“Ha! Yes, something like that. You know, you get rid of Mom’s fry-it-you’ll-like-it way of eating and move to a city like Paris where you walk or bike all the time and that’s half of it right there.”

“Since we can’t pretend Mom doesn’t exist, my only other idea is that Max and I should move to Paris, then. Can we leave the boys with you?” Laughing, Kelly tucked a wayward curl behind her sister’s ear. “Aside from looking fabulous, doll, you’re home again and I’ve missed you so much.”

Rori found herself grinning through a sheen of tears again and shook her head. “I’m the one who’s glad.” She popped the trunk of the car. “I’d gladly take those boys from you, but you know you’d want them back in a few weeks.” Grunting, she pulled bags out, hefting them to the driveway. “Come on then, help me with my suitcases.”

“Where’s the rest of your stuff?” Kelly asked from the other side of her armful of bags, leading Rori into the house.

The darker, far cooler interior was a welcome change from the bright blast of heat outside. “Christ, I forgot about the heat. Nice in here though.”

“Willow trees and the big old oak in the front give great shade. Max is smart that way. You’ll be in the third floor attic room. AC gets up there and there’s a ceiling fan so you should be comfortable.”

“Great, thank you. The rest of my things are being shipped.” They took the stairs and Rori was glad she worked out on a semi-regular basis. Even at that she was huffing and puffing once they’d started the last, narrower set of stairs to the third floor. “Should be here Monday or Tuesday. I knew it would take me at least a few days to find a place so there was no use having to unload it twice.”

Once they’d gotten to the attic room, Kelly spun to level a glare her way. “A place? What do you mean, a place? I just got you back and you’re already planning to leave again? We have so much room, why not live here with us for a while at least? You have privacy up here. Your own bathroom. We won’t bug you when you work.”

“Kel, I love you, and it means a lot that you’d want me here. But you and Max have two kids and your own life. I’m back here to make a life for myself as an adult woman. I need my own place to make that happen. I won’t impose for any longer than I have to.”

Kelly sent her a scowl that only made her more beautiful. Rori snorted. “It’s not an imposition. Stay as long as you want. Max adores you, the boys adore you and I adore you, too. There’s no rush, honestly. I’ve missed you so much, I want you close by.”

Setting her suitcases down, Rori took an admiring look around the room. “This is gorgeous. You’ve really done so much to this place.”

She moved to the nearby window and looked out over the backyard. Balls, toys, bicycles and a well-worn path near a soccer goal setup told Rori a happy family lived here. This made her happier than she could express. Kelly and Max deserved this sort of joy.

Being accepted washed away most of her remaining sadness from the break-up and the relocation. It felt good to be accepted, to be welcomed back after being gone. After feeling out of place and anchorless for so long, her heart swelled and she blinked back tears at her sister’s reception. She’d missed her so very much—missed belonging to someone.

“You can’t know what it means that you’d ask, that you’d really want me here. It’s a good reminder that I’m loved. But I need a quiet place to work. And someday I might actually have sex again so my own place is a good thing. It’s not like I’ll be far away. Oakley is still a small town. No matter where I live, I’ll be less than ten minutes from you.”

“I want you to be here with me,” Kelly repeated, but with resignation. With a sigh she opened the closet doors and pulled out hangers. “Mom and Howard are anxious to see you, too. She’s pissed you aren’t staying with them.”

Rori left that alone as she began to unpack. Kelly hung clothes while Rori folded and placed things into the nearby chest of drawers. “I know. Mom gave me the lecture already over the phone last week. What a treat it would be to stay with her and Howard, huh?” She’d need to get a local therapist if that happened.

“Anyway, if I stayed with her, I’d rob her of her righteous indignation. She’s determined to be offended no matter what I do. I may as well oblige her and make myself happy in the bargain. She was offended when I went away to college. She was offended when I went to graduate school. She was offended when I moved to Paris. Now she’s happy that I’m moving back but offended I’m not staying with her and her new husband in a two-bedroom condo.” She shrugged. “She’ll be offended no matter what I do. Anyway, if I didn’t give her something to be upset over, she’d just turn to you. I figure you and I need to take turns.”

Kelly’s long sigh reflected Rori’s emotions regarding their mother. “I’d say she means well. We both know she does. But I also know she doesn’t spend enough time thinking about the way she talks to you and how what she says affects you. God, it still makes me so mad to think about the way she used to go on and on about your looks!” Kelly fumed. Then, with a resigned shrug she blew her hair out of her eyes and grinned. “Wait until she sees you.”

“It’s not about her. Clear skin, a better hairstyle and a smaller dress size don’t make me a better person. Doesn’t make me noble or special. It just means my outer package is nicer to look at, but it has nothing to do with the kind of person I am now. I don’t want to ever give her the impression that my life is better because I’m prettier now, or whatever.”

Rori had left Oakley ten years before, with braces, glasses, sporting an awful case of acne, and carrying the evidence of the way she ate her fucking feelings. Gotten away from a mother who either cooked meals laden with cream or deep fat fried them all while constantly picking at her younger daughter’s appearance.

Being away from that constant assault on her self-esteem and undermining of her body had been a big healing point. Emotionally, Rori began to shed her old self within weeks. Getting the braces off and a pair of contacts had been the first physical changes. The acne had cleared with the absence of her mother and the crappy diet.

Her exposure to the rest of the world had helped Rori understand a lot of the crap she’d been carrying around belonged to her mother. School helped her remember she was smart and capable. Dating had helped with the insecurities about her appearance and desirability.

Now she bore very little resemblance to the painfully shy girl she’d been when she left town. The biggest change though, was on the inside; she finally loved herself and it showed. She’d set goals for herself and had met them. She’d survived. She’d believed in herself and that was the best thing of all. It was important that she not let anyone reduce it to having lost some weight and being prettier on the outside. She was more than that and she’d never let anyone put her back in that place of doubt again.

“Of course it’s not about that. Or even about her. You look great, Rori. Why should you diminish that you’re beautiful and sexy as well as smart and accomplished? She will only see the outside, you know that. We know better.”

Dealing with her mother, even just talking about it always made Rori tired.

“Anyway—” Kelly went back to hanging things up, “—you’re a vixen now and the male inhabitants of Oakley are most definitely going to notice that.”

“I had to catch up with you. Five years older than me, and you have two kids, it’s not like you’d know it to look at you. It’s like you get more beautiful each time I see you.”

“Another reason why I’d like it if you lived here. The constant compliments. Makes an old lady like me all happy.”

Kelly had always been beautiful, both inside and out. Where Rori was tall and had been gawky and heavy, Kelly was small, like a little doll with giant blue eyes. She’d married her high school sweetheart, Max Harris, who was, of course, the quarterback to her head cheerleader. They were a really lovely couple and their sons were big, like their daddy, with his black hair and Kelly’s blue eyes.