Portrait of a Sister by Laura Bradford

Author:Laura Bradford [Bradford, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Katie was sitting on the windowsill the next evening, looking out at the buildings and the people, when Hannah breezed in the front door and tossed her purse across the room and onto the couch.

“You’ve got a total of ten minutes to freshen up before we need to head out of here, so let’s get a move on.” Hannah clapped her hands. “Quick. Quick. Quick.”

Slowly, Katie dropped her feet to the floor and stood. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a surprise—something I think will wipe that sourpuss off your face once and for all.”

“There is no sourpuss.”

“No?” Hannah closed the gap between them with three quick strides and then led Katie over to the mirror next to the door. “You still say there’s no sourpuss?”

Katie wiggled out from under Hannah’s hands but remained in front of the mirror, the sad eyes looking back at her making it difficult to argue. “It has been a long day of doing nothing,” she protested.

“I told you that you could come with me to work this morning, remember? But you insisted you wanted time alone. So if you’ve been bored that’s on you, Katie.”

She knew Hannah was talking, but really, all she could truly concentrate on at that moment was the face peering at her from just beyond her own shoulder—a face that was both the same and completely different than her own. Yes, the basics were still the same—the brown eyes they shared with Dat, the soft brown hair they got from Mamm, and the high cheekbones that were somehow a combination of the two. But even those givens were suddenly not so given anymore, thanks to Hannah’s makeup, kapp-free head, and the way the amber flecks in her eyes seemed to dance with her smile.

“You look so . . . so happy, Hannah.”

“That’s because I am.”

“Does makeup and fancy hair really do that?” Katie asked.

Hannah’s laugh filled the space between them a split second before she closed it with an arm around Katie’s shoulder and neck. “It certainly doesn’t hurt.” Then, resting her chin on Katie’s shoulder, their gazes met in the mirror. “But really, Katie, the thing that makes me look like this is about being where I’m supposed to be. Here. In New York City.”

“With Travis?”

“That certainly helps, but it’s more than that, Katie. It’s getting to be me. It’s taking a dance class one evening a week. It’s getting to go to shows with Travis and Eric. It’s getting to be neat if I want to be neat, or sloppy if I want to be sloppy. It’s getting to sleep in on my day off if I want to, or stay out late with friends if I have nowhere to be the next morning. It’s getting to decorate this place in a way that makes me happy. It’s getting to listen to a radio and sing the same kind of songs that other people my age are singing. It’s wearing dresses and shoes that make me feel pretty. It’s walking down the road holding hands with Travis because I like the way his hand feels around mine.

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