Page 16 of The Fault Between Us
Frannie groaned.
Bridget objected. “Where will you sleep, Red?”
“It’s a nice night,” he said, his tone clipped. “I’ll camp outside.”
If Bridget hadn’t noticed Red’s ill temper in the truck, she certainly did now. She gave Claire an uncertain look.
“He’ll be as cozy as a bug,” Claire assured her sister. She had the feeling Red was counting the hours until he could be in the company of Rosie and Bess instead of Bridget and Frannie.
chapter 9:CLAIRE
Dinner with her sisters didn’t turn out as Claire hoped.
The chicken tetrazzini recipe thatGood Housekeepinghad promised would impress her guests turned out to be a gluey mess, and the Jell-O salad didn’t set properly. Red was as talkative as a stump and Frannie sulked. Claire filled the silence with questions about home, pretending all was well.
“Dinner was delicious,” Bridget said as if it were the truth.
“I’ll take care of the dishes,” Red offered when they finished eating the icebox cake Claire had made for dessert.
“Goodness, Claire,” Bridget said, standing up with her plate and taking it to the sink. “You have him trained well.”
Claire saw Red’s jaw twitch. It was just something people said, but why did Bridget have to rub him the wrong way at every turn?
Frannie left her plate on the table and went to the living room where Jenny was on a blanket, kicking and wiggling. “I’ll stay here and play with the little ankle biter. That way, you two can complain about me.”
“Grab your sweater,” Claire said. “It gets chilly when the wind comes up.”
Bridget took up the sweater that matched the slacks and blouse she changed into for dinner, but she hesitated before following Claire. “Is it safe?”
Claire stopped halfway out the back door. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, do we have to worry about bears?” she asked. “Or... snakes?”
Claire couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s expression. “Come on, scaredy-pants. I’ll protect you.”
Bridget followed Claire out the door, past the horse shed and the pasture where Rosie and Bess were swishing their tails and grazing. The sun was sinking behind the mountains, the blue of the sky deepening, the breeze rippling the silver grasses like waves. It was the prettiest time of day. Claire told herself the tension she’d felt since Bridget came off the bus would disappear as soon as they had a good talk.
Bridget picked her way along the trail, looking carefully at each clump of buffalo grass. “Stop worrying,” Claire said. “Rattlesnakes are more afraid of you than you are of them.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Bridget muttered.
Claire figured this wasn’t the time to tell Bridget about the snake she killed earlier in the summer. She’d heard the telltale rattle coming from between the bales when she was feeding the horses and brought the pitchfork down on it without pausing to be afraid. Claire had been awfully proud of herself after she stopped shaking, but she doubted Bridget would see it that way.
They reached a gorgeous spot on the river where the water sparkled in the shallows and darkened in deeper pools. A cloud of gnats hovered over the water and the aspen trees on the far bank shivered in the breeze.
“I’m sorry about Frannie.” Bridget slapped at a mosquito. “Dad was at his wits’ end.”
He must have been. Claire couldn’t imagine him alone in that big house, all his girls far away. Bridget had made a quick telephone call to let him know they’d arrived safely, and Claire could tell from how he kept her on the phone that he was already lonely. “How long does he want her to stay?”
“The rest of the summer,” Bridget said with an apologetic face.
A month? That was a long time if Frannie was going to keep pouting. Claire bent down to the wet pebbles along the water, choosing a rock with a jagged vein of quartz. “What am I supposed to do with her?”
“Dad wants her to help you. I’m sure you could use it.” She waved a hand back to the house.
“What does that mean?” Claire couldn’t help the defensive tone in her voice. Here it was, Bridget’s judgement on her life.
“Nothing, Claire,” Bridget said, as if she was overreacting. “It’s just that it’s got to be hard. You’re in the middle of nowhere, and alone.”
