True Colors by Joyce Lamb Read Free Book Online Page B

a grump in a kitchen so open and bright. Everything was white and accented by bright reds, blues and yellows. It smelled like lemon, like Nana’s kitchen always had, and Alex felt a tug at her heart.
    Charlie led Alex into a sunroom surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows. French doors opened onto a wrap-around porch, beyond which stretched a white-sand beach that ended where waves glittering in the sun began. Three white rocking chairs sat in a row, wooden seats covered with yellow-and-white-striped cushions.
    Charlie plopped into one, settled back and started to rock. For a moment, Alex saw her as she’d been twenty years ago. Big sister showing her the wonders of Nana’s overgrown backyard. “These orange ones are Nana’s favorite flowers.” “Don’t touch that. It’s got prickles.” “Nana says a hedgehog lives under the porch. I’ve never seen him. She calls him Brutus and feeds him Vienna sausages. Gross.”
    Alex checked her wrists. Still bruised and red, but maybe less so.
    “Sit,” Charlie softly ordered.
    Alex did as she was told. “You are the one who told me the Tooth Fairy was Dad, right? And Santa doesn’t exist.”
    “I was a bitchy little kid. I never should have done that.”
    “That’s not the point.”
    “We’re going to figure it all out, Alex. Trust me.”
    Alex took a breath and decided she could spare ten minutes if it made her sister happy.
    When AnnaCoreen returned, Charlie rose to her feet to accept the tray of lemonade, glasses and what looked like homemade lemon bars. “Changed your mind on the tea?” Charlie asked, sounding faintly disappointed.
    AnnaCoreen waved a dismissive hand. “I thought we’d try something different since we have a new guest.”
    Alex did her best to smile politely, even as she eyed the pitcher of ice-laden lemonade with a thirst she hadn’t acknowledged before. Lemonade was way better than tea. And as she accepted the first chilled glass from AnnaCoreen, she told herself she hadn’t really meant it when she told Charlie she wouldn’t drink anything. The first sip carried a tart zing of flavor across her tongue so strong her ears tingled.
    Charlie mm’d in delight as she sank her teeth into a lemon bar. “These are fantastic.”
    The older woman settled onto the remaining rocking chair, to the right of Alex, and sipped lemonade. “A friend made them.”
    “Your friend’s a goddess,” Charlie said around a powdered-sugared mouthful.
    “A god, actually,” AnnaCoreen replied, a smile curving her lips.
    Charlie arched one brow, apparently thinking the same thing Alex was: That smile looked a little naughty.
    “So, a good friend then,” Charlie prodded.
    Alex had to admire her sister’s curiosity. A reporter to the bone.
    “Oh, yes. A good friend.” AnnaCoreen sipped more lemonade. Her bright blue eyes twinkled.
    Alex couldn’t help checking her watch. Had it been ten minutes yet?
    “Let’s talk about what brings us together today,” AnnaCoreen said.
    Charlie shifted from inquisitive to purposeful in a heartbeat. “Alex is empathic, too.”
    Way to ease into it, Alex thought as she buried her nose in her glass for a long drink. When her hand started to shake, she lowered the glass and cupped it in both hands in her lap.
    “But it’s different for her,” Charlie continued. “She has—”
    “Bruises.” AnnaCoreen’s gaze flicked down to Alex’s wrists.
    The trembling in Alex’s hands intensified. She really didn’t want to do this.
    “They look better now than they did before,” Charlie said. “Like they’re fading. Are they fading, Alex?”
    Alex felt AnnaCoreen’s steady gaze on her, as though she could check Alex’s blood pressure by sight—one-twenty over freaked the hell out.
    Unnerved as much by the scrutiny as the question, Alex prodded her wrist with one finger while ice chattered in her lemonade glass. She couldn’t stop shaking. Couldn’t stop wishing she were anywhere but here. Anything but empathic. She