Sybil at Sixteen Read Free Page B

It was their moment, their dance, and it was perfect.

C HAPTER T WO
    â€œHave some more pancakes, Thea.”
    â€œMegs, no, I couldn’t eat another biteful.”
    â€œI don’t know what’s become of you girls,” Meg declared. “It used to be you were each good for a half dozen or more pancakes. Now it’s three bites and you’re out.”
    â€œI don’t know what Thea’s excuse is,” Claire said. “I have to watch every calorie for professional reasons.”
    â€œMy excuse is I’m full,” Thea declared. “Megs, your pancakes are as delicious as ever. I fantasize about them sometimes. Especially on Sunday mornings.”
    Meg Sebastian rubbed her hands across her apron and smiled. Sybil couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her mother so happy. She silently thanked Claire for treating Thea to the trip, and then she thanked Aunt Grace for the use of the house. It was the one semi-nice thing Aunt Grace had ever done.
    â€œSybil, you can manage a few more, can’t you?” Meg asked.
    â€œI don’t think so,” Sybil replied. “Thanks, anyway.”
    â€œI wish Evvie and Sam had come for breakfast,” Meg said. “Sam at least has an appetite.”
    â€œYou should have had sons,” Claire said, and she gave her mother a kiss. “Lumberjacks.”
    â€œRight,” Meg said. “Nicky would have loved that.”
    The girls laughed, and Sybil marveled once again at how right everything felt. It wasn’t as though this was the first time in years they’d been together. There had been Christmas after all, and Thea and Evvie had both gone to Oregon for Claire’s high-school graduation. But this was better. This was home.
    â€œWhen’s Clark coming over?” Claire asked.
    â€œAround two,” Meg replied. “I don’t suppose I can convince all of you to change your plans for tomorrow. He was looking forward so to having us all over for Easter dinner.”
    â€œSorry, Megs,” Thea said. “I accepted the Hugheses’ invitation ages ago without really thinking.”
    â€œClark’ll be just as happy not to have me over tomorrow,” Claire said. “There’s no love lost between us.”
    â€œThat simply isn’t true,” Meg declared, but Claire merely smiled. Sybil, once again, tried to figure out what had happened at the elopement. Clark Bradford was a cousin of sorts to Scotty Hughes, as well as being Meg’s oldest friend. Scotty had been staying at Clark’s when he ran off with Claire. Knowing Clark, he’d been promoting a relationship between Scotty and Thea, just as a couple of years before he had promoted one between Evvie and Schyler. Evvie ended up with Sam, Scotty ended up, however temporarily, with Claire, and Claire, Sybil suspected, had her heart set on ending up with Schyler. Sybil grinned. Clark was never one for getting what he really wanted, but when confronted with Meg Winslow Sebastian and her four daughters, he really knew failure.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” Claire asked her.
    â€œI was thinking about Sam,” Sybil said. “And how much he’d enjoy Easter dinner with Clark.”
    Even Meg laughed at the idea. “I suppose it’s for the best,” she said. “You and Claire at Evvie’s, and then Thea joining you there, while Nicky and I have dinner with Clark. We had to do something after all. It’s our first Easter since we moved to Boston. I just hate the idea of us not being together.”
    â€œYou’ll still be stuck with us Monday and Tuesday,” Thea pointed out. “And Monday Evvie’s coming over for lunch all by herself. I don’t remember the last time I saw her without Sam.”
    â€œThey are joined at the hip,” Claire said. “I thought they’d be past that stage by now.”
    â€œSometimes you don’t get over it,” Meg said.