All day Sunday I tried to call Cathy, but she wouldn’t return my calls. I couldn’t blame her, but then again, I could. She should’ve been there for us when we needed her, or sent money, or something. Heck, I didn’t know what I wanted from her after all these years.

Avery poured a bowl of cereal. “Did you apply to any colleges yet?”

I rubbed my temple. “No. I’ve had so much on my mind, I haven’t done anything with that.”

“So, you practically threatened to end my life if I don’t go to college, but you won’t even fill out the applications? Hypocrite much?”

“Do as I say, not as I do,” I said in my worst motherly tone.

Avery rolled her eyes. “Well, at least you’ve got parenting down now.”

Zoey bounced into the room. “Good morning. How’s it going?”

We both looked at her and sighed, her overexuberance too much for six-thirty in the morning. “You’re awful happy this morning.”

She only shrugged. “I’m a morning person, what can I say? Why are you even up, Sadie? It’s your day off. We’re not ten anymore, so sleep in.”

“I did sleep in. It’s two hours later than I normally get up.” I chuckled and poured a cup of steaming coffee.

“Guess you’ll be glad to be done with that. After you get married, you can even take afternoon classes. Heck, you could sleep half your day away, like Avery.” Zoey grabbed a mug and poured her own cup of coffee.

“Hey, watch it.” Avery took the mug out of her hand. “Guess you don’t need this since you’re such a morning person.”

Zoey snagged an apple and headed for the door. “That’s fine. I’ve got a long drive to school anyway. I should’ve left last night, but I had laundry to do. Guess I need to stop coming home to do my laundry on weekends.” She threw the apple in the air and caught it. “I need to be there in time for an exam, so I better bolt.”

“Um…” I fought to find the words that I’d been wanting to ask the last forty-eight hours. “Have either of you heard from Cathy?”

Zoey stopped dead in her tracks. Her mouth fell open, but she quickly recovered and about-faced to leave.

“Freeze and spill,” I ordered.

Zoey back-stepped. “It’s not a two-minute conversation, and I have class to get to.”

Avery slid into a seat and took a sip of her coffee. “Nice try. I happen to know that you’re running off to meet some guy you’ve been dating for a hike.”

I shook my head. “Why’d you lie?”

Zoey shrugged and turned to face us. “I didn’t want to talk about dating right now. It’s been a while, but every time I think a relationship is going to work out, it implodes.”

I analyzed her face, the darting gaze, the bit lip. “It’s more than that. You wanted to get out of talking to me. As a matter of fact, you’ve hardly spoken to me in two days. Why’s that?”

Her eyes shot wide and then narrowed. “Why’d you treat Cathy like that?”

Avery set her cup down. “Like what?”

“Like she was white trash trying to scam money from that precious Dumont family.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did. Cathy loves you. She wanted to be here for all your wedding details, knowing our mother wouldn’t show.”

“I don’t need her for my wedding. I needed her when Mom disappeared.”

Zoey tossed her book bag down. “She couldn’t be here because her husband died and her kids left her. She was depressed, a wreck, and had nothing left to give.”

“What?” I shook my head, trying to clear the fog. “Her husband died, but her kids were there at the funeral. That was before Mom left.”

Zoey huffed. “Yes, and before her breakdown. She needed Mom, too. She needed someone, but our mother wouldn’t let us go visit her.”

“No, Mom said she didn’t want me up there. That I’d be in the way.”

Avery tapped her cup. “And Mom’s always been so honest, right?”

The truth seeped in, but I didn’t want it to. I’d been mad at Cathy all these years because she’d abandoned us, turned her back and didn’t want me any more than my own mother did. “Still, she hasn’t been sick all these years. You saw her. She’s happy and healthy.”

Zoey collapsed onto a seat. “Yes, she did recover, but by that point you wouldn’t take her calls. She even offered money.”

“I told her no once. There was no reason I’d take money from family who’d abandoned us. Besides, she never tried again.”

Zoey toyed with her book bag strap and I knew there was more.

“What else is there, Zoey? What are you hiding?” I collapsed into the chair between them.

Zoey took a long breath. “You know how you said you thought there was longer to pay on the mortgage, but for some reason it was paid off?”

“Yes, Mom said she paid it off.”

Avery whistled. “You believe that?”

The dark cloud of suspicion covered me. “Are you telling me that Aunt Cathy paid off the mortgage?”

“And the car, and the electric bill those times we couldn’t pay it, those grocery store gift cards that showed up in our mailbox, and the Christmas cards with no return address with gift certificates. She never stopped giving. She wanted to come here to see us, but you’d never call her back. Then, when she found out you were getting married she knew she had to face you. That you needed a mother.”

Shame filled me. “I-I didn’t know.”

Zoey patted my hand resting in my lap. “She made me promise not to tell you. You two were so close before Mom left. From what I understand, she tried to come see us after her husband died, but Mom wouldn’t let her. Told her she didn’t want her bringing us down. That made her spiral into depression even more. If it wasn’t for her best friend, Judy, Cathy would’ve died of a broken heart.”

“Mom didn’t keep her away because she didn’t want her bringing us down. She never liked how close I was to Aunt Cathy.” I searched my memories, the ones I’d buried so deep all these years to avoid the pain. I rubbed my chest, trying to alleviate the throbbing, but there was no escaping the truth.

Avery patted my other hand. “You did your best. This isn’t your fault.”

“Isn’t it? I’m always the one spouting about how important family is, yet I turned my back on the one person who truly cared.” I bowed my head, unable to face the world.

“Stop it,” Avery scolded. “Now, you listen to me. You were in an impossible situation. The day you turned eighteen you had to face bills and social workers and school counselors. All of whom wanted to separate us, but you wouldn’t let that happen. You didn’t have time to deal with family drama. You had to raise us.”

“Yeah, and she didn’t make it easy.” Zoey jabbed at Avery.

“Hey.”

Zoey took my hand and moved it on top of Avery’s so we had the sister grip with all of us clinging to each other. “I’m just saying we all had it tough. We all survived in our own way. What’s important is we stuck together, and we’ll continue to stick together. Sisters are forever.”

Tears stung my eyes. “Thanks, you guys. I appreciate that.” I snagged my phone. “I’m going to try to reach Cathy now. It’s time we hashed a few things out.” It rang once and then went to voice mail. I hung up and looked to my sisters. “She call blocked me. Sent me to voice mail. I’ll give her some time to cool off. In the meantime, if you can try to call her, I’d appreciate it. I think she might need some nudging. If we can’t reach her by the time the fair is over, I’ll drive up there and stay on her front porch if I have to and make her listen.”

“That’s the Sadie we love.” Avery squeezed my hand.

I held tight to my sisters’ hands, feeling like we were unstoppable together. But how would we be apart? “Oh, I almost forgot. Ashton found a place. It’s on the north side of town and it has three bedrooms. He says it’s the perfect location for both of you to get to school when you want to crash with us and for me to attend college, too.” For the first time, I thought maybe this move to the north side of Atlanta would be a good thing.

Avery and Zoey locked gazes with that smirk they’d perfected by age ten.

“What?”

The silence remained for a second longer as if they were communicating via telepathy. Zoey finally nodded and faced me. “Listen, we know Ashton means well, and we love him, but it’s time for you to move on to the next stage of your life. If we live with you, you’ll only continue to focus on us instead of your new life with your new husband.”

Avery slid back, taking their connection with her. “What sweet Zoey is trying to spit out is that we don’t want to crash with you all the time, sis. You’ll be on us about our grades, and doing our laundry, and telling us to clean our rooms. We’re in college and want our own lives away from Mommy.”

I smacked her. “I’m not your mother. I’m a referee, cook, and maid.”

Zoey threw her arms around my shoulders. “No, you’re so much better than a mother. Please don’t hate your spoiled children for wanting to leave the nest.”

“Geesh, dramatic much?” Avery stood and headed for the door. “Listen, you need to let us go. It’s time for you to decide what you want out of life. If you don’t know, then you better figure it out and quick.”

“I want to marry Ashton, of course.”

Avery turned on me. “It’s not about Ashton. You think just being Ashton Dumont’s wife is enough for you out of life? Marriage is only one aspect. What do you, Sadie Dixon, want to do with the rest of her life?”