Thatâs all, and itâs a far cry from the kind of love youâre talking about, let me tell you.â
Emily shrugged. âIf you say so, Soph,â she said, then changed the subject. âHave you heard about the party? Momâs throwing this big sixtieth-birthday bash for Dad. Dadâs not happy about it, but Momâs over the moon, planning menus and motifs, hiring bands, stuff like that. All Dad keeps saying is that he thought heâd only have to wear a monkey suit again to marry off one of us kids.â
âPoor Dad.â Sophie shook her head. âHow did he let her talk him into it? Wait, never mind. I already know. Dad just found it easier to give in, right?â
âThe story of our lives, at least for almost the past decade,â Emily agreed.
âThe good mommy and the bad mommy, huh, Sparrow,â Sophie said quietly, then sighed.
âOr, to be precise, the good mommy and the evil mommy. Yes, and I wish Iâd never said that to anyone. But, hey, I was whatâeleven? All I knew was that I woke up, saw two of her, and then pretty much spazzed out, went a little nuts. I wouldnât let Mom in my room, wouldnât let her touch me. Had thosescreaming nightmares. Youâre right, Mom used to call me her little sparrow. But her little sparrow turned into a screeching hyena. I must have been a real treat. I still have nightmares, more now than I did when I was a kid. And she knows about them.â
âStill, Emily? Oh, Iâm so sorry.â Sophie got out from under the covers and moved down the bed, to put a hand on Emilyâs arm. âBut that didnât and doesnât mean that Mom should turn away from you, practically cut you off from her life the way she did. It wasnât you who pushed her away, not really. She pushed herself away, from all of us. When I came home after my first semester at college, it was as if Iâd walked into a totally different house. Dad acting as distant as he had after Michael died, Mom always going off somewhere, shopping, then giving parties every night of the holidays. Everyone else just sort of walking around, going through the motionsâ¦and with the heart gone out of everyone. Iâd never realized how important Mom was to all of us, to our happiness, until she went away.â
âGone without being gone,â Emily agreed, then shook herself, took a deep breath. âWell, thatâs not why Iâm in here, you know. Iâm here to tell you that Inez is setting up a cold buffet lunch on the patio and expects everyone to be there with appetite in hand inââ she looked down at her watch ââabout fifteen minutes. So chop, chop, Soph. This is one meal you arenât going to miss, because if you do, youâd better be ready for all of us to come knocking down this door. Brothers and sisters exploding into the room. It wouldnât be a pretty picture.â
âOkay, youâve convinced me,â Sophie said, laughing as she left the bed, favoring her right leg slightly, and went over to her dresser for clean underwear in preparation of heading for the shower. âWho all is here?â
Emily held up one hand and began ticking off her fingers with her other hand. âWeâve got Drake, who finds any excuse to hang around Inezâs Maya whenever heâs home on leave, although nobody is supposed to notice that. Trust me, Inez has noticed, and sheâs not happy about it, not with Drake going off playing navy SEAL every time we think heâll be home for a while. Weâve also got Rand, who showed up with a briefcase bulging with legal papers for Dad to sign. We had Amber, who decided sheâd rather spend the day helping out over at Hopechest Ranch, holding up Momâs end now that Mom is busy finding new ways to spend Dadâs money. Weâve gotâ Nope, River rode out early this morning, to check out a mare on the next ranch. So thatâs