her as she continued to pace. Why should she do anything so that Skyler could go to Europe for the summer? She stopped dead in her tracks. Skyler was going. She must already have tickets.
Jayden was still trying to decide what to do when her doorbell rang.
“Dammit!” she swore as she headed that way. “No rest for the wicked, I guess.” She slung the door open to find her sister only a few feet in front of her. Dressed in cute little lace shorty-shorts and a skintight pink tank top with matching wedge-heeled sandals, she smiled at Jayden.
Skyler never wasted smiles. She used those and tears when she wanted something.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Skyler’s sugar-sweet tone didn’t fool Jayden one bit.
“Of course.” Jayden stepped to the side. “Come right in. Don’t mind the mess. I just finished up my school year and haven’t gotten my things put away. Would you like a bottle of water or a beer?”
“Beer is too fattening for me.” Skyler let her blue eyes travel from Jayden’s toes to the top of her sister’s head. “Have you put on a few pounds since Christmas?”
“Maybe,” Jayden said. “I don’t worry about that. Water, then?”
Skyler brushed the sofa cushion before she sat down. “Nothing for me. I just had a diet soda.”
You will not intimidate me. Jayden repeated the phrase half a dozen times as she took a seat on her recliner and popped up the footrest.
“I’m going to Europe with my school’s music group,” Skyler said.
“When are you leaving?” Jayden decided on the spur of the moment to play dumb.
“Monday morning. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and I just can’t give it up. We plan on seeing the Vatican and traveling through England, France, Germany, and Italy. Our group will be singing in several churches while we’re there, and of course I’ll be helping them,” she said.
In addition to her birdlike figure, Skyler had been blessed with the ability to sing like a bird, too. Jayden could carry a tune, but she had never been as musically inclined as her sister.
“So, are you still a guidance counselor?” Skyler asked, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve been one for ten years,” Jayden answered. “And I’ve lived right here for every one of those years. You’ve never been here before. Why now?”
“We always saw each other at Mama’s house before she died, and . . .” Skyler shrugged. “I have my own life. You have yours. Our circles don’t . . .” She hesitated.
Mine doesn’t include fancy enough folks for you, Jayden thought.
“We each have our own worlds.” Skyler sighed. “I didn’t want to ask you to do something for me on the phone. You know that I’ve been working at the Piney Wood Academy every summer. Well, I kind of signed a contract for this year, and if I don’t have a replacement . . .” She let the sentence dangle.
Well, well, well, Mary didn’t mention that part, Jayden thought.
“Please,” Skyler begged with tears in her eyes. “I’ve already talked to Henry and Mary, the caretakers of the camp, and they’re fine with you stepping into my place. I put you down as an alternative counselor when I took the job. They might already have vetted you and everything. They do that sometimes.”
Jayden Bennett was tough as nails, but just like always the tough side of Jayden melted when Skyler turned on the tears.
The pesky little voice inside Jayden’s head said that if she did this for her sister, it might go a long way in mending the fences that had been torn down five years ago when their mother died. But she wasn’t quite ready to say that she would do it.
For the first time in Jayden’s thirty-one years, Skyler wanted something from her. Jayden could make her squirm for a little while, but that wouldn’t be right. Gramps always told her to do what she knew was right and not worry about those folks around her who were doing wrong.
“Tell me what I have to do if I agree.” Jayden sighed.
“Mary does the cooking, so you’ll have three meals a day, and Henry takes care of the grounds. You’ll be given the rule booklet when you get there,” Skyler answered. “Going to Europe has been a dream of mine forever and this might be my only chance.” She pulled a tissue from one of those tiny packages that she always carried in her purse and delicately blew