The box had become somewhat of a joke between Sara Beth and Rosie since their apartment in Colby.
Sara Beth kept five sheets of paper with grainy black and white pictures and typeset information about five women born to the same man.
The only two that shared the same mother were Rosie and Sara Beth.
Oh, Mom. Sara Beth missed her mother, whose memory was often triggered by little things Rosie did – like stir pancake mix by rolling the bowl to its side or licking her finger just before flipping the page of a book. Every once in a great while Sara Beth would catch a glimpse of her mother in the mirror, but that hadn’t happened in a long time.
She focused on the contents of the box staring forlornly up at her. Shifting in her wheelchair on the deck, Sara Beth began her daily ritual with a touch more melancholy.
Ugh, anytime she thought of her mom and all the time she and Rosie had lost with the wonderful woman, Sara Beth slipped into a gloomy mood. The sadness over her lost dreams and irritability with Johnny combined, pushing Sara Beth close to full blown depression.
Johnny hadn’t even ridden by. Sara Beth knew because she hadn’t left her spot except to go to bed late at night.
Something had changed between them, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was.
She needed to focus on something besides memories and men. Picking up the pages of her and Rosie, she set them aside out of the way. Then Sara Beth carefully bent the edges of the next one – she’d organized them according to birth order.
Her dreams of chasing down each sister, walking up to them wherever they would be and hugging them while they all gushed over finding each other, washed away with each day that passed and she couldn’t feel her legs.
Rosie didn’t show any interest in finding them. She claimed she was too busy and who wanted to drum up old feelings about Caracus and his gang?
But then Ronan James would call and suggest they stay at the ranch on a random day, and Rosie would watch the road particularly close. And no one would ever tell “little” Sara Beth what the heck was going on.
The young girl in the picture had distinct features, even though the disguise of grainy pixels hid more than many photos might. Sara Beth could almost imagine her voice and closed her eyes.
“This is Sara Beth.” Michael’s low tone wasn’t what she’d expected when she pictured her half-sister’s speaking.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sara Beth. I’m Lisa Trinkett.” That was more like it. And she said her name exactly like Sara Beth thought it was pronounced – with an -ee sound instead of a soft i like Lissa or a hard i like Liza.
Michael touched Sara Beth’s shoulder. Her eyes flew open. She shoved her picture back into the box and jerked her face toward him and his guest.
The girl from the photo smiled politely at Sara Beth. And even though her hair was longer and this girl obviously had had braces since the teenage picture had been taken, there was no denying the beauty beside Sara Beth was most definitely one of the sisters she wasn’t able to chase after on her worthless legs.
Stuffing the pages into the box and then replacing the lid with a thud, Sara Beth tried studying Lisa at the awkward angle. “Uh. Yeah. Hi. Hello.” Sara Beth offered her hand and Lisa shook it with a friendly giggle.
Michael indicated a deck chair for Lisa. “Go ahead and take a seat. You probably won’t be leaving here much at first.” To Sara Beth, he added. “Lisa’s your new physical therapist. She comes highly recommended from the Circuit and might be just what you need.” He smiled tightly, like he hoped something or someone would help with Sara Beth’s permanent attitude problem.
Sara Beth would love the same thing. To be “fixed” but how did one fix a broken person’s spirit when her back wasn’t strong enough to take the trials?
“You’re very pretty. I bet you’re not wearing any makeup, are you?” Lisa moved to the rail, holding onto the post and staring out at the mountains growing from the fields. “It’s this air. I swear it’s magic. People don’t age normal here. You know?”
“Thank you.” Sara Beth wanted to reach out and touch the long brown strands of hair barely wafting with the breeze. Always burdened with curly, unruly hair, Sara Beth wanted to spend so much time playing with Lisa’s straight hair. Almost as if it demanded her attention. “I’m sorry, this is really rude, but is your hair as soft as it looks?”
Lisa laughed. She bent to the side, swinging her hair so it fell in a straight curtain. “Go ahead. You’re not the first one, girl.” She peeked from behind the dark mass, her blue eyes almost identical in shade to Rosie’s and Sara Beth’s. “Just between you and me, it’s my pride and joy.” She winked.
So far, Sara Beth really liked her new-sister and physical therapist.
~~~
Sara Beth couldn’t stop staring. Lisa had a great personality, a bit dry at times, but wow she could laugh. When she walked away at the end of the appointment, Sara Beth had been tempted to call out and confess everything, but she needed to talk to Rosie first. Figure out how to proceed.
Wheeling through the front door, Sara Beth called out for her sister. “Rosie? Where are you?”
“In the kitchen. Do you need help?” Rosie poked her head into the long wide hallway.
“No. You’re never going to believe who I just met.” Sara Beth tucked the box tightly between her side and the raised side of the seat.
“Was it the new therapist? Michael said she was coming today. Is she nice?” Rosie walked toward Sara Beth, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the departing truck. “Did she try carrying you to the barn?” She laughed, poking Sara Beth’s shoulder.
“No. The therapist? Was Lisa.” Sara Beth waited for Rosie to catch up, but her sister just stared at her with a pleasantly expectant smile like she waited for the punch line to a joke that didn’t make sense.
Quietly, Sara Beth opened the box and pulled out the sheet of paper with Lisa’s information on it. “The only thing that is different is the last name. On here it’s Caracus, but in person, she introduced herself as Trinkett.”
Slowly, Rosie claimed the paper but didn’t shift her gaze from Sara Beth’s face. “What do you mean she’s your therapist? How did she find us?”
“I don’t think she did. She didn’t seem to recognize anything about me. She asked a bunch of questions about my body – what I’ve noticed, blah, blah, blah. Nothing about family background or anything like that. It was crazy. I can’t believe she was here.” Sara Beth wheeled her chair to the window as if she might catch one more glimpse of the woman. She hadn’t been so upbeat in a while.
“Did you say anything to her?” Rosie thrust the paper back to Sara Beth after joining her at the window.
“No, of course not. I wouldn’t know where to start. It’s not like I can just say, ‘hey, Lisa, nice to meet you. I’m your sister. Our dad was a bad guy, you know killing and raping and so on, and because of him the FBI is looking for all of us. Want to hide out in my fort?” Sara Beth whistled slightly in amusement. “Not a lot I could do with that surprise dropped in my lap.”
“Don’t say anything to her until I figure this out with Michael. This affects all of us now.” She patted Sara Beth’s shoulder. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure I’m around to meet her next time she comes. I know this means a lot to you.”
But obviously not much to Rosie. That fact bothered Sara Beth and she could only watch as Rosie walked away.
Sara Beth’s excitement waned. She’d hoped for more of a reaction from Rosie. The anti-climactic response left Sara Beth feeling dissatisfied with her telling. She wanted to talk to Johnny. If nothing else, he’d at least pursue where her thoughts would go. He seemed to thrive on pushing her and seeing where she was coming from.
But he hadn’t been around and now Sara Beth didn’t have a friend to talk to.
Even if the dynamics of their relationship had changed, Sara Beth knew he still cared – at least enough to be there to vent to.
She’d figure out a way to find him and talk to him.
Even if he was at the barn.