Read Online Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel - Free Book Online Page A

toward the back cupboards and began pulling out several varieties of cat food: a bag of kitty kibble, plus assorted tins of chicken and liver paste. She mashed dry and wet food together in bowls, enough to accommodate the now dozen or so cats weaving through her legs, pressing their bodies against her calves and arching their backs in complete cat-satisfaction. When she was done with the food prep, they all moved to the sliding glass door, where she placed their bowls in a line. Pansy was at the end, getting her own nourishment before she stepped back into the box to feed her kittens.But cats are fickle, and their attachment to their young is fleeting. In a few months’ time, I knew, Pansy would be so over them. She’d pass her formerly beloved kittens in the hall without so much as a glance of recognition.
    Kind of like another mom I knew.
    â€œHow do you always manage to have a gourmet buffet for the cats on hand when there’s nothing in this house fit for actual human consumption?” I asked Susannah.
    â€œYou wanna come for breakfast with us?” Brian asked. “We’re going to Declan’s. My treat.”
    Declan’s was a restaurant on Main Street. The breakfast menu came vaguely close to reasonably priced. Still, I couldn’t believe Brian was offering to foot the bill. In fact, I couldn’t recall his ever offering to treat anyone to anything. “You’re kidding, right?”
    Susannah had started to fill an eyedropper with milk for Wren, but she turned away from the counter and gave Brian an almost imperceptible shake of her head. “I don’t think Lorrie will be up for it.”
    â€œWhat?” Brian asked. “Too good for dine and dash?”
    I glared at my sister. “Don’t tell me that’s what you’re really planning to do.”
    â€œThere’s no food, like you said.”
    â€œYou know, Lorrie,” Brian added, “you’d enjoy life so much more if you just killed the bug you have stuck up your ass.”
    â€œI want you out of this house,” I told him.
    â€œShe’s just under a lot of stress,” Susannah said quickly. “She doesn’t mean it.”
    â€œYou’re worried about him right now?” I asked my sister, incredulous. “Did you hear how he just spoke to me? He is not welcome here.”
    She turned to me. “He is, Lorrie.”
    Brian grinned as if he’d just won some dumb carnival prize. “I love how you think you can just make a decision like that,” he told me. “Like your name is on the deed or something. Meanwhile, you’re never here, and when you are, you’ll do anything to avoid facing up to the fact that you’re no better than anyone else.”
    â€œGet. Out.”
    But if Brian’s expression was gleeful, Susannah’s was of a girl destroyed. “Please stop it now. It hurts me too much when you fight like this.”
    â€œI’m sorry, babe,” Brian said. “Let’s go. We’ll get something to eat, just you and me.”
    â€œYeah, okay.” She swiped at her face, actual tears. Susannah didn’t make gestures just for effect.
    â€œGot everything you need?”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    They started toward the back door. Brian had his arm around my sister, steering her away. Two of Grandma’s silver forks were sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans.
    â€œWait!” I’m sure they both thought I was only about to make a last-ditch effort to get Susannah to stay. But I knew that was a lost cause. “Over my dead body you’re leaving with those.”
    Susannah turned around. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œHe has the silver he was ‘polishing’ in his back pocket.”
    Brian reached around before Susannah could check and pulled the forks out of his pocket. He yanked open a drawer by the stove and dropped them inside. They clanged against whatever else was thrown