“Guck,”is all I can say.
“Oh, and the magic will not be spoken,” Maggie mutters. “In front of outsiders, I mean. Might as well stop trying.”
I clear my throat and manage to swallow. “This is a lot for me to take in,” I tell Cait. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you a bushel and a peck.”
“More like half a tablespoon right now, I’m guessing,” she says dryly. “But I love you a bushel and a peck, too.”
The call ends, and I fall back into the cushions, disrupting the cockatoo on my shoulder, who squawks and flaps to the sofa, sending feathers into the air.
“Those girls are completely irresponsible,” Maggie says.
“Jemma is young and Cait tries hard,” I shoot back.
Maggie blinks at me.
“And they’re both used to me solving their problems,” I admit.
“Beautiful girls, though. Wish I could’ve seen you-all when you were little. Always wanted grandbabies, and now you’re taller than I am. Was. Definitely bigger than me now.”
Which is nice and all, but I have questions. “So there’s no mortgage to pay?” I ask.
Maggie struts. “Own everything outright.”
“No internet or cable?”
“Don’t need any of that junk. When there’s a movie store downstairs, you just pop something in the VCR and settle in.”
“What are the bills like?”
Maggie flutters up to the table. “Just got here and you’re already in money mode?”
“I quit my job and rented out my folks’ old house to move up here. I need to know where I stand. This is…” I look around the kitchen/living room, notice how the afternoon sun slants prettily through the broken blinds. “This is my life now, apparently.”
For a moment, Maggie just stares at me, head bobbing. “You make bad decisions, too, huh? Miranda really did a number on you girls.”
I snatch her off the table and hold her up to my face. “Don’t you say one word against my mama! She put herself through college, married a good man, was a good mother, and taught us to be responsible members of society.”
“Then why’d you quit your job and move up here on a whim?”
“Your lawyer said it was a significant inheritance!” I have to look away. “And it just so happened that my boss fired me so he could hire his niece, and my ex and his cop brother were making my life hell. Truth is, I felt trapped. I needed a do-over. And ifyou hadn’t made your will so bizarre, we would all be fine. Why’d you do that anyway? We’re your next of kin; you were dead. Why can’t we just sell and move on?”
Her wings flap like crazy, but I hold her in place.
“Because this is my legacy—”
“I’m your legacy! Those two irresponsible ninnies are your legacy. Why can’t you trust us?”
“I didn’t even know you! Your damn mama—”
I squeeze her a little too hard, and she pecks me, so I almost drop her.
“My damn mama loved me, and she told me I had to take care of my sisters when she was gone. I have had a job since the day I turned twelve,” I say with gritted teeth. “I drive an old car. I use coupons. I eat store-brand cereal. The only way I could live cheaper is by being an only child. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Then just run away from your responsibilities like your mother did!”
My jaw drops.
I can’t believe—
