Paper Thin

“I guess he was right.” Emma giggled. It had been forever since I’d heard my sister giggle like that. “I’m sorry. Mom has been a bit much the past few days. Her spells seem to be getting worse.”

Dawson paused outside the back door, and turned her to face him. His hands cupped her face as he stared into her eyes. “You don’t have to apologize to me. I get it. Trust me.”

I had been right. They both were stuck in this crappy little town, taking care of their parents. It made them even more perfect for one another.

I cleared my throat, interrupting their moment, and slipped past them. “I’m heading inside.”

“Right. Us too,” Emma said, but neither of them moved.

I found Mom leaning against the counter with a glass of lemonade in her hand. She looked peaceful as she stared out the window above the sink.

“Hey, how’s your cheek?” I walked to where she stood, curious about her cut and scratches.

“When are the puppeteers coming?” Her face was serious, but I knew she couldn’t be. Emma would never hire puppeteers for something like this.

“Do what?” I chuckled.

“I didn’t stutter, Debbie.” She looked me in the eye when she spoke, while she called me Debbie. “They were supposed to be here an hour ago, weren’t they?”

Mom was gone. I had become Debbie again. Charlotte didn’t exist to her for the time being. The weight of that realization crashed into me.

“Who was supposed to be here an hour ago, Mom?” Emma asked when she and Dawson walked through the door.

“The puppeteers,” I said in a soft voice. A sigh floated past Emma’s lips. I knew she was stressed to the max, even with Dawson whispering sweet nothings into her ear and holding her close. “It’s okay. I can take care of this. Let me know when Dr. Miles gets here,” I insisted.

Emma’s brows pulled together. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I flashed her a smile. “This is your party, go enjoy yourself. I’ll get her situated, and then be out to celebrate with you both in a bit.” It was the least I could do. Plus, it would give me time to compose myself.

“Okay. Thank you, Charlotte.” There was relief in her voice.

I sucked at being a sister and helping take care of our mother, but maybe tonight I would be able to redeem myself. The least I could do was try. She deserved to be happy. This was Emma’s moment. She was engaged, even if it was to my dream guy.

“WHEN ARE YOU COMING back?” It was after one in the morning, but Sadie and I were both wide awake. She was a night owl too. It was part of the reason we worked so well as roommates. Both of us could stay up until the butt-crack of dawn, sleep for the majority of the rest of the day if our schedules allowed it, and then get up and do it all over again. It wasn’t that we were partiers; it was just the way we were wired. Nighttime was when we were most alive.

“I’ll probably leave around ten or eleven, which means I’ll make it back by five or six-ish, depending on traffic.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful. There’s a massive storm coming through. It’s supposed to bring crazy rain our way for the next couple of days.”

My brows lifted to my hairline. Was she for real? “Listen to you. Since when do you pay attention to the weather?”

“Since it’s all Jeff talks about.” Irritation laced her words. My prediction about the two of them was on the verge of coming true.

“Why does he care so much?” I maneuvered a pillow behind my back so I couldn’t feel the headboard digging into my spine anymore. “Is he studying to become a meteorologist?” I had no clue Bradley offered courses for that major.

“No.” She took a sip of whatever she was drinking. “He’s just a weather freak.”

I chuckled at her tone. “What do you mean?”

“He obsesses about storms, rain, hurricanes, earthquakes, pretty much anything besides sunshine. Unless it involves the massive drought California is suffering.” Ice clinked in a glass on her end. “It’s really starting to turn me off.”

“He’s like a storm chaser? That’s kind of exciting.”

“If he actually chased them, then yeah, but all he does is check radar on his stupid cell and watch the weather cha

Yup, they wouldn’t be together much longer. It was only a matter of time before she found something else she couldn’t stand about him, and moved on. He wasn’t her type anyway. Jeff was a little on the nerdy side, and Sadie had always went for the bad boys with tattoos, piercings, and pasts that made girls crave to be the ones to make them a better person. She had yet to change any of them, and always ended up with more heartbreak than they were worth. Jeff had been what she had called ‘looking outside the box’ and ‘being open to different types of guys.’ Her theory was that she had been missing all the good ones searching for bad boys to change.

“And you’re looking for more excitement?” I pushed the covers bundled around me to the foot of the bed, suddenly too hot. I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t be crammed in this room much longer. I needed air, and to stretch my legs. “Hold on a sec.”

“Okay.”

Placing my cell into the crook of my neck, I slipped out of bed. The hall was dark and quiet when I crept out of my room. I tiptoed past my mom’s room, past the bathroom, and into the kitchen. The green glow of the clock on the microwave told me it was nearly one thirty in the morning. I would have to get off the phone soon and at least attempt to get some sleep since I would be driving back to the dorms, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not after the day I had.

I opened the back door in the kitchen and slipped out, closing it behind me. Holding my breath, I crept across the backyard toward the fire pit area. It had been so long since I’d snuck out of the house. While I’d forgotten how easy it was, I had also forgot about the sense of adrenaline that pumped through me as well. I was now more awake than I had been before.

“Whew, okay,” I breathed into the phone.

“Where you just holding your breath?” Sadie teased.

“Yeah, so?” I pursed my lips together, and placed the phone into the crook of my neck so I could pull the sleeves of my sweater down over my hands further. It was colder outside than I thought it would be this time of night.

“You’re an adult now. Besides, I doubt your mom would say anything to you with the way she is.” Her words hung suspended in the air between us. “I’m sorry. You know what I meant.” There was panic in her words.

“It’s okay.” It was, but it wasn’t. I understood what she was trying to say. I just hated that it was the truth.

“How is she, by the way? I feel bad for not asking sooner.”

“Don’t apologize.” I sat in the center of the bench in front of the fire pit. The coldness of the wood seeped through the thin fabric of my cotton shorts, causing goose bumps to prickle along my legs. “She’s not so good. Since I’ve been here, she’s managed to forget who I am more times than I can count, nearly caught the kitchen on fire, and gotten lost in the woods behind our house.”

“Damn. Why doesn’t your sister place her in a home? I know that sounds mean, but it would at least be safer for her.”

“I already asked. Trust me, it’s not something I care to bring up with Emma again anytime soon.”

“She wasn’t for the idea?”

“Nope. Not at all.” I grabbed a random stick from the ground and sifted through ashes inside the circle of garden stones we’d used to make the fire pit. “I honestly don’t know how Emma can handle this on a daily basis. It’s been too much for me already, and I’ve only been here for a day and a half.”

“She’s strong. From what you’ve told me about her, she seems really strong-willed.” Sadie paused. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but she sort of has no choice. I mean, you’re here and she’s there.”