The Laws of Attraction Read Free Page A

Melanie soothed. “You know this is the best possible place for you to be right now.”
    “And all your precious stuff will be at my place for safekeeping,” Maggie promised. “You can have everything back when you leave.”
    “I need it now if you expect me to stay sane,” Ashley protested.
    “Forget it,” Maggie responded. “And while we’re at it, hand over your cell phone.”
    Ashley felt an unfamiliar hint of panic crawling up her throat. “Come on, Maggie,” she pleaded. “I want that stuff. And I’ve got to have a cell phone. What if somebody needs to reach me?”
    Maggie gave her a wry look. “Can you honestly say there’s anyone back home besides Mom and Dad and Jo that you’re anxious to talk to right now? As for the rest of this, you only need it when you’re working.”
    “And you’re on vacation,” Melanie reminded her, even as she checked out the stack of reading material Ashley had piled up on the counter. “Sorry. This needs to go, too.” She rummaged in Ashley’s purse and plucked out the cell phone.
    Ashley frowned at the pair of them. “What the hell am I supposed to do for three whole weeks?”
    Melanie chuckled. “You’re supposed to relax. Iknow it’s a foreign concept, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
    “I can’t sit here all day doing nothing,” Ashley protested. “I’ll go out of my freaking mind.”
    “We thought of that,” Maggie soothed, handing over a bag filled with videos and paperback novels. “Comedy and romance.”
    Fluff, nothing but fluff. Ashley moaned. “Dear God, what are you trying to do to me?”
    “We’re trying to get some balance in your life,” Melanie said. “Of course, there’s a lot to be done in the garden now. The tulip and daffodil bulbs need to be thinned, and I bought some new ones to be planted out front.”
    “It’s fall, not spring,” she reminded Melanie. “Aren’t you supposed to plant things in the spring?”
    “Not bulbs. They come up early, remember? Trust me, this will be good for you. A little physical work in the sun will take your mind off your problems.”
    “I don’t do physical work,” Ashley retorted, glancing at her perfectly manicured nails and trying to imagine them after gardening. She shuddered at the image.
    “You go to a gym,” Maggie reminded her. “In fact, you’re as compulsive about that as you are about everything else. This will be even better for you. You can go for long walks. You’ll be breathing in all this fresh, salty air.”
    “It smells like fish,” Ashley retorted, determined not to take pleasure in anything just to spite her hateful sisters. How had she gone all these years without noticing how controlling and obnoxious they were?
    Clearly undaunted, Melanie bit back a grin. “Not so much in the garden. You’ll see. There are lots of wonderful fragrances out there. Grandmother saw to that and Mike and I recreated it just the way it was.”
    Defeated, Ashley sat down at the kitchen table and rested her head on her arms. “I want to go home.”
    “Don’t whine,” Maggie chided. “It’s unbecoming.”
    Ashley’s head snapped up. “You sound exactly like Mom.”
    “Of course, I do,” Maggie said. “We all do, with a touch of Grandmother Lindsey thrown in. They were our role models. The only thing missing is the Southern accent.”
    Ashley thought back to the subtle lessons their grandmother had instilled in all of them on their visits to Rose Cottage. Cornelia Lindsey had been very big on manners. And, despite the fact that the D’ Angelo sisters were growing up in Yankee territory, she’d wanted them to become southern ladies. She’d taught them the importance of family and friendships, of generosity and kindness. Some of the lessons had stuck better than others.
    Ashley relented. “Okay, no more whining,” she promised. “But you have to get me out of here before I go stir-crazy.”
    “You just got here two hours ago,” Melanie reminded her,