in gooey chocolate. Her mouth watered just thinking about it.
Then she felt her sweat-soaked nightgown plastered against her skin. Something else was wrong…. That smell. Usually, she got the ocean breeze, but now all she smelled was dust and…and fresh, country air. Country. Charlie gasped and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a large brown water stain at the corner of the white ceiling. And then she heard the sound of glass breaking followed by Kendra shrilly berating Quinn.
Charlie placed an arm over her eyes, as it all came rushing back. The long drive to Sibleyville, Kendra and Quinn and—even worse—the gorgeous cowboy. It hadn’t been a nightmare. Charlie seriously contemplated remaining in her bed for the rest of the two weeks, but she suddenly noticed the bedspring poking into her back and rolled out. Her feet hit the hardwood floor and the dust that lay on the floor like a carpet billowed around her.
Charlie glanced around the bedroom that she had been given by default last night. Quinn and Kendra had both claimed larger—and coincidentally cleaner—bedrooms upstairs. Charlie had been stuck with the only bedroom on the ground floor. It had one squeaking bed, an antique dresser with a cracked mirror and a window that was covered with a faded, daisy-covered sheet. She shuddered in disgust at the filth in the room. The night before, she had willed herself not to notice the dirt and had simply unrolled a sleeping bag on top of the bed and climbed in. But, now, in the sunlight that streamed unimpeded through the sheet, she saw everything. Goosebumps raised on her skin. She could not believe that she had slept in this room. It was disgusting.
Charlie heard more screaming in the kitchen. She slipped her bare feet into her tennis shoes and stood up from the bed, groaning at the protesting ache in her back. She wiped the sleep from her eyes then shuffled down the hallway into the living room.
She could hear chaos behind the door to the kitchen. Since she couldn’t avoid her sisters forever, Charlie took a deep breath and pushed open the swinging kitchen door.
Black smoke was curling out of the brand-new silver toaster on the counter that Charlie had brought from home. Quinn stood in a sheer white minidress with her arms crossed, glaring at Kendra, who wore skin-tight, black workout pants and a black sports bra. Both of her sisters looked showered and refreshed, and Charlie reminded herself to check their bathroom first.
“What in the world is going on?” Her sisters turned to her and both began speaking at once. Charlie instantly held up her hands for silence. Surprisingly, Quinn and Kendra both fell silent. “First, I need coffee. And, second, I need to find the closest Wal-Mart so we can start disinfecting this place.”
“Wal-Mart?” Kendra gasped in horror at the same time that Quinn whispered in dismay, “Disinfecting?”
“If we’re lucky,” Charlie muttered. “There may not be a Wal-Mart around here, which is great for the local small businesses, but very bad for us.”
Charlie shuffled to the coffeemaker that she had also brought from home. Kendra wordlessly handed her a coffee cup with the name of her alma mater, Harvard, emblazoned on the side. Charlie smiled gratefully then filled the mug with the steaming liquid. She usually liberally sprinkled sugar into her coffee, but since she knew neither of her sisters would think to pack something as caloric as sugar, she just gulped it down and cringed.
“You’re not actually expecting us to clean this place, are you, Charlie?” Quinn asked, nervously. “We don’t have the skills for this—”
“Skills,” Kendra snorted. “We’re just cleaning, Quinn, not launching a space shuttle.”
“But, there could be rodents or something,” Quinn said, with wide eyes. She rubbed the back of her neck, as if brushing something off her skin. “Can’t we hire someone to do this?”
“I hate to admit this, but I actually agree with Bimbette here,” Kendra said to Charlie. Ignoring Quinn’s glare, she continued, “We need this entire house cleaned from top to bottom, and I’d rather not get buried alive if it collapses, so we need to have someone secure the frame and foundation. And then I need to contact the office—”
Charlie interrupted her, “We’re not allowed to use our personal bank accounts, call friends or boyfriends, or to work—”
Kendra’s eyes turned cold, and Charlie fought to hold her gaze. Kendra could be intimidating when she wanted to be, and she usually wanted to be. “You don’t seriously expect us to live by the draconian conditions of the will?”
“We agreed,” Charlie replied, simply.
“I can’t disappear from my job for two weeks, Charlie,” Kendra snarled.
“Then you shouldn’t have agreed to come,” Charlie said, quietly. She focused on the dust bunnies in the corners of the room and said, “If we’re going to live here for the next two weeks, we need to clean this house. We also need food, besides coffee.”
“I should have known you would be Ms. Rules,” Kendra said in a tone that told Charlie she was not complimenting her.
“Stop being a baby, Kendra,” Quinn finally chimed in. “Charlie’s right. We agreed to do this Grandpa’s way. And that means no cleaning ladies, no Internet and no contact with our real lives. No one in our lives or in this town is supposed to know the reason we’re here. And, considering the fact that this town benefits if we fail, we should definitely stick to the strict-confidence policy.”
Charlie stared at Quinn surprised. She had never heard Quinn sound so forceful or serious. Then Quinn added, with a giggle, “Besides, how will I be able to ask the cowboy to show me his barn if I’m stuck out here?”
Charlie choked on her coffee, but neither woman noticed as they squared off like two old-time cowboys.
“He’s mine, Quinn. I saw him first,” Kendra retorted angrily.
“Whoever saw him first won’t matter once I work the Quinn Sibley magic on him,” Quinn challenged.
Kendra laughed, while Charlie finally was able to swallow unimpeded. Kendra crossed the kitchen to stand in front of Quinn.
“Are you actually considering going head-to-head with me on the cowboy?” Kendra asked Quinn, one finely arched eyebrow raised in disbelief.
“If you’re not too scared to go head-to-head with me,” Quinn responded, mirroring Kendra’s expression.
Kendra shook her head, obviously amused. “Well, this should add some excitement to our time here. You’re on, Quinn. We both go for the cowboy and he decides.”
“He has a name,” Charlie blurted out, before she could stop herself. Her sisters turned to her and Charlie averted her gaze when she saw their identical curious expressions. She poured herself another cup of coffee, hoping her sisters didn’t notice her trembling hands. “I just… You’re both being childish. He’s not some toy or a— He’s a person.”
Kendra tilted her head to one side and studied Charlie. “You can try for Graham, too, Charlie,” she finally said, placing emphasis on his name.
Charlie felt her face burn in embarrassment, while Quinn grinned and bobbed her head excitedly. Charlie had spent most of the previous sleepless night dreaming about Graham. She still wanted to tie him to a bed and just look at him for an hour, but now it seemed gross that that Kendra and Quinn obviously had the same feelings.
Charlie
