Clouds by Robin Jones Gunn Read Free Book Online Page B

work.
    “I’ll check on Meri,” Shelly said. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s fine. She’s been busy packing.”
    “As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. I’ll let your mother know.”
    “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks, Dad.” Shelly hung up and gave Meredith a call at work.
    “Mom and Dad were worried about us,” Shelly said when her sister came on the line. “Can you believe that? Are they like this all the time?”
    “It goes in spurts,” Meredith said. “Sometimes for a couple of weeks I don’t hear from them. Then, all of a sudden, they decide they have to know exactly where I am and what I’m doing. I knew Mom called yesterday, or was it the day before? Anyway, with packing and finishing up everything at work, I haven’t been returning my calls.”
    “When is your last day at work?”
    “Tomorrow.”
    “Are you excited about your new job?”
    “I feel like Cinderella,” Meri said. “This is a huge leap for me. And getting into the lake cottage at the same time—I feel as if I’m dreaming.”
    “Meri,” Shelly said cautiously. She hadn’t planned out her words yet, but the thought had hedged its way into her mindwhen she first heard Meri was moving into the Tulip Cottage. “How would you feel about a roommate?”
    There was a pause.
    “You don’t have to answer right away. Just think about it. I would hardly be there; so I don’t think I’d be in your way or anything.”
    Shelly wished she hadn’t mentioned the possibility. She felt strange asking her sister for a favor. Meri had always been the one who asked Shelly to bail her out.
    “I can’t believe you’re asking me,” Meri said. “I kept wanting to suggest that you move in with me, but I thought you would think I was trying to run your life or something.”
    “Why would you think that?”
    “You’ve never needed anything from me. It felt strange being the one in the position to give you something. Remember last May when I was going to send you that cookbook I found at The Elliott Bay Book Company? It was called
A World of Favorite Cookie Recipes
, and I was so excited about it because I knew how much you loved to bake.”
    Shelly vaguely remembered.
    “I called you all jazzed about it,” Meredith said. “And you said you already had it.”
    “So?” Shelly couldn’t figure out where this was leading.
    “So, you always have everything. When we were growing up, you had all the right clothes. You had all the right ideas. You had all the answers to everything. I’m not trying to be mean, but you don’t need anyone or anything. I decided when I called you and you said you already had the cookie book that that was the last time I was going to try to give you anything. I know you don’t intend to, but, Shelly, you push people away.”
    Shelly didn’t know what to say.
    “Don’t get mad.”
    “I’m not mad,” Shelly said. “I’m trying to figure out what you’re telling me.”
    “Maybe I’m saying it too powerfully. I think I’m the one with the hormone rush today. Or maybe it’s all this stress. Anyway, all I’m trying to say is, I want into your life. I’d love to have you live with me at the lake. I’m just asking that you want me to be in your life, too.” Meredith drew in a deep breath, then kept talking before Shelly had a chance to respond. “I felt things were really improving between you and me the other day. Do you realize that was the first time we have ever talked seriously about Jonathan?”
    “Is this a yes?” Shelly asked. She wasn’t comfortable with this sudden evaluation from her sister. She had always thought they had a terrific relationship and had never seen herself as holding back.
    “Yes,” Meredith said firmly. “Yes, I want you to move in with me, and yes, I want you to keep letting me into your life. Is it a deal?”
    “It’s a deal. When do you move?”
    “This weekend. You scheduled to fly then?”
    “No, not yet. If I don’t get called, I’ll move in with