The Sister-in-Law by Pamela Crane (best books to read in your 20s .TXT) 📕

The boy seemed vaguely interested as his mouth opened, a row of baby teeth peeking through. The girl looked up at her mother with what appeared to be a cry for help.

‘What was that about?’ Harper’s voice lowered to a stern warning. ‘Don’t scare them like that or else they’ll never fall asleep tonight! Do you not have any common sense when it comes to kids?’

‘Apparently I don’t. Sorry.’ I turned to the boy, winked, and mouthed, ‘It’s true.’

I was done entertaining, so I glanced back at the belly of the house.

‘Laaaaane!’ I called. The forced chitchat was simply exhausting. ‘Your sister’s here!’ Then I turned back to Harper, eager to escape. ‘I’ll go see where he is.’

I didn’t get more than two steps before it registered what Harper had said: They’ll never fall asleep tonight. Surely she wasn’t bringing her family to stay in my home without asking first? Even if she did ask, the answer would be a resounding ‘hell no’. I was still on my honeymoon with my husband, and a house full of extended family was the last thing we needed. I had planned a month of romance for us, thanks to the tips I found in a Honeymoon Romance book I bought. Candlelit dinners, nighttime skinny-dipping, wine under the moonlight, lunch picnics in the yard, christening every room in the house with our love … No way was I letting his sister and her kids barge in on that.

Lane appeared around the corner, sweeping past me as he pulled Harper into an eager hug. ‘It’s been too long, Harp.’

She grabbed the knob of black hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. ‘Clearly. You’ve grown a man-bun since I last saw you!’

‘Shut up. You’re so genderist. It’s not a man-bun, it’s a regular bun.’

Harper raised a skeptical eyebrow, then folded the collar of his shirt down. ‘If you grow one of those nasty frizzled beards, I’m hosting an intervention. Did Candace inspire this little … hipster makeover?’

‘No. I’m just trying a new look.’ Lane flipped his collar back up and simpered.

‘Ugh. Try another one, please. Midlife crisis much?’ She tugged the edge of his beanie down over his eyes and laughed. ‘And by the way, what’s up with the hat? It’s swimming weather, not snowing weather. And you’re indoors. What’s next – sunglasses at night?’

Lane pushed the beanie back up on his forehead. ‘Okay, you made your point. Moving on, I’ve got so much to tell you. I’ve missed you!’

Missed her? It had only been a month since the memorial service for Harper’s husband. How needy were these two? It was shortly after that when Lane introduced me to Harper over dinner at a mediocre prime rib restaurant, and I was pretty sure they’d had another dinner since then.

‘And Elise and Jackson – you’ve both grown like weeds since I last saw you.’ Lane crouched down and scooped them into his arms as Elise giggled and Jackson’s face shifted just enough to look like he might grin … but thankfully he didn’t.

‘Guess what?’ Lane said, his voice high with boyish excitement. ‘I just got this cool drone. Wanna try it? It’s on the back porch.’

Elise screeched a ‘Me first!’ before darting toward the back door with Jackson sluggishly following behind.

When I turned back to Harper, I saw three suitcases being lugged across the entryway, their wheels leaving long scrapes across my hardwood floor.

‘What’s this, Harp?’ Lane asked.

So he didn’t know either. He was lucky that he was being blindsided along with me. Otherwise … I didn’t need to finish the threat.

‘I need to ask you for a favor.’ Harper paused, glanced at me, then drew toward her brother. ‘Since Ben died things have been … rough, to say the least. The insurance money hasn’t come in yet while the investigation’s still open, and I can’t afford the mortgage until I get my payout. I wanted to rent the house out in the meantime to cover the costs … and I was hoping to stay with you in the interim.’

‘Of course,’ Lane said without a beat, taking the suitcase handles from her. ‘We’d be happy to have you for as long as you want. That’s what family is for, right, Candace?’ He tossed a wishful look at me that gave me no choice but to agree. But I couldn’t – wouldn’t – oblige them. No, I had spent my last relationship being a doormat. I’d evolved since then.

‘Aren’t you rich? I thought your husband was a financial investor or something.’ Certainly someone who could afford fancy ugly slacks and a mini-mansion where all the Durham, North Carolina, richers lived could afford a hotel room.

Harper’s lips straightened. ‘Not that it’s any of your business, but because of the nature of Ben’s death, they’ve frozen all my assets and I can’t access our money. So right now I am officially broke.’

‘What about your mother?’ I offered. ‘Can’t you stay with her?’

‘Honey …’ Lane interjected.

‘I thought of that, but with the kids? They’d drive her nuts. Plus she’s in a two-bedroom rental. We need more space, a yard … and it’d only be temporary, I promise.’ But Harper’s assurance meant nothing to me. I knew from experience that broke houseguests became permanent leeches.

I wanted to strangle that diamond-adorned neck of hers.

‘Look,’ I stated, as kindly authoritative as possible, ‘Lane and I are still on our honeymoon. We need privacy, alone time together—’

‘Honeymoon? You were serious about being married?’ Harper shot a scowl at Lane. ‘You got married and didn’t tell me? And to a woman you barely know.’

Now my claws were out. ‘Excuse me, but I’m standing right here!’

I would have said a lot more but a loud thump coming from the kitchen interrupted me. ‘Did you hear that?’ Lane and Harper followed me toward a row of windows, where a circle of fractures splintered out in all directions from a cleft in the middle of the pane. ‘What happened?’ I yelled at