Read Online The Plan by Kelly Bennett Seiler - Free Book Online

away.”
    â€œWell, maybe if you’d returned any of their calls…” Gia said with a shrug.
    â€œAnd say what? I’m sorry your son and your grandchildren are all dead and I’m still alive? Lucky me!” Claire rubbed her eyes with the bottom of her palms. She was exhausted. This whole doing-nothing- thing was really tiring.
    â€œYou have to come downstairs.”
    â€œAnd what if I don’t?” Claire asked. It sounded more like a challenge than she’d intended.
    â€œThen I’m going to tell them to come up here.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t.”
    â€œJust watch me,” Gia said defiantly. Her patience with Claire was running thin these days and it showed.
    Claire pushed down the covers and got out of bed. “Fine,” she said as she tried to walk past Gia.
    â€œI think you should put on some clothes.”
    Claire looked down at herself. She was wearing one of Jack’s college T-shirts and another pair of his boxer shorts. These were a Christmas theme and said “I’ve Been Naughty” on the butt.
    Without saying a word, Claire went back into the room and into her own closet. She pulled on a pair of jeans, but left Jack’s T-shirt in place.
    â€œBetter?” she said, as she walked back into the bedroom.
    â€œMuch. Be nice,” Gia hissed.
    Claire acted like she didn’t hear Gia and went downstairs. She’d been down more regularly over the past week, ever since her forced shower, but not as often as she probably should. She noticed things looked a little dusty down here, and there was a stack of dirty dishes in the sink. Gia was a loving, wonderful and nurturing friend, but not much of a housekeeper. Claire remembered that from their days of rooming together in college.
    Bill and Nancy were sitting side-by-side on the couch, as stiff as pokers. They were an attractive couple. Bill, like his son, was tall and, though not as muscular as in his youth, still stayed fit by swimming at the gym every day and refusing to ride in a golf cart when he played on Thursdays. “The day I need to ride is the day I need to quit,” he often said. Nancy gave off the image of being the stereotypical Southern lady. She still wore the beehive hairdo she’d sported in her youth and was never, ever seen in anything but a dress. Claire had always found that to be so weird. They weren’t the casual and comfortable sundresses Gia often wore. Nancy wore prim, church-style dresses. All the time. Who wore a church dress just to hang out at home or do the dishes or pull weeds in her garden? Nancy did, that’s who. If you were to first meet Nancy, you’d think she was as fragile and gentle as a bird. But, as time went by, Claire had come to realize the bird she’d first thought to be a robin was really a crow. Her voice was as annoying to Claire as incessant cawing. Nancy constantly had something to say and she always made sure you heard it.
    Bill stood the moment he saw Claire enter the room. Nancy remained seated, which didn’t surprise Claire in the least. She was the type of person who felt others should come to her, not the reverse. The only time Claire had seen her in-laws since the accident was at the funeral. Nancy had fallen to the ground and wept uncontrollably. Claire, in such a state of shock, had found it impossible to cry. But she’d wanted to kick her mother-in-law. The funeral was about Jack and the kids. Not Nancy. The fact that Claire had lost her husband and children made no difference to Nancy. Nancy had lost her one and only child. That was much, much worse. Claire wasn’t sure how—since Claire had lost three children—but somehow it was. At least, in Nancy’s eyes and, to Nancy, her eyes were the only ones that mattered.
    â€œClaire, Claire, dear. How are you? We’ve been so worried about you.” Bill rushed over to Claire and pulled her into a bear hug. Claire did her best to hug