The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,21
selfish to wear a condom. One more reason for me to hate both of them.”
Carrie recoiled from Meredith’s anger as if she’d been slapped. “He helped you when you came to him needing a property for the animal rescue.”
“If he’d really wanted to help, he would have left me the ranch. I don’t need his crumbling hoarder-paradise house.”
“Oh, look,” Avery said brightly. “The waitress is here with our food.” She smiled at the young woman who set Fiestaware plates filled with chicken enchiladas, a burrito and tacos onto the table. “Your timing is perfect. Some of us were getting a little hangry.”
“I’m not hangry,” Meredith snapped. “I’ll be just as pissed with a full belly.”
“Lucky us,” Carrie muttered.
Meredith looked like she wanted to punch someone. Possibly Avery. Definitely Carrie.
Why had it seemed like a good idea to include Meredith in tonight’s dinner discussion about a plan for Niall’s estate? Carrie might not like the idea of selling the properties, but Avery believed she could convince her that it was for the best. Meredith remained a wild card, feigning indifference but obviously emotionally wrecked by her new reality.
That made her dangerous. Who knew what she might do or say to sabotage Avery’s plan to unload their father’s assets? According to Douglas, the whole of the estate needed to be settled before any of the properties could be put on the market. Niall had several thousand dollars in credit card debt and had taken out a second mortgage on the Fig Street house. In fact, the beachfront ranch was the only property he owned outright, which made it the most valuable.
Carrie owned it, but Meredith needed it.
Her two sisters would have to find a way to work together. Helping them to do that felt like Avery’s only choice.
After the waitress checked their orders and it was just the three of them again, Avery leaned across the table. “We need a plan.”
“First we have to get through the memorial service this weekend.”
“Excuse me?” Avery paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. Melted cheese dripped toward the plate, but suddenly she couldn’t imagine taking a bite of the gooey enchiladas. A lead ball of dread had just ripped a hole through her stomach.
“There’s no way I’m going to that,” Meredith said, biting into a crunchy taco.
“What are you talking about?” Avery set down the fork. “Surely you’ve had the service already?”
Carrie shook her head. “Dad left specific instructions that a service celebrating his life should be planned for the fourth Saturday of August.”
Meredith exhaled a caustic laugh as she took another bite of taco. “It also happens to be the morning of the kickoff parade for Summer Fair, which is one of the biggest events Magnolia hosts all year. Of course he’d want to hijack the weekend to make it all about him.” She leveled a look at Avery. “It’s a wonder he didn’t get himself fitted for a crown back in the day. He always walked around like he was king of this town.”
“He loved this place,” Carrie whispered.
“Spoken like a true princess,” Meredith countered.
“It would have been easier if you’d just been hangry,” Avery told her youngest sister. Youngest. She was the oldest of three sisters. The family she’d always wanted.
Be careful what you wish for and all that.
“Are you planning the service?” she asked Carrie.
“No.” Carrie looked toward Meredith. “There’s a committee of volunteers from the downtown business district. I’d hoped to keep things low-key, but they’re making his memorial part of the kickoff for the festival on Saturday morning. The parade will start at the elementary school like it always does, but instead of ending on the steps of town hall, it will finish at the gallery. They’re setting up a grandstand on the street and—”
“A grandstand?” Avery’s voice came out as a squeak. “Like a stage?”
Carrie nodded, looking almost sheepish as pink flushed her cheeks. “For the mayor to give his speech and Dad’s eulogy.”
Meredith looked as stunned as Avery felt. “Don’t you think you might have mentioned this?”