her oncologist.” She took three business cards from her lab coat, passed them out. “If anything comes up concerning her surgery, please call my office.”
“When can we see her?” Darynda asked.
“She’s in the postanesthesia recovery unit and she’ll be there overnight. The nurses are at her bedside constantly. You’d only be in the way. You can visit her in the morning when they take her up to the neuro intensive care unit. There’s nothing more you can do tonight except go home and take care of yourselves. I know she’d want that.” The doctor got to her feet.
They did too.
Madison shook the doctor’s extended hand. “We appreciate what you’ve done for our grandmother.”
“Thank you,” Darynda said.
“We’re so glad you’re in our corner.” Gia made a mental note to send the doctor and her staff a thank-you fruit basket.
“You’re most welcome.” The doctor nodded and swept out a side exit, leaving them to go out the way they’d come in.
Madison opened the door and ushered them ahead of her; Gia went first but stopped dead in her tracks.
There, in the middle of the waiting room, dressed head to toe in gossamer white, shouldering a raggedy backpack, and sporting beat-up Birkenstocks, stood a woman Gia barely recognized.
Waist-length blond hair frizzed around her face, her cheeks hollowed, her limbs way too thin, her eyes glazed and spaced out, as if she’d just jolted wide awake from a long, dreamless sleep.
She looked lost in a fundamental way. As if she no longer had an internal compass and no way to get her bearings.
It was Shelley.
Chapter Five
Shelley
TRIAD: Any three colors equally spaced on the color wheel, one of which usually takes precedence in a color scheme.
DOES ANYONE HAVE two hundred dollars?” Shelley mumbled, the bedrock of her shame as hard and unyielding as marble. This was not the triumphant return she’d dreamed of for five long years. “I need to pay the taxi.”
Gia’s gaze jumped from Shelley to Madison.
“Seriously?” Madison sneered.
Donning emotional armor, Shelley drew herself up tall underneath Madison’s withering gaze. Height. The one advantage she had over her older sister. Even if it was only an inch. “The driver is waiting.”
“Why didn’t you take an Uber?” Maddie scolded. “It’d have been cheaper.”
“Complicated story.” Yeah, like she didn’t even have a cell phone or credit card, much less an Uber account.
Maddie rolled her eyes hard. “With you, isn’t it always?”
“Are you going to give me the money or not?”
“I’ve got fifty dollars.” Gia dug in her purse. “Can you chip in, Darynda?”
“I’ll handle it.” Madison gritted her teeth. “Where’s the driver?”
Shelley hung her head. “He’s at the emergency room entrance.”
Shouldering her purse, Madison marched off.
Shelley felt like shit and longed for the days before their rivalry started back in high school. Back then, it was a subtle thing, the middle child’s insecurity, as Shelley attempted to find her place in the limelight that shone continuously on Madison.
She’d tried the proper channels but repeatedly fell short. She’d run for class president and lost, whereas Madison won class president four years in a row. Shelley enrolled in AP courses like her older sister, but her grades plummeted, and the principal moved her back to regular classes. She snagged second chair clarinet in the band, but Madison sat first chair.
By her junior year, Shelley surrendered. Waved the white flag. Took up with the rebels. Skipped school. Smoked. Drank. Wore short skirts and too much makeup. Frolicked with the summer tourists. Earned a reputation as the “fun” Moonglow sister, although she’d never caused any real trouble . . .
Until The Incident with Raoul.
“You made it,” Gia exclaimed, rushing over to wrap Shelley in a big bear hug.
Ahh, this was more like it.
Tears welled in Shelley’s eyes. She bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. What the fudge? Shelley wasn’t a crier, but after what she’d been through to get here, her emotions were razor sharp.
“I was worried about you,” Gia said. “My goodness, you’re as thin as a rail.”
“I was a vegan.”
“Was?”
“I ate bacon for breakfast this morning.”
“Well, good for you . . .” Gia gave an anxious laugh. “I guess.”
Shelley didn’t blame her. She was nervous too.
“It’s good to see you again, Shelley.” Darynda came over for a hug.
“Thanks for hanging with Gia during all this,” Shelley said.
“And Madison,” Gia added.
Shelley ignored that.
Darynda nodded, a mist of tears in her eyes.
“So . . .” Shelley sank her hands on her hips. “Grammy? What’s up with that?”
Gia shook her head and made a