris bounced over, her long curls, the color of golden brown sugar, swinging from a high ponytail. “Bored. Got anything cool?”
Adrienne smiled. “You have money?”
Iris heaved a dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. “What good is it having a sister who works in a store if you can’t get free stuff?”
“Yeah…sorry. It’s still called stealing even if you know somebody on the inside.” She walked behind the counter. “But I get whatever I want for cost, and Dora did just come back with a bunch a jewelry from an estate sale.” She pulled a tray of vintage costume jewelry pieces up and put it on the glass top of the sales counter. One of her tasks for the day was ticketing everything in the tray. There was some real stuff, too, in the back, but Adrienne wasn’t going to offer to buy them actual diamonds and rubies. “I’ll pay for one thing for each of you, if you see something you like.”
They dove at the tray like seasoned New Yorkers at a sample sale. They went through every piece, holding it up, trying it on, conferring. Adrienne had never had a sister—except these two, she supposed— but one of her high school friends had had two. They loathed each other intensely and fought violently all the time. Rose and Iris were nothing like that. Even in the short time she’d spent with them over the years, she could tell that they were close. They fought and squabbled, but mostly they were like this—a team.
Her brothers were much younger than she was, and they were twins. She loved them, and they her, and she thankfully was able to keep in touch with them even though their father had cut her out. But they weren’t close. Maybe there was no way to be close with twins. They were their own family. So Adrienne had never known anything like the bond Rose and Iris shared. She felt a little jealous.
After deep, serious consideration of all the new offerings, Iris decided on a faux ivory (meaning plastic) stretch bracelet, the pieces seeming to be carved in an elaborate pattern. Rose selected a three-strand faceted crystal choker. Awfully fancy schmancy for Signal Bend (and one of the more expensive pieces in the tray), but it did look lovely on her long, slender neck. Rose’s beauty was of the ethereal variety—tall and willowy, all legs and arms, with long, flaxen hair and big, blue eyes. Iris was robust and gregarious, pretty in a kind of ordinary way, but her radiant personality took her looks up a level or two. Rose looked like she’d stepped out of a fairy tale, with the dainty, retiring demeanor to go with it. She was like something to keep safe in a glass case.
After they made their selections and Adrienne had paid for them, they wandered around the store for a few minutes, chatting about nothing much, obviously killing time. Then Iris, standing near the window, whistled, and Rose turned from the array of ceramic figurines she’d been fondling.
“Here they come!”
Curious, Adrienne looked out the window, too. Three boys, probably around Rose’s age, were walking down the boardwalk across the street. They turned into the sandwich shop. She recognized one of them—a tall, fit, cute blond—as a Horde hangaround. She couldn’t think if she’d ever heard his name, though.
If this was what it looked like, Show was going to lose his mind.
“Time for lunch!” Iris shouted.
Rose cringed a little, but she set the little glass bluebird down and said, “Bye, Adrienne. You coming for the barbecue tonight?”
Adrienne cocked an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, we’ll be there. Does your dad know about…” She nodded toward the window.
Rose’s alabaster complexion went waxy. “No. You won’t say anything, right? Please?”
“Come on, come on!” Iris pleaded from the door.
Adrienne shook her head and answered Rose with the truth. “All I know is you’re having lunch at the sandwich shop. For now, let’s keep that all I know, okay?”
Relief made Rose’s blue eyes glow. “Thank you! See you tonight. And thanks for the jewelry!”
oOo
As it happened, nobody had barbecue at Show and Shannon’s that evening. The day got much too exciting.
About two hours before closing, Badger called. Adrienne answered with a smile. He often called during the day, just to be sweet—to tell her he loved her or something sappy like that. Not a very biker-y thing to do, but totally awesome.
“Hiya. Having a good day?”
His voice, though, was serious and tense. “You need to come home, babe.”
“I’m alone in the shop, Badge. I’m closing on my own.”
“Then do it now. It’s important.”