Page 57 of Hometown Girl

“It’s too bad Seth’s not around,” Molly said.

“I’m sure his money is long gone,” Beth said. Their youngest brother had cashed out his trust the day he turned twenty-one, and they’d hardly seen him since. He’d breezed in for Dad’s funeral, acting unfazed as usual, and the next day he was gone.

None of them even knew if Seth was in the country right now.

Molly sighed. “I really wanted this place to be ours. A family affair.” She sat up straighter and looked around the kitchen, which, Beth had to admit, looked a lot worse than when she’d first started cleaning. “What are you doing in here anyway?”

Beth went back to the refrigerator. “I’m cleaning.”

“But there’s so much to do outside. Isn’t that the priority?” she mocked.

Beth scrubbed at the stains on the fridge’s shelf. “It all needs to be done.”

“But no one lives here. Can’t the house wait?” Molly balled up the empty Butler’s bag and tossed it in the garbage can. “Beth?”

“Mm-hmm.” If Beth put her head any farther into the refrigerator, she’d freeze her nose hairs.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

The side door opened, and Drew walked in. At the sound of him, Beth startled, knocking her head against the shelf. When she finally extricated herself from the appliance, she could already feel a knot forming. “Hey.”

Very cool. Very nonchalant.

Drew’s eyes darted from Beth to Molly and back again. “You don’t have to do this.”

“It’s a mess.” And so was she.

Molly cocked her head to one side, a playful smile spreading across her face. Beth pretended not to notice but prayed that for once her sister chose not to embarrass her. “If I’m going to stay here, I can clean it up.” He turned on the water faucet and filled up his water bottle. “And how many guys do you think we can hire to help me outside?”

Beth left the refrigerator open and moved away from it. She sprayed the only small patch of counter that wasn’t covered with dishes, and scrubbed, aware that Molly’s playful smile had vanished. In its place a death glare now lasered in on the back of Beth’s head.

Drew turned the water off and turned around, suddenly looking caught.

“What’s he talking about?” Molly asked.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“It’s not your fault, Drew. Beth has a policy about us not making decisions without consulting each other first.” Molly said this in her throw-it-back-in-your-face tone.

“He needed a place to stay,” Beth said, finally facing her.

“And you didn’t think you might want toconsultme about that first?” Molly had dug her heels in. Beth wouldn’t be able to say anything to appease her. “Do you see what a ridiculous double standard this is? You haven’t even officially signed any papers. You’re not even an owner yet.”

Again, Beth closed the refrigerator, still wearing her yellow dish gloves, which carried the faint smell of bleach and dirty sponge. “I know, Mol, I ...”

What could she say? She hadn’t even considered consulting Molly first, but it made good business sense to pay Drew less and allow him to live in their unoccupied house.

“I bring a harmlesssheepto live here and you fly off the handle. You bring amanto live inmyhouse and I’m supposed to act like it’s no big deal? What if I wanted to move in here?”

“Do you?”

“Of course not, but what if I did?”

Molly wasn’t going to let her off the hook. She had a point to make, and she would make it. And it really irritated Beth to know she owed her sister an apology.

“He’s staying here as a trade for work,” Beth said. “It was a smart business decision.”

“So is collecting animals for our petting zoo, Beth. Especially when they’re free.”

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