The Sometimes Sisters(24)

“No husband, no kids. My first time to party in twenty years. You are a bitch for ruinin’ it for me,” the woman moaned.

“You shouldn’t call a woman who just crippled you and bloodied your nose a bitch unless you want more of the same. You gave your kids away?” Tawny looked over her shoulder.

“Every damn one of them. I’m sick of whinin’ teenagers blamin’ me for the divorce.” She slurred every word.

“You are batshit crazy,” Harper whispered.

“What did you say?” Daisy screamed.

Harper turned around to face her and repeated the sentence.

“Don’t judge me until you’ve had to walk in my shoes,” Daisy growled.

Tawny took a step toward her, and Harper used her free hand to pull her back.

“It’s not worth jail time. Just walk away,” Harper said.

“Jail would be worth it,” Tawny muttered.

“Then think about Uncle Zed and Granny,” Harper said. “You need me to drive you home?”

“Hell, no! I’m not drunk, barely even buzzed,” Tawny protested.

Daisy rushed across the parking lot and pushed Tawny backward.

Harper got between them and glared down at the woman. “Touch her again and I’ll mop up this parking lot with you, woman.”

Daisy backed off, and Tawny got into her little sports car, fired it up, and squealed the tires on the way out of the parking lot.

Harper crawled into her truck, locked the doors, removed her shirt, and held it against the cut on her chin while she drove south toward the lake with one hand on the steering wheel. The wound was still seeping and had begun to sting like hell by the time she parked in front of her cabin.

She got out to find Tawny waiting on her porch and Dana and Brook just coming up from the lake’s edge. She started to walk right past all of them, but Tawny popped her hands on her hips and glared at Harper.

“You are welcome, by the way,” she said.

“For what? I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to fight my battles,” Harper said. The feeling was coming back in her chin, and it stung like a son of a gun.

“Good Lord! What happened?” Dana asked.

They both started talking at once, each blaming the other one for ruining the whole evening. Finally, Dana clapped her hands, and they both turned to look at her.

“Do you need some help getting that cleaned up, Harper? Is it deep enough that we should take you to the emergency room or the urgent care for stitches?”

“I’m fine. All of you just go away and leave me alone,” Harper answered.

“Fine! Next time I’ll let a crazy bitch carve her initials in your face.” Tawny stormed off toward her cabin.

“I’d love to have a sister, and here y’all are acting like this.” Brook took off at a jog toward the house.

“Sure you don’t want me to help with that?” Dana asked again.

“I told you to leave.” Harper went inside and slammed the door. She didn’t even make it to the bathroom before someone knocked on her door. Expecting it to be Tawny arguing some more, she slung it open and said, “Get off my porch.”

“Good God, Harper,” Wyatt gasped. “What happened? Car wreck?”

“I thought you were Tawny.” She blushed. “It was a sister wreck. I’m fine.”

“So Tawny did this?” Wyatt brushed past her into the cabin and beat her to the bathroom, where he got out peroxide and butterfly strips. “You’ve ruined a pretty nice shirt, and you’ve got blood all over your jeans.”

“Cold water will take it out. Move over so I can get this cleaned up.” She shoved at him, the action only serving to remind her that even a tall woman like her couldn’t budge him an inch.

He put the lid down on the toilet. “Sit down and I’ll do it for you. And again, which of your sisters did this?”

She sat down, suddenly aware that she was only wearing a bra on top. “Not Tawny. This girl Daisy at the bar. She tried to make me give up my stool—she wanted to save it for her sister. I protested. So she broke a beer bottle and tried to convince me otherwise. And then Tawny stepped in to rescue me. Hell’s bells, Wyatt! I’ve been takin’ care of myself for ten years. I don’t need her help.”

“So what does the other woman look like now? Hold your head up.” He tucked a washcloth under her chin and gently poured peroxide into the wound. When it stopped bubbling, he wiped it dry and applied antibiotic ointment and three strips to hold it together.

“She’ll be limpin’ for a week, and all the makeup in the world won’t cover up those two black eyes. Tawny packs a mean right hook when she’s mad. I bet Daisy don’t think she’s nearly as mean right now as she was this mornin’,” Harper said.

“So this all happened in a bar? Are you drunk?”

“On half a beer? God, no! I went there to dance, drink a beer or two, and blow off some steam, not get drunk and brawl. She caused it. I didn’t. And I didn’t even know Tawny was there, didn’t know that she even went to cheap little bars. Figured she’d only be interested in swanky clubs,” Harper answered.

Wyatt stepped back and tipped her chin up. “Don’t get that wet for a few days and it should heal up pretty good.”