Read Online Center Ice by Cate Cameron - Free Book Online

slut?” I asked. It probably sounded petty, but I was pretty sure I had a point. “Like the stuff she keeps saying about Tyler?” I wasn’t sticking up for his honor; I just wanted to see her face.
    Natalie nodded slowly. “I think his name should probably be off-limits as well.” She shook her head at Miranda. “Honestly, I’ve never heard you have a problem with him before. Where did all this come from?”
    “From me finding out what a whore he is,” Miranda said.
    “Uh, consequences,” I sing-songed. “She used a forbidden word. She obviously needs a consequence in order to understand that you’re serious.”
    “You want consequences?” Natalie rolled her head toward me, looking absolutely disgusted. “Fine. For both of you.” She looked back at Miranda. “The garage is a mess. Today, both of you will be cleaning it out. I want it totally emptied, then swept down and hosed out.” She looked at each of us in turn, and I began to understand the true horror of what she was saying. “I’ll have Matt and Sara sort through their things, and Will is planning to be home at lunch, so he can go through his stuff as well. Whatever they decide to keep, you two will find a home for. Whatever they decide to throw out, you will load up and take to the dump or to Goodwill. Neither one of you will leave this house until that job is finished.”
    “Wait a second,” I said. “Why the hell am I clearing out all your junk? I just moved here.” I refused to mention the pain of dealing with my mother’s things at the apartment, because there was no way on earth I was going to cry in front of either of these two. But I really felt like I’d done enough sorting of belongings for a while.
    “You’re doing it because you need to learn to get along with your sister, and maybe working on a shared task will help with that.”
    “That’s bullshit. She’s only my half -sister, and spending a whole day trapped with her is only going to make it more clear what a psycho-bitch she is!”
    “And now you’re doing it as a consequence for using one of the forbidden words,” Natalie said with a coldly charming smile. “You can have half an hour to shower and have breakfast, but I want both of you in the garage by nine o’clock, ready to work.”
    “Mom, Claire and Lisa and I are going to the movies this afternoon. We made plans!” Miranda sounded like she might start crying again.
    “Well, then, you’d better work fast.” Natalie shook her head. “I don’t think you’re going to make it, to be honest, but…maybe. You can try, at least.” Damn, this was a new side to the woman—who knew she had a sadistic streak? I was almost ready to appreciate her when she turned to me and said, “Are you thinking that there’s no point getting showered, because the job is going to be so dirty? Or are you just wasting valuable time?”
    I stared at her for as long as I could, but there was no way she was going to back down. So I forced my face into a smile just as artificial as all of hers and said, “Super. I’m sure this will work. No problem.” Another smile to make it clear I was being sarcastic, and then I stomped downstairs to get cleaned up.
    By the time I’d eaten and gone to the garage, Miranda was already hard at work. It was still before nine, so I guess she was just being a martyr. I flopped down on the steps leading to the house and watched her for a while.
    “Are you going to help ?” she finally asked.
    “I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere to be this afternoon. I was thinking about taking it slow.”
    She glared at me, then slowly, deliberately reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She hit the screen a few times and then raised it to her ear. “Hi,” she said. “I’m just calling because I can’t make it this afternoon. Yeah, there’s a family thing. That girl who’s staying with us? Yeah. It’s her fault. So, anyway, I’m not going to make it.” She nudged a big canvas bag full