Read Online The Patterson Girls by Rachael Johns - Free Book Online Page B

jog and spent the morning catching up on sleep.
    â€˜She was a little cagey, but she admitted she’s been shouldering a lot more of the motel responsibility since Mum died. She tried to tell me she didn’t mind but I could see how exhausted she is. She hasn’t had a day off in over a month. Apparently Dad got behind paying some of the staff wages and so a few of the casual cleaners and wait staff quit. Mrs Sampson and Rob have been doing the best they can but it’s not fair on either of them.’
    â€˜Poor Dad,’ Abigail sniffed. ‘Maybe one of us should have stayed longer after the funeral.’
    â€˜Right,’ Madeleine nodded, unable to rein in her sarcastic tone. ‘And you would have given up your prestigious position in the London Symphony Orchestra to cook bacon and eggs for strangers?’
    Abigail poked her tongue out but didn’t say anything.
    â€˜Anyway,’ Lucinda said with emphasis that demanded attention, ‘this morning I told Mrs Sampson she needed to take a few days off over Christmas, maybe even go to Adelaide and spend it with her kids, and that from tomorrow until we leave we’ll take on her duties.’
    Madeleine raised her eyebrows. ‘What about our holiday?’
    â€˜Oh for fuck’s sake, Madeleine,’ snapped Lucinda, cursing uncharacteristically, ‘stop being such a princess. Do you have a better solution? Do you even care about Dad? Or do you only care about yourself?’
    Madeleine wanted to yell something caustic back but Lucinda’s words hit hard. The truth was she wasn’t so much annoyed about having to help but about Lucinda making this decision without consulting anyone else. Sometimes she thought her sister should have been born first; she certainly acted like she was in charge of everyone.
    â€˜Look, let’s not fight about this now. We can’t change the past,’ said Charlie, ever the peacekeeper. ‘But Lucinda’s right. We can at least give Mrs Sampson a holiday and take the pressure off Dad while we’re here.’
    â€˜I’m happy to help,’ Abigail said, her usual chirpiness grating on Madeleine’s already tetchy nerves, ‘but—’
    â€˜We know you can’t cook to save your life,’ Charlie said with a laugh. ‘If I recall, neither can Madeleine.’
    It was Madeleine’s turn to poke out her tongue. What am I, sixteen again? Being around her sisters was making her behave like a child. ‘Let me guess, we’re on room cleaning duty then.’ She knew she should have stayed in Baltimore.
    â€˜We’ll work out a fair roster,’ Lucinda promised. ‘Now, shall we get started?’
    â€˜Yes.’ The sooner they got started, the sooner they’d finish and Madeleine could escape to her room for a little sanity-restoring solitude.
    â€˜Great.’ Lucinda gestured to the boxes she’d placed on the queen size bed. ‘I thought maybe we could make three piles. Stuff that is still good enough to give to the Salvos, stuff that should be binned and … sentimental stuff that we can’t bear to part with.’
    â€˜Like Mum’s wedding dress?’ Abigail suggested, glancing up at the big white box with a silver ribbon that lived on the top shelf of the walk-in robe. Madeleine could only recall one occasion when Mum had brought it out—she’d joked about being too fat to ever use it again—but they’d always known that dress was special. She and Dad had been almost sickeningly in love, often pausing to kiss like newlyweds as they passed in the hallway or in the bar.
    â€˜Yes.’ Lucinda nodded. ‘The wedding dress stays. It didn’t fit for my big Italian wedding—’ she rolled her eyes ‘—but maybe one of you would like to wear it when you get married.’
    â€˜Moving right along,’ Madeleine said. If they agonised over every single item, they’d