my turn on the rotation to be the one to clean the table, and though the girls took it upon themselves to do the actual cleaning, one of us always stayed behind to help collect dishes and help out as needed. I followed Annabelle into the kitchen, a stack of plates in one arm and three glasses held by the stem in the other hand.
“You’re going to drop those, Sawyer,” Annabelle teased. “You know you have butterfingers.”
“Better than a butter brain,” I teased back, and she bumped her hip into mine as I got to the sink. It nearly made me drop the glasses, and when I got them in, I turned to purse my lips and cut my eyes at her.
“That’s what you get for being a big ol’ jerk,” she said. I turned on the water and grabbed the sponge. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to help you ladies with the dishes,” I said as if it was the dumbest question I had ever heard.
“A Montgomery boy actually doing dishes?” Shannon asked from the island where she was wrapping up leftovers. “Somebody turn on the heat. Hell froze over.”
“Oh, leave Sawyer alone,” Gia said, coming up beside me and grabbing the dish towel to dry what I was putting in the drainer. “He’s one of the good ones.”
“I’ll have you know that is a lie,” I said, mockingly offended.
“That depends on who you ask,” Shannon said. “When we were all in school, Sawyer had detention way more than Jesse or Clayton ever had.”
“Is that true?” Gia asked.
“Well, I couldn’t help it that the rest of the class thought I was a brilliant comedian,” I said. “Unfortunately, Mrs. Balor never saw it that way.”
“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about her anymore,” Annabelle said.
“Yes, I do,” I said, turning to her. “That old bat gives me the evil eye every time I go to the grocery store in town.”
“Does she just hang out at the store?” Gia asked.
“Her husband owns it,” I said. “Or did, until their son bought him out. But they still are up there every time I go up there, sitting in the café drinking tea that looks and smells suspiciously like whisky.”
“Either way,” Shannon said, “I’ve never seen your brothers offer to actually do the dishes, and I appreciate it.”
“To be honest, I just prefer prettier company than my brothers,” I said. They collectively let out a sarcastic aww.
“Is that the charm you use on the girls at the Dude Ranch?” Annabelle joked.
“Something like that,” I said, handing a plate to Gia and grabbing a glass to clean.
Chapter 2
Jane
A breeze came in through one of the sets of arched French doors that stood open on the side wall of the dining room. It carried with it the fresh, salty smell of the ocean beyond. If it wasn‘t already two hours past when it started getting dark, I would be able to look through the doors and see the flow of the waves.
But my father insisted on having dinner at the same time every night. It was lovely in the summer months when we could watch the brilliant colors splash across the horizon as we ate. But as the fall and winter came in, it grew darker until there was little more than blackness beyond the glass wall.
Those windows and the gorgeous view of the ocean off the cliff where my father’s mansion sat motivated him to call this the casual dining room. It was where we ate our meals from day to day. On special occasions and holidays, we moved to the formal dining room and surrounded ourselves with dark wood and thick red velvet cushions.
By contrast, this room was soft and airy. Cream-colored cushions on golden wood matched the light drapes that fluttered at the windows. The long table down the center of the room could accommodate more than a dozen people, but we rarely had that many for just a normal breakfast or dinner. That night, it was only the three of us. My father, my sister Cecilia, and me.
Each of us took up our own side of the table, the place setting spread in front of us to coordinate with the meal planned by the family’s private chef. The salads had just been placed in front of us and Cecilia was poking at it almost suspiciously with the tines of her salad fork.
Most likely, she would only pick at it, managing to get a few bites in before the staff