“My flight’s at four,” he said implacably. “I’ll call around ten.”
“Fine,” she said absently. She wanted to ask Eve’s Matt about Shoulders, but couldn’t think of a way to do it that wouldn’t set a bad example for Emily, so she called, “I’ll see you soon!” to Eve and Matt, and closed the door on Chris’s yelp about not raising her voice.
Emily zipped out of the parking lot and turned onto Tenth Street, then braked hard at the red light. Cady’s shoulder harness jerked. She shot Emily a glance, but her sister stared straight ahead. In the streetlight her eye makeup was starting to smear. Cady couldn’t even imagine what her face and hair looked like. After a show, her face could resemble melting plastic as the lights and sweat worked away at enough makeup to animate her facial features.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
In that tone of voice, something was obviously wrong. “Em,” Cady said.
No response. The light changed and Emily accelerated into traffic. Her sister’s expression, shrouded in darkness broken only by the dashboard lights, was still a little lost, a little mad. She reached across the console and hugged her sister. “I’ve missed you.”
The car swerved in the lane before Emily corrected. “Knock it off, teen driver here,” she said through giggles as she lifted one hand and hugged Cady back. “Mom just started letting me drive with other people in the car. If I get in an accident now, I’ll be in so much trouble.”
“When you move to New York, you won’t need to drive,” Cady said. “Have you sent in your application?”
A junior in high school, Emily was applying to Parsons School of Design. It was all she could talk about, and based on the state of her fingernails, all she’d been worrying about while Cady was on the road. “Not yet.” She drove a little more smoothly out of the downtown neighborhood. “I’m still working on my portfolio. Maybe I can show it to you tomorrow, before you abandon me for your new big fancy house?”
“Sure,” Cady said. “Thanks for getting the house ready for me. I’m so excited to see it. How about we plan on having you sleep over this weekend? You can help me decorate.”
Emily’s face lit up. “Ugh, I’ve got homework, stupid finals coming up, the application, but we can hang out when I’m off.”
“I remember what December’s like when you’re in high school,” Cady said with a laugh. “It’ll be fun. Like old times.”
The drive through the back streets into one of Lancaster’s older neighborhoods took Cady back in time. Her mother still lived in the house she’d bought after their dad left. It was small, but refurbished inside and out. The house was from the fifties but recently renovated top to bottom, three bedrooms, a full bathroom she’d shared with Emily, a three-quarters bath off her mom’s bedroom, a kitchen with an eating area that overlooked the backyard and a den. Lights burned brightly over the front and side doors, but her mother’s bedroom window was dark.
Her sister grabbed the bigger, heavier suitcase and started lugging it toward the door. “What’s up with you and Harry?”
“Nothing,” Cady said as they hauled the bags through the front door. Thank goodness. In hindsight, starting a relationship with an international superstar just before her first album dropped was great for her visibility and pretty disastrous for her heart.
“That’s too bad,” Emily said. “He got you a ton of publicity when you were dating.”
“We weren’t dating.”
“I know that’s the official line, but still. He was cute, too. Want some Maud juice before bed?”
“I can make it,” Cady said. Exhaustion seemed to seep from her pores, but she needed to take care of her throat or Chris would worry.
“I’ll do it. You unpack.” Emily strode into the kitchen.