“Maybe, yeah,” Madeline said. She hadn’t thought of it before this moment, but she’d seen some well-worn trails leading into the forest and thought, why not? “First, I was hoping we might talk,” she said.
She noticed Libby’s slight hesitation, but she said, “Sure! I found a coffeemaker yesterday. Want some?”
“Yes, thanks,” Madeline said. She grabbed her handbag and followed Libby inside.
The kitchen was starting to look inhabited. In addition to the coffeemaker, there was also a toaster. A green-checkered dish towel had been draped over the oven’s door handle, and some fresh flowers were in the little window above the sink.
“I’ll make a fresh pot,” Libby said, and began to bustle around the kitchen as if she’d been bustling around it for years instead of days, pouring out old grounds and taking a can of fresh coffee from the fridge.
Madeline looked around, wondering if she should do something or sit and wait to be served. What was the protocol between new sisters? She stood there, clutching her handbag. “I hope you won’t mind a little company,” she said, trying to sound light. “Turns out, I need a place to stay this week. The Grizzly Lodge is booked.”
Libby gave her a sidelong glance.
Madeline’s grip of her bag tightened. “Seems like it is here or that old hotel out on the Aspen Highway.”
She hoped Libby would say something like, “Oh heavens no, you can’t stay there!” But she didn’t. She said, “That’s great!” in a way that made Madeline think it was not okay, not okay at all.
“Are you sure?” Madeline asked carefully.
“It’s not up to me,” Libby said. “Choose one of the rooms upstairs and make yourself comfortable. What else did you want to talk about?”
That did not sound very welcoming. But Madeline pressed on. “Well, I was thinking about how to organize all the work we have to do, and I made some notes.” She took them out of her bag.
“Great idea,” Libby said. “I was thinking the same thing. I was planning to—”
“I thought it would make sense if we divvied the work up,” Madeline said quickly before Libby could disrupt her train of thought, or worse, object to order. Madeline really liked the idea of specific areas of work—it took out all the guesswork. And she needed a plan—that’s when she did her best work. It was the only way she knew how to work. “One of us takes charge of the cleaning. One of us does the research on the house and the market, one of us heads up the people management, and one of us takes charge of improvements. You know, however we have to get it done. That way, all areas are being addressed as quickly as possible.”
“People management,” Libby repeated uncertainly. “What’s that?”
“I made up that term,” Madeline said sheepishly. “But I was thinking, the reunion is what, two hundred people? That will require some coordination of people and activities.”
“I know!” Libby said, nodding earnestly. “I actually have a little experience with that. At the sheriff’s office I organized some of our bigger events.”
Madeline tried to guess what events a sheriff would organize. “You could take charge of the house,” Madeline said, consulting her list. “You know, cleaning and things like that. I will speak to Luke about doing whatever building project we need. And, of course, I will handle all the research, etc. I’m going to look into this inheritance thing.”
“What inheritance thing?” Libby asked.
“Oh, nothing really. I was thinking that we only have Jackson’s interpretation of our situation with the ranch and that maybe we should double-check with an outside source to be on the safe side.”
Libby regarded her stoically. “You don’t trust Jackson?”
“No, I do,” Madeline said. “I just thought it would be a good idea to make sure all bases are covered and nothing’s left out. So we have our assigned tasks to make this reunion go off, and then my commitment to do the research necessary to sell if that’s what we decide. So what do you think?”
Libby walked slowly toward the cabinet, opened it, and took out two coffee mugs. “What about people management, or whatever you called it?”
“Umm…” Madeline had figured she would do that, but worried Libby would be a little miffed. “We can decide later,” she suggested.
“Well,” Libby said. “Looks like you’ve done a lot of thinking.”
“It’s what I do,” Madeline said. “My job requires a lot of organization and planning.”
“Mine did, too,” Libby said. She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Madeline.
Judging by Libby’s cool demeanor, Madeline thought it best to leave that remark alone. “Thanks,” she said, for the coffee. “Did, ah… did Jackson happen to leave the contract for the reunion?”
“He did,” Libby said without looking at her. “It’s on the coffee table.” She picked up a dish towel and began to wipe down perfectly clean counters.
Madeline picked up her coffee. “I didn’t mean to step on any toes,” she said to Libby. “I thought I was helping.”