Whirlwind - Janet Dailey Page 0,80

last week. What—?” The color drained from Val’s face as the implication sank home. “What’s happened? Tell me.”

While Lexie pulled the cast-iron pan off the burner to save the eggs, then poured the coffee, buttered the toast, and scooped the eggs onto a plate, Tess told Val the whole story. By the time she’d finished, Val was slumped in her chair, looking as if she’d been flogged. Her thin shoulders shook with unvoiced sobs.

“I didn’t . . . know,” she muttered, the words breaking apart. “I loved Callie. I had . . . no idea.”

“You’re saying that, after all these years, you just decided to come home?” Tess demanded.

“I need a minute.” Val took a few sips of coffee, then set her mug down with a ragged sigh. “You’ll find out sooner or later, so I might as well come clean now. I’ve spent the past nine weeks in rehab for alcohol and opioid addiction. The doctors told me that if I didn’t get away from the Hollywood scene, I’d be right back where I was and probably end up dead. So yes, I just decided to come home. Any questions?”

“Only one.” Tess’s expression remained frozen, like a mask. “Are you clean?”

“As clean as a friggin’ tin whistle, and determined to stay that way, hopefully with your help.” Val pushed her chair away from the table and stood. “You’ll forgive me if I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going to my room now. We can talk more about Callie after I’ve had some sleep. For the record, I can’t believe she’d do the things you say she did. And I won’t rest until I know the truth.”

“That’s fine,” Tess said. “But your room’s full of storage boxes. The bed’s made up in Jack’s old room. You can crash there for now. If you want your room back, you’re welcome to clear it out.”

“Thanks . . . I think.” Val left the kitchen, grabbed a small bag from the stack in the living room, and headed down the hall and into the bedroom that had been her brother’s. Seconds later the door closed behind her.

By now it was almost five o’clock—time to start the day for Tess, Lexie, and the rest of the ranch crew.

“I’ll clean up here and cook something for a real breakfast,” Lexie offered. “You can go get dressed and head outside if that’s where you need to be.”

Tess glanced down as if she’d forgotten that she was still in her pajamas and robe. “Thanks. But first there’s something I need to do.”

She walked down the hall and into the master bedroom, which hadn’t been touched since Callie’s disappearance. Moments later, Lexie heard the toilet flushing again and again. Intrigued, she followed the sound to the master bath. She found Tess emptying bottles of prescription pills into the toilet and flushing them down.

“Dad’s leftover pain meds,” she explained to a surprised Lexie. “I thought they might come in handy in case somebody fell off a horse or got stomped by a bull. But we can’t risk letting Val find these. Have you got anything else we should get rid of?”

Lexie shook her head. “What about the beer in the fridge?”

“Leave it for now. We’ll see how it goes.” Tess checked the cabinet one last time and closed the door.

“You don’t seem happy to have Val back,” Lexie said. “You’re not even pretending to be glad to see her.”

Tess sighed. “Val’s got a lot to answer for. She ran off without even saying good-bye and left me to carry her share of the ranch load. It wasn’t too bad until Dad got sick and couldn’t work. And then when Jack died . . .” She shook her head. “Val was off living her glamorous movie star life. She didn’t even care enough to come home for the funeral. Why should I be overjoyed to see her, especially since she might need babysitting to keep her clean and sober?”

“She’s our sister, Tess.”

“I know. But she’s got a lot to prove.” Tess left to get dressed for the day.

Lexie stood for a long moment in the room her father had shared with his two wives, the room Callie had kept after his death. The bed was still unmade. Callie’s clothes still hung in the closet.

Somebody, she realized, would need to strip the bed, launder the bedclothes, and box up Callie’s personal things—a heartbreaking task that would likely fall to her. Maybe she would ask Val to help. It would give them a