Fighting Fate (2 page)

They weren’t biological sisters. But they were sisters in all the ways that mattered. Sarah’s dad had married Gretchen’s mom before Sarah had started elementary school. Neither could remember a time in their lives when the other hadn’t been in it.

Sarah’s biological mother, Melinda, had left her dad when she was barely a toddler. She claimed that family life just wasn’t for her. For years, Frank Heath had held out hope that his wife would return. She never had. Not once. Not for a single birthday, Christmas or even Sarah’s graduation.

It had almost been a surprise that, as an only child, Melinda had bothered to show up for her mother’s funeral. Before long, the intent behind it had become clear. She had no interest in showing her respect. Rather, she was anxious for the will to be read.

She’d had the audacity to show her surprise when Sarah had been named as the recipient of Cora’s home and the majority of her money. She had tried to contest it, but the will was ironclad. As soon as that was determined, she’d flitted out of her daughter’s life yet again. That had been two summers ago.

Gretchen’s mother, Suzanne, had walked away from her alcoholic fiancé when Gretchen was merely weeks old. She had never looked back and he had never come looking for Suzanne or his newborn daughter.

The parents the two of them shared now were the opanw were nly parents either of them had ever really known. They were also the only parents that either of them acknowledged having.

Though Sarah was close to four years older, her little sister stood a good half foot taller than her petite frame. The dissimilarity did not end there. Gretchen’s hair had always been an unruly mass of raven ringlets. A light smattering of freckles dotted her nose and cheekbones, livening up her otherwise porcelain complexion. Her eyes were a brown so dark they appeared to be nearly as dark as her hair. Her limbs were long and lanky.

Sarah’s hair was stick straight and the color of cinnamon. Or so she’d been told a long time ago. Her eyes were hazel, ringed in a color closer to honey than gold. Another observation given to her so long ago she sometimes wished she could forget all about it. While petite, she had curves her sister did not. She thought it was only fair since Gretchen had the height that she’d always envied.

Sarah could feel Gretchen throwing concerned glances her way. She knew if she didn’t distract her sister soon she would delve into a topic Sarah did not want to discuss. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

“I think we should go to Murphy’s Hardware,” she said. “I can get all of my cleaning supplies there. They also carry paint. That way I can bring some samples home. Maybe you can even help me decide on some colors.”

Gretchen’s expression brightened at that. “This is going to be so much fun!”

Several minutes later they pulled into the small parking lot adjacent to the hardware store.  A wave of sweltering heat hit them as they alighted from the vehicle.

“Remind me to look for a couple of fans,” Sarah said as she crossed the street. They had opened most of the windows in the farmhouse—at least the ones that hadn’t been stuck shut—before they left. The air flow had helped some but not enough. “I didn’t think to put fans on the list but I’ll definitely need at least two. One for upstairs and one for down.”

“Got it,” Gretchen said as they entered the refreshing coolness of the store. She pulled a shopping cart out of the lineup. “Where do you want to start?”

Sarah pointed at a large display of fans conveniently placed in the center aisle. “There,” she said. “I should start with those. Otherwise I’ll probably get sidetracked and forget.”

She circled the display, not sure if she wanted a box fan or a round fan. Would rotating fans make more sense? Or a fan that would fit in a window? Maybe one of each? Should she get the biggest one or would that end up being a hassle? Would two fans be enough? She gazed off contemplatively.

A figure walking up to the register at the front of the store caught her attention. The mere sight of him tossed every last thought about fans right out of her head. She only saw the man in profile as he looked down at whatever it was that he was carrying. Then his back was to her and he was greeted by the elderly gentleman behind the register. It didn’t matter. Even after all of these years, that one brief glance of him genance ofwas enough.

For several long moments, she stood frozen. Her heart felt like a jackhammer but her feet felt like lead.

“Honestly, Sarah,” Gretchen said, cutting into her thoughts, “they’re just fans. You don’t need to over think this.”

Her sister’s words cut into her haze. She took a step back, pulling Gretchen along with her as she went.

“What are you doing?” Gretchen demanded as Sarah peeked around the display that was their makeshift barricade.

Ignoring her, Sarah whisper-yelled, “What is he doing here?”

“That guy?” Gretchen asked as she peered around the display as well. A smile curved across her face as her gaze swept down the length of his body and back up again.

Sarah scowled and backhanded Gretchen across the chest.

“Ow!” Gretchen yelped. “What was that for?”

“That
look
. I don’t like that look you gave him. That wasn’t an open invitation to check him out. I just want to know what he’s doing here.”

Gretchen shrugged. “It looks like he’s buying a drill. That’s not uncommon. It
is
a hardware store,” she wryly pointed out. “That’s the kind of thing people come here for.”

“I can see why he’s in
Murphy’s
. I want to know why he’s in
Laurel
!”

“Where
should
he be?” Gretchen demanded.

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know. Anywhere but here.”

“Wait, who is he?” Gretchen asked with a grin.

Sarah ignored her. The object of her irritation had just finished his transaction. She peered at him from around the display again. He tucked the box containing the drill under his arm, stuffed the receipt in his back pocket and took off toward the door. To her surprise, he hesitated for a moment. She found herself crazily thinking he’d sensed her presence. Or possibly he’d just sensed someone staring at him, burning holes into the back of his head.

She ducked backward, pulling Gretchen with her once more.

“What is the matter with you?” Gretchen wanted to know. The expression on her face implied that she didn’t know whether she should be amused or worried.

“Nothing,” Sarah said.

She leaned around the display again, just in time to see his form disappear through the automatic doors. She took off, scampering across the store. At the wide bank of windows, she came to a halt. She watched as he crossed the street. To her dismay, he walked up to the motorcycle parked next to Gretchen’s car. He lifted the flap on the large saddlebag and carefully wedged the drill inside.

“He rides a Harley?” Gretchen asked as she pointed out the obvious. “Nice!” She grinned in appreciation.

“It’s the middle of a Monday afternoon. Shouldn’t he be working?” Sarah muttered.

“You’re not working,” Gretchen pointed out.

Ignoring her, Sarah said, “He probably doesn’t even have a job.”

“He must have a job to afford a bike like that,” Gretchen argued.

“Maybe he stole it.”

Gretchen raised her eyebrows in question. “Seriously?”

Sarah didn’t respond. Instead, she turned around and headed back to the paint aisle. She had things to do. Obsessing about
him
was not on her list.

“Wait,” Gretchen said as she scrambled to keep up. Sarah stopped to inspect some painter’s tape. Gretchen blew out a sigh. “Sarah, I know that was Cole Montgomery.”

“You recognized him?” she asked without looking up.

“Not the first time.”

This caused Sarah’s head to snap up. “Not the first time? So you knew he was back in town?”

“I may have seen him riding around town.” Gretchen winced. “On more than one occasion.”

“And you didn’t tell me because…?”

Gretchen shrugged, keeping her expression entirely innocent. “Because it really doesn’t matter that he’s back. Does it?”

“You’re right,” Sarah agreed with a carefree shrug. She knew her sister was baiting her. She was not about to bite. She took off down the paint aisle again, this time in search of color samples. She could hear Gretchen shuffling along behind her, hurrying to catch up.

“Or does it matter?”

Sarah shot her an annoyed look. “Of course it doesn’t.” She hesitated before adding, “Other than now I know to avoid him whenever possible.”

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Chapter Two

The following afternoon, the harsh scent of bleach hung in the air. Sarah found it comforting. After leaving the hardware store yesterday, she and Gretchen had gotten a good head start on the cleaning. Since then, they had washed down the walls, the insides of the cupboards, the floors and every knickknack and piece of furniture in between.

Twice.

Earlier that morning, Sarah had met with a carpenter her dad had recommended to her. He had given her an estimate on a new roof, new siding and a new porch. She had asked him how soon he could start. It was disappointing to hear that this time of year he already had several weeks’ worth of work lined up. Of course it made sense that summer was his busy time, she just hadn’t given it much thought until then.

He left with the agreement that he would get to her as soon as he could.

Now, she was rinsing out her cleaning bucket for the last time. Gretchen had just finished shampooing the living room furniture. She was down in the cellar, folding up the plastic coverings so that they could be stored in a box.

When Sarah was done, she put the bucket and the mop in the cleaning closet right off of the kitchen. Then she stood with her hands on her hips and took a look around. Now that everything was spotless, and the furniture wasn’t hiding under dusty plastic covers, the house looked like it should.

Memories of her grandma flooded over her. Sarah knew that Cora had never forgiven Melinda for abandoning her family. That had been made clear when Cora’s will had been read. Sarah would never forget the look on Melinda’s face. She had been furious. To make matters tenser, Cora had left a decent sized sum to Gretchen, earmarking it for college expenses. Though Gretchen was in no way related to Cora biologically, Cora had treated her every bit as well as shebuckng as shed treated Sarah.

The amount she’d left for Gretchen wasn’t
huge
. But she’d left Melinda
nothing
.

It was at that point that Melinda had gotten up and skulked out of the lawyer’s office without so much as a goodbye to Sarah. Looking back, the whole experience had seemed surreal. She had been so heartbroken over her grandma’s death. She had felt numb to the fact that Melinda—she refused to think of her as ‘Mom’ because she wasn’t—had come back to town.

They’d barely spoken at all. In a short, cordial conversation, Frank had found out from his ex-wife that for the last several years she’d been living in a town less than half an hour away. That knowledge may have been a blow to Sarah had she not already been suffering from the loss of her grandmother. As it was, she had given up on missing her biological mother a long time ago.

A shriek shot up from the cellar, pulling Sarah from her thoughts.

“Gretchen?” she called as she started toward the cellar stairs.
Please don’t let her have found a mouse. Or a rat
, she thought.

A long string of mismatched cusswords streamed up the staircase.

“Are you alright?” Sarah asked. She carefully made her way down the rickety wooden steps. She could never descend into this space without thinking of her grandmother and the horrible fall she’d taken. Perhaps she should add ‘replacing the staircase’ to her ever-growing To-Do List.

Her foot tapped down on the cracked concrete floor. Despite the sickly yellow light, she easily spotted Gretchen in the corner of the room. She was standing in front of a row of shelving. The shelves were crammed to bursting.

She held up a coffee can. It was the old tin kind that you don’t find in stores anymore now that everything was packaged in plastic. The name listed across the front was a brand Sarah had never heard of. She assumed it hadn’t been available in stores for years.

“I was just poking around, trying to see what was on these shelves. I was sure some of this stuff could be tossed. I thought it would free up some storage space for you,” Gretchen explained.

Sarah nodded as she moved further into the dingy space. “I know a lot of this stuff can go. My grandma was a packrat. She kept
everything
. Dad always said it was a result of living through The Great Depression.”

Gretchen nodded absently. “Anyhow, I started moving around some of these cans to see what was behind them. I picked one up because it rattled when I nudged it. I found a bunch of coins inside so I got curious.

“Didn’t Cora leave you some cly.e you srazy amount? Like fifty thousand dollars?”

Sarah blinked at her, surprised at what seemed like a sudden turn in the conversation. She simply nodded because she knew that Gretchen knew Cora had.

“Huh,” Gretchen eloquently replied. Her voice was higher pitched than normal. She stuffed a hand into the can and pulled out a wad of cash. “Hundreds,” she clarified. “I think your inheritance may have just increased substantially.”

“What?” Sarah asked as she quickly covered the space between her sister and herself.