Read Online Sadie-In-Waiting by Annie Jones - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Annie Jones
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someplace else. Wileyville is quaint and all, but he’s not the small-town type.”
“What about you?” April crossed her legs at the ankles, the thick soles of her sandals thudding quietly together. “If you’re going to start a family, one way or another, don’t you want to be close to us?”
“Close is one thing. Practically on top of one another in the same town?” Hannah pursed her lips in an implicit No thank you .
April sighed. She uncrossed her ankles and crossed them again. Then she plucked her braid from her shoulder and began flipping her fingertips through the soft frayed end.
Finally, without making eye contact with either of her sisters, she raised her chin and said, “No matter which you chose, though, that leaves the Daddy thing up to Sadie and me.”
“And just why is that?” Not a single human being on earth who knew her would think Hannah wanted to be a party to doing anything that might even slightly upset her much-adored daddy. But the women in this room knew that if it came down to it, she’d ruffle every last one of the old rooster’s feathers in a New York minute rather than be excluded from anything she saw as a sisterly decision. “I am just as much a part of this family as you two. I have as much to contribute as either of you.”
“Don’t start that whole runner-up-sister routine again, Hannah. We’re talking about seriously taking care of Daddy here. It’s not a contest.”
Runner-up sister . Hannah loved to bandy that ridiculous title around whenever she and Sadie competed for anything, most of all when vying for their daddy’s approval. In Hannah’s opinion the fix was in. Sadie always won. And Hannah always felt like the runner-up, the sister named to step in should the Miss America sister be unableto fulfill her duties. Sadie hated the expression not only because it kept a hurt alive in Hannah that Sadie could not ease, but it also must have been an awful blow to April. If Sadie was always the star sister and Hannah next in line, what did that make their older half sibling? Not even in the running?
“Sadie’s right,” April chimed in, with a sure hand on Hannah’s shoulder. “There’s no contest here.”
“Just a decision worthy of King Solomon himself,” Sadie said. Making their father do something he did not want to do could wreak havoc on all their fragile relationships. “How do we divide up our Solomon’s care without tearing the family in two?”
The ice rattled in Hannah’s tea glass as she tipped it slightly back and forth.
April tapped her spoon against the side of her cup.
Sadie jiggled her foot and, in time to it all, asked quietly, “Who…gets…Daddy?”
“I do,” Hannah said.
“But you’re moving,” April reminded her.
“That’s not settled yet,” Hannah retorted. “And in the meantime—”
April clunked the spoon down lightly on the countertop. “In the meantime you can use taking care of Daddy to keep you from having to make a decision about becoming a foster parent?”
Hannah’s green eyes sparked, but she did not meet either of her sisters’ gazes when she proclaimed, “April, that is a low and despicable thing to say.”
“Which doesn’t make it any less true,” Sadie murmured.
“And I suppose you want Daddy, too?” April folded her arms. “Miss ‘anything to avoid taking the job that everybody knows you were born to do’?”
“I refuse to believe I was born to run a cemetery!” Sadie evaded a real answer with enough phony huff-and-puffery to rival anything Hannah could produce. “Why shouldn’t I take care of Daddy?”
“Because like I said, it’s no contest,” April spoke up. “I’m taking Daddy.”
“You, April?” Hannah set her glass down hard. “Why do you think it should fall to you?”
“He’s not even your—” Sadie found the sudden good sense not to finish that statement.
The only topic more off-limits between the three sisters than their mother’s abandonment was
“What about you?” April crossed her legs at the ankles, the thick soles of her sandals thudding quietly together. “If you’re going to start a family, one way or another, don’t you want to be close to us?”
“Close is one thing. Practically on top of one another in the same town?” Hannah pursed her lips in an implicit No thank you .
April sighed. She uncrossed her ankles and crossed them again. Then she plucked her braid from her shoulder and began flipping her fingertips through the soft frayed end.
Finally, without making eye contact with either of her sisters, she raised her chin and said, “No matter which you chose, though, that leaves the Daddy thing up to Sadie and me.”
“And just why is that?” Not a single human being on earth who knew her would think Hannah wanted to be a party to doing anything that might even slightly upset her much-adored daddy. But the women in this room knew that if it came down to it, she’d ruffle every last one of the old rooster’s feathers in a New York minute rather than be excluded from anything she saw as a sisterly decision. “I am just as much a part of this family as you two. I have as much to contribute as either of you.”
“Don’t start that whole runner-up-sister routine again, Hannah. We’re talking about seriously taking care of Daddy here. It’s not a contest.”
Runner-up sister . Hannah loved to bandy that ridiculous title around whenever she and Sadie competed for anything, most of all when vying for their daddy’s approval. In Hannah’s opinion the fix was in. Sadie always won. And Hannah always felt like the runner-up, the sister named to step in should the Miss America sister be unableto fulfill her duties. Sadie hated the expression not only because it kept a hurt alive in Hannah that Sadie could not ease, but it also must have been an awful blow to April. If Sadie was always the star sister and Hannah next in line, what did that make their older half sibling? Not even in the running?
“Sadie’s right,” April chimed in, with a sure hand on Hannah’s shoulder. “There’s no contest here.”
“Just a decision worthy of King Solomon himself,” Sadie said. Making their father do something he did not want to do could wreak havoc on all their fragile relationships. “How do we divide up our Solomon’s care without tearing the family in two?”
The ice rattled in Hannah’s tea glass as she tipped it slightly back and forth.
April tapped her spoon against the side of her cup.
Sadie jiggled her foot and, in time to it all, asked quietly, “Who…gets…Daddy?”
“I do,” Hannah said.
“But you’re moving,” April reminded her.
“That’s not settled yet,” Hannah retorted. “And in the meantime—”
April clunked the spoon down lightly on the countertop. “In the meantime you can use taking care of Daddy to keep you from having to make a decision about becoming a foster parent?”
Hannah’s green eyes sparked, but she did not meet either of her sisters’ gazes when she proclaimed, “April, that is a low and despicable thing to say.”
“Which doesn’t make it any less true,” Sadie murmured.
“And I suppose you want Daddy, too?” April folded her arms. “Miss ‘anything to avoid taking the job that everybody knows you were born to do’?”
“I refuse to believe I was born to run a cemetery!” Sadie evaded a real answer with enough phony huff-and-puffery to rival anything Hannah could produce. “Why shouldn’t I take care of Daddy?”
“Because like I said, it’s no contest,” April spoke up. “I’m taking Daddy.”
“You, April?” Hannah set her glass down hard. “Why do you think it should fall to you?”
“He’s not even your—” Sadie found the sudden good sense not to finish that statement.
The only topic more off-limits between the three sisters than their mother’s abandonment was
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