Derailed

Chapter Eighteen

The sound of the front door opening woke me up around ten the next morning. Ben had left at six to get ready to take out a fishing boat, but he'd insisted I stay in bed and catch up on sleep. I was so comfortable that I didn't need much persuasion.

"Molly? You up there?"

I sat up in bed, surprised to hear my sister's voice. "Shayna?" I rubbed my eyes, trying to finish waking up.

Shayna stood in the doorway with a huge grin. "Surprise!" She sat down next to me on the bed, swooping me into a hug.

"Hey... you didn't tell me you were coming." I was suddenly very glad Ben had left early. I couldn't imagine what Shayna would have thought if she walked into my room and found us together. I was also relieved I'd thrown on some pajamas when he left, avoiding another potentially awkward moment.

She pulled her blond hair back into a ponytail. We were definitely those sisters who looked alike. If I ever wanted a preview of how I'd look in five years, I'd only have to watch her. She looked great, so it was a good thing. "If I'd told you I was coming, you would have tried to convince me not to."

"That's probably true. Where are Terry and the kids?"

"Back in Seattle with Mom. I thought we could use some sisterly bonding time."

"Sisterly bonding time?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Uh huh, we haven't had any in a while. I figured we were due for it."

I smiled. "All right, sounds good."

"So, you want to do a late breakfast down at Surf Song? I'm starving."

"Sure, did you just fly in?" I was still trying to process her presence in my room. I hadn't seen Shayna since Adam's funeral. She'd left her two young children with her husband and traveled to Boston with my mom. I appreciated the effort, but I hadn't been able to accept the help they wanted to offer. I'd spent the holidays with Becca and her mom, waiting until the last minute to tell my family I wasn't coming, so it would be too late for them to come to me. I did everything I could to distance myself. It wasn't much of a stretch. I'd been limiting our contact since I left for college.

"Yeah, I took the red-eye last night."

"You didn't have to come, Shay. I'm sure it was hard to leave the kids and get time off."

"I'm just in town for the weekend, and I needed to come. We've been so worried about you. You can't call Mom to tell her you dropped out of school and not expect us to be concerned."

"Well, it's good to see you. Just let me get dressed."

"Why don't you put on a swimsuit and meet me downstairs when you're ready? We can head down to the beach after breakfast. I haven't been in ages."

I threw on a pink bikini and a cover up, brushed my teeth, and quickly brushed out my hair. I didn't want to make Shayna wait for me to shower. She was someone you didn't want to mess with when she was hungry.

We decided to walk down to Surf Song, the best restaurant in town if you wanted a view along with your food. Shayna ordered blueberry pancakes, and I got strawberry French toast. The restaurant was fairly empty, not surprising for a Friday morning. It was more of a dinner or weekend brunch place.

"I still haven't found better blueberry pancakes than these," Shayna said between mouthfuls.

"I don't know how you can pass up the French toast. You're the one with the big sweet tooth, and you can't get sweeter."

Talking about food was easier than discussing what Shayna had really come to talk about. If she made the effort to come, she had something more than a quick visit up her sleeve.