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Marlie
Donner
Samuel
Zelda
Jonas
Sam Junior
Kara
But not just the names of family members.
Others associated with the family and that brutal, hideous night were included. Skimming the list, she saw notes about her mother’s sister, Faiza, and her musician boyfriend. Both of her parents’ exes and, of course, Lacey Higgins and Chad Atwater, with whom Marlie had supposedly been in love.
And she had been.
Head over heels.
Kara remembered.
“He’s just so . . . so awesome, Kara-Bear,” Marlie had confided on Thanksgiving night at their home in the city. Located in the West Hills of Portland, the McIntyre estate was composed of nearly two sprawling acres cut into the forested slopes. Their huge, rambling home that Mama was forever redecorating was positioned so that the back of the three-story home with its bank of windows had what Daddy had called “a million-dollar view” overlooking the city sprawled upon the banks of the Willamette River far below. Beyond the city, far in the distance, stood Mount Hood, a jagged peak that towered on a ridge of mountains and, on bright summer mornings, was backlit by the rising sun.
This Thanksgiving night was clear, a million stars winking overhead, the glittering lights of the city visible through the trees surrounding the grounds.
The sisters had slipped outside, escaping the noise of the house: a raucous game of Risk the boys had been playing and the argument between Mama and her sister that had escalated through the evening fueled by after-dinner drinks.
Unannounced, Auntie Fai had brought her latest boyfriend to the family dinner. Mama hadn’t been happy with Faiza’s “ingratitude and arrogance” and had let her sister know it. Faiza, defiant and “bullheaded,” had been unfazed, even smug as she’d introduced Roger Sweeney, a struggling guitar player in a local band, as they’d arrived. Mama’s small chin had become rock hard, her smile fixed, her eyes glittering with indignation. For his part, Roger hadn’t said much but taken in everything with his deep-set, pale eyes above a hooked nose and thin lips surrounded by a neat little beard and moustache. An earring had sparkled from one of his earlobes, his hair was turning gray and had been clipped back into a thin ponytail, and both of his middle fingers had been tattooed with an image of a wolf’s head. Though he’d been quiet, Kara had felt that Roger, too, had enjoyed seeing Mama seethe and Daddy try to smooth her ruffled feathers by smiling tightly and mixing drinks.
“Let’s get out of here!” Marlie had said, slipping through one of the French doors. Kara had eagerly followed.
The huge house with its lingering scents of roasted turkey, pumpkin pie and cigarette smoke had felt claustrophobic because of the seething emotions.
“God, they’re pathetic,” Marlie muttered under her breath as she closed the door behind them. Outside, the air was cold, a breath of wind rustling through the trees. Dry leaves skittered and danced across the path that cut across the backyard to the pool, now covered with a huge tarp.
Marlie had taken Kara’s hand and pulled her farther away from the house, where lights glowed in the windows, creating patches of light on the yard. Grinning widely, Marlie whispered. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Sure.” Kara loved secrets.
“You have to promise, though. You can’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” Kara had vowed, grateful that her older sister was entrusting her with something she didn’t want shared.
“Pinky swear?”
“Pinky swear.” For a brief second they locked their smallest fingers. “For sure.”
“Okay. Good.”
“So what is it?” Kara asked.
“I’m going to marry him,” Marlie announced, hunching down so that her face was close to Kara’s. “I’m going to marry Chad!” She straightened, wrapping her arms around herself and twirling, her silhouette visible against the lights of the city winking in the distance.
“For real?”
“For real!” Marlie stopped whirling long enough to pick up Kara and swing her over the frosty grass and the night had spun around them, Marlie beaming and Kara giggling wildly. “I’m going to be Mrs. Chad Atwater!” She’d stopped twirling and been dizzy, her legs wobbly. Both she and Kara tumbled together on the grass, Marlie breathing hard as they stared into the night-dark sky where thousands of stars glittered.