The Sister Season Read Online Free Page A

pining to get the farm back in running order? How many years had she been miserable? Enough to let the wall of the chicken coop, where she’d spent so many summer mornings gathering the breakfast eggs, a bandanna over her nose and mouth, fall into ruin. Had that been Robert’s fault? Or hers? She was having a hard time deciding what was whose fault these days.
    “So I was telling Tai that you’ll probably want to come stay with us sometimes. He’s okay with it,” Julia was saying.
    Maybe a Barnevelder, Elise thought. Weren’t those the ones that laid the dark brown eggs? Or was she thinking of a Jersey Giant? Now, those were some hardy chickens. No matter, but something fancy would be nice. Maybe one of those chickens with the poufy feathers around their heads. What were they called again? Those would delight the grandkids.
    “Mom.”
    Elise startled, whirled so that the small of her back was pressed to the sink.
    Julia’s eyes were as wide and steady as ever.
    “I’m sorry, I was thinking about the chickens,” Elise said, trying to sound nonchalant.
    “What chickens?”
    Elise paused, gathered her thoughts. What chickens, indeed? They were only in her mind and she knew that. Of course she did. She waved her hand. “Nothing. Never mind. I’ve been distracted lately.”
    Julia leaned back in her chair, her eyes so enormous that Elise wondered how anyone could not feel her stare from a hundred yards away. Something about that gaze had always made Elise feel small and lacking, even when it was prodding at her from inside a bassinet. “Well, of course you are, Mom. That’s why Tai and I think you need to spend some time with us. You don’t need all this space to yourself. We can talk about options.”
    “It’s really not that much space.”
    “It’s a hundred acres. All that area behind the tree line? The pond? The fields? You and Dad together were barely able to take care of it as it was. How can you keep up with all of that by yourself?”
    Elise set her cup down and pressed her fingers to her temple. “I don’t know, Julia. The man’s only been dead for a day. I have plans, but no time. There’s never time. I don’t need people telling me what to do and how to do it. I got enough of that from him.” She winced when she heard her own voice, realized the harshness of it. Julia’s mouth was frozen open in surprise, and immediately Elise wanted to stuff the words back into her mouth. This visit was supposed to be different, was supposed to be light and loving. She was supposed to be bonding with her daughters, now that she could. She was not going to lose her control.
    But . . . she only just needed a few minutes to think about hens. Get her thoughts straight.
    “Queenie!” she heard from behind her, and let out a gust of air as Claire shuffled into the room, yawning and looking puffy with sleep.
    Julia’s mouth clamped shut and she visibly straightened her spine. “Hello,” she said, her voice not altogether warm but not icy, either. Just hesitant.
    “God, you look old. Where’s your kid?”
    “Thank you. So sweet of you to point that out. And
Eli
is outside.”
    Claire padded to the storm door, her furry boots replaced by woolen socks, and peered outside. “Shit, he got big.”
    “That’s because he’s fourteen now.”
    Claire turned, her face bemused. “It’s been that long?”
    Julia offered her a condescending smile. “Time flies.”
    “He just had a birthday a few months ago, you know,” Elise said, ladling some steaming wine into three mugs and bringing them to the table. Claire pulled out a chair and plopped into it. Elise settled into her seat at the head of the table.
    “That so?” Claire blew across the top of her mug as if she were blowing the heat off a cup of cocoa.
    Elise nodded, the conversation dead-ended, and she wished that she could think of something new to say. Something not volatile. Thing was, she wasn’t sure what was not volatile between her daughters