“The host is discussing techniques for velveting tofu. ”
“Exciting,” her sister said sarcastically. Then she made a grumpy hmph sound. “Do you really need to know this? You should just be a chef. ”
It was an offhand comment, but it made Sorrow feel like her head might explode. Old resentments burbled to the surface. “Gee, Laura, I’d love to be a chef. But I’m stuck here. ”
“It was just a suggestion. No need to bite my head off. ” Laura shrugged. “Maybe if you spruced this place up a little, it’d be more interesting for you. ”
“Maybe if you hadn’t fled Sierra Falls, this place wouldn’t need sprucing. ” Sorrow angrily upped the volume. “Sprucing. Of course the place needs sprucing. Duh. ”
“Easy, cowgirl. I’m just saying, if you livened it up around here, maybe you’d get more visitors. Keep you busy. I don’t know how you survive out here in the woods. ”
Sorrow muted the TV to glare at her sister. “Busy. You don’t know the meaning of busy. You cut and ran after graduation, leaving me holding the bag. ”
When Laura left, their brother BJ was already off at college on a ROTC scholarship, committed to serve upon finishing. By the time it was Sorrow’s turn to make her life choices, her father had had his stroke, and somebody needed to stay behind and help run the place. Their mother definitely couldn’t handle it; too many of their simple day-to-day chores—shoveling snow, unloading groceries, hauling guests’ suitcases up and down stairs—were just too physical for her. And so Sorro
w had given up on her dreams to stay behind.
“I’m not having this conversation again,” Laura said.
“So now you can tell me what I can and can’t talk about?” Sorrow had been holding her feelings in for some time. All she’d wanted to do was sit and watch her stupid program in peace. Her feet were killing her, and something about Laura’s pouting pushed her to the breaking point. “You can tell your fancy coworkers what to do, but you’re not vice president of me, so don’t come here and think you can boss me around. You have so not earned the right to breeze in and tell me how I should be doing things. ”
“Jeez,” Laura said under her breath. She looked away, back at the screen. “Relax. I’m not bossing. I was just making some friendly suggestions. ”
Sorrow ignored her and barreled on. “You left for bigger horizons, leaving me here, doing work I don’t really want to do. ”
Laura rolled her eyes. “Look, don’t do me any favors. Nobody said you had to stay home and live with Mom and Dad. If you don’t like it, make a change. ”
“Seriously?” Sorrow turned off the TV—she was unable to follow it anyway—and scooted sideways to face her sister. “So, what, I was supposed to leave after Dad’s stroke?” It’d happened when she was a junior in high school. He’d been laid-up for months. Gradually, she’d taken on responsibilities, until one day she was the one who was basically running the place.
“I don’t know,” Laura said. “You seem pretty happy to me. You’re like queen of the castle here. ”
“Hardly,” Sorrow snapped. “It’s hardly unicorns and rainbows around here. But I do the best I can with what I’ve got. Unlike some people who visit their family so they have a whole new audience to complain to. ”
“Well you should feel free to complain to me, any old time,” Laura said blandly. “You hold things in forever, and then explode when it’s too late to do anything about it. How are people supposed to know how you feel if you don’t let anybody in? Even Damien—it seems like you’re keeping him at arm’s length. And I don’t know what’s up with that sheriff. I saw you giving him googly eyes. The man’s too old for you. You should just stick with Damien. You want help around the lodge, you need to go for the hot, rich one. ”
Sorrow thought her vision might go red. “Wait right there. Let me clarify something. So, your version of letting you in actually means letting you tell me what to do? Like I need your advice. ”
Laura gave her an evil look. “If the shoe fits…”
“Hey, thanks for being there for me,” Sorrow said, sarcasm thick in her voice. “This has been awesome. ”
“Fine, forget the Damien-Billy thing. If you’re so in over your head, I see some things you could be doing better. My life hasn’t exactly been a fairy tale either, but I’ve got experience. You could actually try listening to me for once. ”
Sorrow glared. “Oh, so I should let you take over? Just the easy things, though, like having Big Ideas. Stuff like shoveling snow, I can still hang around to do that. You know, actually, Dad would love that. He and Mom seem to love you unconditionally. Laura, Laura, Laura, she can do no wrong. Vice President Laura is soooo experienced. ”
Laura sat bolt upright. “What? You’re the one Dad has running the show. ”
“I’m hardly running the show. He has his nose in everything. Second-guesses everything. Unlike you, who can do no wrong. ”
The phone rang, and Sorrow answered with a clipped “Hello?” It was Helen from the tavern calling. Their water heater had sprung a leak. “Of course it did,” Sorrow said, hearing the news.
“Well?” Laura asked when Sorrow hung up.
“The water heater is leaking. It’s a commercial model. That means a very big leak. ” Sorrow cradled her head in her hands, trying to think.
“What can I do?” Laura asked.
“There’s nothing you can do. ”