Livin' La Vida Bennet by Mary Strand

Author:Mary Strand [Strand, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary Strand

Two hours later, I walked in the front door of our house, dripping sweat all over the ripped T-shirt and hot-pink gym shorts I’d found in a skanky pile of Liz’s workout clothes. Dying of thirst. Every muscle in my body screaming at me.

“Nice work on Mr. Fogarty’s lawn. Are you finally paying him back for all the crap you’ve pulled on him over the years? Or is this some community service thing for ex-cons?”

I barely glanced at Cat, curled up on one end of the ratty old couch at the far end of the living room, as I shot past her on my way to the kitchen. Two tall glasses of water later, I ignored her when I went back through the living room, headed for a long, hot shower.

“I said, you’re finally paying him back? Or—”

I stopped in the front hall but kept my back to her. I didn’t have to look at Cat to know she’d have a smug, snotty look on her face. It was the only look I’d seen on her since the moment I got home from Shangri-La.

But had I been paying Mr. Fogarty back? If so, why was he paying me? Should I pay him? And was I certifiably crazy even for considering paying him?

I’d pondered a million questions like that the whole time I’d trudged up, down, and across Mr. Fogarty’s lawn, then clipped and weeded and stood there while Mr. Fogarty rattled off a long list of back-breaking projects. But I refused to discuss my questions or pangs of guilt with Cat. It’d be like talking to Chelsea or Amber.

“He paid me.” I gritted my teeth, but Cat didn’t have to see that. “I guess he was relieved to find out that someone in this family was capable of hard work.”

When Cat cursed, I tore up the stairs, my quads and hamstrings screaming in agonizing harmony.

Half an hour later, still aching but showered and dressed for something more fun than lawn work, I headed downstairs. Cat and the Jeep were nowhere in sight, and Mom and Dad weren’t home from work yet, but Liz and Jane were holed up at the kitchen table, their heads bent together.

Not needing more crap from any of my sisters, I tiptoed through the back hallway on my way to the basement.

“Hey.” Liz, of course, never missed anything. “Looks like you’re going out?”

Only if my luck changed. I hadn’t heard about any parties tonight, let alone been invited to one. Not that I planned to share that with Liz or Jane.

If I added Cat to the list, and I did, it meant I didn’t have a single person to share anything with.

I poked my head into the kitchen. “No plans.”

The moment the words came out of my mouth, I wanted to erase them—or run screaming from the house. But Cat had obviously commandeered the Jeep for the evening, and the muscles in my legs were fried beyond recognition.

Hmm. Maybe Dad had actually plotted with Mr. Fogarty to destroy my escape options.

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