Page 138 of Hidden Ties

Hugging her goodbye, she waited until Glenda was driving away before walking to her car. She had two and a half hours before Kent would pick her up, in which she had to drop off thegirls to their grandmother’s, go back to the apartment, and get dressed.

Coming to a stop, she stood there, blankly staring at the empty parking spot. Where was her car? She parked in the same spot every day, or another one close by. She turned in a circle, but her car was nowhere in sight. What the hell?

Was she going crazy? Holding her key fob, she pressed the emergency button, hoping the car’s alarm would alert her to where it was. Nothing. Other than the sounds of cars going up and down the ramps, no sounds could be heard.

Despite knowing she was standing in the spot where she had parked her car, she started walking up and down through the garage. An hour later, she had to accept her car had been stolen. She called Glory and told her she was going to be late picking the girls up to take them to their grandmother. Her sister was upset, and she didn’t blame her. Any changes in the scheduled visitation had to be approved by the judge. Victoria was going to use this as an excuse to resume fighting for full custody of the girls.

After telling Glory she would be there as soon as possible, she called the police department. She had to wait fifteen minutes for an officer to arrive to take the report.

Fortunately, the report didn’t take long. She called an Uber and arrived at her apartment only to have to take another Uber to take the girls to their grandmother.

Victoria listened to her excuse with a chilly indifference, shutting the door on her once both girls were inside. Sucking in a deep breath, she told herself over and over that telling the woman off would only make matters worse.

When she returned to the apartment, she only had forty-five minutes to prepare for the dinner party. At that point, she no longer cared what she wore.

Taking out the dress her mother had brought her for Glory’s engagement party, she took a three-minute shower before putting the dress on. She ran a brush through her hair and hastily applied a few sweeps of makeup, then stood by the bed.

“What do you think?”

Glory’s eyes swept over her. “Thank God you didn’t wear that dress to my engagement party. Denny wouldn’t have married me.”

The compliment made her bend down to press a kiss on her sister’s cheek. “I could have worn the most beautiful dress in the world, and Denny would have still married you.”

A pain-filled expression filled Glory’s face. “I miss him so bad.”

Sage sat down on the bed next to her to take her scarred hands in hers. “I know you do.”

She sympathized with the pain Glory was still going through. The sister she had grown up cherishing was gone. She had died the same day Denny had. In her place was a shell of the woman she used to be. Glory was the reason she forced herself not to cry anymore. The wealth of pain that Glory had to endure yet never complained about made her feel petty when the urge hit her.

“You should wear my earrings,” Glory suggested.

“I don’t want to wear your earrings.”

“I wonder why.”

Sage teased her, “Remember when I borrowed a necklace one time, and I had to listen to you complain about it for six months, even though I asked if I could borrow it?”

Regret lined Glory’s face. “You’ve always been a better sister to me than I have to you.”

“That’s not true,” she protested.

Glory made a face at her. “It is true. You were always so supportive of me, whatever I did. You would come and sit in the bleachers and watch all my softball games, while I complainedabout going to a recital once a year. I never shared anything with you, while you shared everything with me.”

“Stop, Glory. I was an irritating little sister—”

“That’s it. You weren’t. You did everything in the world to please everyone around you while I acted like a spoiled brat. Even now, you’re carrying all my burdens on your shoulders, yet you never complain.” Glory gripped her hands tightly. “Wear the earrings. It’ll make me happy.”

Nodding, Sage got up to get the earrings out of the jewelry box. They had been an engagement present from Denny.

She looked in the mirror. The diamond dangle earrings added another layer of elegance to her appearance. The high-necked, shimmering, rose-colored dress skimmed her body loosely, falling in pleats until it came to the top of her thighs, where the material fell into layered ruffles, ending mid-thigh. She wished she had her watch but shrugged it off. The jewelry was gone. It was just one other thing she had learned to accept. Wishing for anything was useless.

Walking back to the bed, she did a twirl. “Better?”

“Kent won’t want to bring you back.”

“Too bad for him. I told him I wasn’t going to have sex with him until our tenth date, or was it the ninth?” She laughed, plopping back onto the bed to check her sister’s oxygen level.

“You didn’t?” Glory laughed.