Cabin by the Lake Read Free Page B

lake. It was only for short periods of time, vacations and summers, but those visits stood out in her mind more clearly than the rest of her life, where all of Katie’s attention was centered on her sister Brittany.
    Vivian never found fault with her. She always seemed to be interested in what she thought, and what she said. Everything she knew about cooking, she learned from her. She patiently let her help in the kitchen, even though there was always a big mess to clean up. She took up for her when her mother criticized because she’d gotten her clothes dirty down by the lake catching frogs, or her hair hadn’t been brushed.
    “Let her be a kid,” Vivian had said one Sunday morning in her defense.
    Her words just made Katie snatch the brush through Lydia’s tangles even harder, and that morning Vivian grabbed the brush from her sister’s hand.
    “You’re hurting her.”
    Katie was angry. “I told her to get ready. She knew we had to leave for church soon. And what does she do? Goes up to the garage and pesters Todd when she should have been minding me. The way she looks is a reflection on me. Give me that brush.”
    Vivian stood her ground. “I’ll finish. You go on and—”
    Katie grabbed the brush but Vivian wouldn’t let go. They stood frozen in a tug-of-war for a long moment, Katie glaring at her older sister, but Vivian was stronger. By that time Lydia had tears rolling down her cheeks.
    “Fine!” Katie finally said, and leaned over, her face close to her daughter’s. “You are a brat!”
    When she stomped out, Vivian gathered Lydia in her arms. “You are definitely not a brat,” she said, wiping away her tears. “You’re perfect, and I think you have the most beautiful hair; not all crazy like mine.” She shook her cascade of unruly curls and made her niece laugh. She began to gently brush out the snarls and by the time Todd cranked the car, they looked like the picture-perfect family.
    Now Lydia shook her head to clear out the memories. Thinking about the past made her sad. She went to bed exhausted, and the next morning looked forward to a better day.
    The diner was busy, and she pulled a double shift because her relief was a no-show. She often came home alone after Barney’s closed at two in the morning, and never thought much about it. But this time it was different. She had no sooner parked her Volkswagen in front of the apartment and gotten out when three skulking figures emerged from the gloom beside her front stoop.
    “Hey, baby. Long time, no see.” She recognized the man as Leon, one of Rocco’s old clients. He was one of the rough crowd she tried hard to avoid. His companions looked even meaner than he did. One was tall and bald, and the other had tattoos of teardrops dripping from the corner of one eye.
    Her heart slammed against her chest.
    “You remember me, right? Sure, I see you do.”
    “Hi, how are you?” she said, trying to casually slip by, as if this encounter were a normal chance meeting of old friends.
    “Hold up,” he said. “See, my friends and me, we’re in a bad way and we’re lookin’ to score. You know?”
    “Sorry,” she said, backing up the steps. Leon was twitching as he talked, and she could see that he was, indeed, in a bad way. “I don’t know anyone who’s into that anymore. Sorry.”
    “Come on now, don’t be holdin’ back on your old pal.”
    “I don’t have any drugs, Leon.”
    “Lemme see,” Baldy said, snatching her purse from her and dumping out the contents in the middle of the street.
    “Hey, no need to get rough.” Leon chastised Baldy in a friendly tone, even though his twitching was getting worse. He turned to Lydia, shuffling from foot to foot as he reached out and took her arm. She could feel his grip jittering through her jacket sleeve. “Look, we’ve got to roll. Sorry about your purse,” he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “But, see, here’s the problem: we’re short. We need another hundred to score