“Are you jealous?”
“Yeah. I want to marry an itinerant Country and Western singer who can’t even headline at Cowboy Bob’s Western Roundup in Lake Chelan. Yes, Harriet, you’ve hit the core of it this time. I’m jealous.” She crossed her arms. “He’s probably marrying her for the so-called resort. He’ll try to talk her into building condos or dentists’ offices.”
“That would show some initiative.”
“Claire loves that tired piece of land. She would hate to pave over it.”
“I thought you said the land was underdeveloped and that Claire was wasting her life there. I believe you mentioned building a spa on the property.”
“You’re completely missing the point.”
“The point being that you need to ride in on a white horse and save her.”
“Someone has to protect her. I want to be there for her this time.”
“This time.”
Meghann looked up sharply. Of course Harriet had pounced on the two words that mattered. “Yes.”
Harriet leaned forward. “Tell me about the day you weren’t there for your sister.”
Meghann stiffened, drew back. The chair squeaked as it rolled backward. “That’s not what this is about.”
“You’re smarter than that, Meg. I don’t have to remind you that everything between you and Claire is about the past. What happened?”
Meghann closed her eyes. Obviously, she was in a weakened state, because the sour memories were there, waiting to crowd to the front of her mind. She shrugged, tried to appear casual as she opened her eyes and looked at Harriet. “You know it all. You just want to hear me go through it.”
“Do I?”
“I was sixteen. Claire was nine. Mama went to Los Angeles for the Starbase IV audition and had so much fun she forgot about the kids she left in Bakersfield. For her, it was a common oversight. Then Social Services started poking around. They threatened to put us into foster care. I was old enough to run away, but Claire …” She shrugged. “So I pulled a Nancy Drew and tracked down Sam Cavenaugh—her biological dad. I called him. Sam couldn’t save his daughter fast enough.” Meg heard the adolescent hurt in her voice. Even now, all these years later, the memories of that summer were hard to bear. She hated to remember how much she’d wanted Sam to be her father, too. Meg straightened. “None of this old shit matters. Sam was a great father to Claire. Everyone ended up happier.”
“Everyone? How about the girl who lost her mother and sister and had no father to turn to?”
The observation hurt. Meghann had never been able to discover her own father’s name; all Mama ever called him was That loser. “Enough. Tell me this, Harriet. Is it smart to marry a man you’ve known a few weeks? Would you like it if your daughter did what Claire is doing?”
“I’d have to trust her, wouldn’t I? We can’t live other people’s lives for them. Even if we love them.”
“I do love Claire,” Meghann said quietly.
“I know you do. That’s never been the issue, has it?”
“We have nothing in common. It doesn’t mean I want to see her throw her life away.”
“Oh, I think you have something in common. You lived together for nine years. That’s a lot of shared memories. I get the feeling that you used to be best friends.”
“Before I dumped her off with a man she barely knew and then ran away? Yeah. We were best friends before that. But Claire wanted a daddy, and once she got one … well …” Meghann glanced at the intricately cast crystal desk clock. It was 4:00. “It’ll take me almost two hours to reach Hayden at this time of day. Our traffic is just terrible, don’t you think? If we would elect a mayor instead of—”
“Meg. Don’t go off on one of your rants. Today is important. Claire may harbor certain animosities against you.”
“I’ve told you she does.”
“And yet you’re going to race up to Hayden in your expensive car and butt into her life.”
“I’d characterize my involvement as saving her from herself. Just handing out some obviously overlooked information.”
“Do you think she’ll appreciate your help?”
Meghann winced. Claire would probably not be pleased. Some people had trouble accepting certain facts. “I’ll be pleasant about it.”
“You’ll pleasantly tell her that she shouldn’t marry a singer with no real prospects.”
“Yes. I know I can be abrasive at times, and opinionated to the point of oppression, but this time I intend to choose my words carefully. I won’t say loser or gold digger or stupid. She’ll be hurt, but she’ll see that I’m only trying to look out for her.”
Harriet seemed to wait an inordinately long time before she asked, “Do you remember how love feels?”
Meghann couldn’t follow the segue, but she was glad to quit talking about Claire. “I married Eric, didn’t I?” Number two on the hit parade of bad decisions.
“What do you remember about your marriage to Eric?”