Something Borrowed, Something Bleu Read Free

some extra hours. In fact, she assured me that her sister Kyla—who’d also worked for me until recently—could help out if needed since she wasn’t leaving for college for a few more weeks.
I turned to the shelves that covered the walls. Winding Road inventory packed them top to bottom. It was a relatively slow time of year, and I’d been good about keeping my stock high to avoid having to scramble for the upcoming Christmas rush. I’d have to fill the gaps once I returned, but that was okay. It was hard to complain about business being good.
Lye soaps in creamy earth tones stacked high along one wall. Other shelves held bottles and jars of bath salts, bath fizzies, foot scrubs, lip balms, lotions, air fresheners, and body oils. Another wall held raw materials: essential oils, butters, vegetable oils, solid palm and coconut oils, and jars of herbs and natural colorants. I closed my eyes, inhaling the plethora of heavenly aromas, and a quiet calm replaced the jittery anxiety I’d felt ever since talking to Anna Belle.
She’d refused to talk about Bobby Lee for years. Perhaps she simply couldn’t bear discussing it when everything was still raw, and never quite got past that. The vibrancy of our family had faded until we had only the colorless shell of regular phone calls in which we said the same things over and over and the occasional visit where we walked around each other like ghosts.
I’d intended to go back to Colorado after graduating from college, but then I fell in love with a Washington boy. Mike Reynolds and I got jobs, got married, and got on with life.
Until he died, too.
But this phone call had been different from the others. Anna Belle had been different.
What message had my brother left behind?
    _____
     
     
    The architecture of Denver International Airport was supposed to reflect the outline of the Rocky Mountains, but the swooping white peaks looked more like a series of circus tents. Beside me, Erin strained against the seatbelt and craned her head to see through the scratched Plexiglas as the pilot guided the plane down the runway to the terminal. Pushing away, she flopped back in her seat with something that sounded very much like a harrumph.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
A scowl pinched her elfin features, so much like her mother’s that she could have been a clone. “I thought Colorado had mountains.”
I smiled. “Looks like we landed in Kansas by mistake.”
She twisted in her seat to look at me with intelligent gray eyes. “Nice try. I’m not stupid.”
“Try looking out the other side of the plane,” I suggested.
To my right, Meghan dug her cell phone out of her pocket and turned it back on with a beep. There was already a message from her long-distance boyfriend, Kelly O’Connell. They were trying to coordinate a flight for him, so they could spend some quality time together. It was Sunday, and Barr was still hoping to manage a few days off to join us later in the week. In the meantime, I’d be spending my quality time with Anna Belle and Calvin Watson.
At the top of the last escalator, our fellow travelers dispersed into the crowd of people waiting by the fountain in the main terminal. The shooshing sound of water muted their conversations. I searched the faces lined up behind the barrier but didn’t see either of my parents. Meghan touched my arm and pointed. From a bank of chairs fifty yards away my father stood, waving his arm to get our attention. My mother remained seated, a look of mild interest on her face.
I waved back and guided Erin in their direction. She shook off my hand with an impatient gesture. I shot a questioning look at Meghan, who frowned, then shrugged.
“Hey you guys! How was the flight?” Dad embraced everyone with enthusiasm. I was glad to see Erin grin and hug him back. She was becoming hard to predict.
“We had to get out of the house before five this morning so we’re a little tired, but everything went smoothly.” I turned to my mother and smiled.
She stood and patted me