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in forbidding angles against the sky, and once again she realized how much she detested the harsh chill of
this house. It was a cold temple dedicated to the worship of high technology, designed by a man who had
always been obsessed with having the best.
"Cozy," Paige said sarcastically.
"Sam designed it."
"Didn't your big bad husband let you have any opinions?"
Susannah tried not to jump at the bait. "Houses aren't important to me."
Paige's evening gown rustled as she got out of the car. Instead of walking toward the pair of bronze
doors that marked the entryway, she took the lighted path that led to the back of the house. Susannah
followed, feeling increasingly uneasy. The beads on Paige's gown glittered like ice chips. Everything about
her radiated hostility, from the stiff line of her neck to the harsh rhythm of her stride.
They cleared the side of the house and were met with the breathtaking view of the Valley. Paige stalked
up the granite steps onto the bottom level of the deck and stared out at the lights. "I'll bet you're really
proud of yourself, aren't you, Susannah?"
There was an ugly sneer in Paige's voice that made Susannah want to turn away. This had been a terrible
idea. Why had she ever thought she could change the path of their relationship? "I've worked hard," she
replied, trying to keep her tone neutral.
"I'll just bet you have," Paige spat out. "How much of that work did you do on your back?"
Susannah was stunned into silence by her sister's maliciousness.
"Now you can spend your days and nights counting your new money and laughing at Daddy in his grave."
All of Susannah's determination to renew their relationship disappeared, replaced by her own rage.
"Don't say that. You know it's not true."
"It's true, all right," Paige retorted. "You showed him, didn't you? Too bad he's not still alive so you can
throw your success in his face."
"I didn't do this because of him. I did it for myself."
"You're so goddamned sanctimonious. So smug and self-righteous." Paige spoke with deadly quiet, but
her words struck Susannah like small bursts of venom.
She gripped the keys she still held in her hand. "Stop right there, Paige. You're acting like a child, and
I've heard enough from you."
But Paige didn't want to stop. The poison stored inside her bubbled to the surface and burst forth in
short, caustic spurts. "You've always been perfect. Always right. So much better than everyone else."
"That's enough! I've tried for years to establish some sort of adult relationship with you, but I'm not going
to try any longer. You're spoiled and selfish, and you don't care about anyone but yourself."
"How would you know?" Paige shouted. "You don't know anything about me. You were too busy
stealing my father to ever try to understand me."
"Get out of here!" Susannah threw the keys at Paige. "Take my car and get out of my sight." Turning her
back on her sister, she walked rapidly toward the door on the far side of the deck.
But Paige wasn't finished. Propelled by years of self-loathing, she came after her, running almost, ready
to pummel Susannah with more hatred. Susannah couldn't bear anymore. She shoved the door open.
"Do you have any idea how much I've always hated you?" Paige shouted, rushing into the house behind
her. "I'm his real daughter! Not you. But I couldn't compete with your perfection act. Do you understand
that a day doesn't go by when I don't wish that you'd never been born."
Susannah stalked through the back hallway and down the steps. Paige was still at her side when she
dashed into the living room.
"Why did you have to come live with us?" Paige cried. "Why did you have to be so much better than
me?"
Susannah gasped and then the gasp turned into a soft, kittenlike mew.
On a white suede couch in the center of the room, Mindy Bradshaw was jerking her skirt down over her
naked thighs, while Sam fumbled awkwardly with his trousers.
Susannah mewed again. She could feel her hands opening and closing at her sides. The world reduced
itself to the scene before her and the awful mew of pain that kept rising from her throat. And then her lips
began to move, to form words. They came out tinny, like the computerized voice of i robot.
"Excuse me," she said.
The apology was idiotic, obscene. Susannah staggered blindly out of the room. She knew her legs were
working because the walls were moving past her. She walked up one ramp and down another, past the
massive mantelpiece of stainless steel. After every four or five steps, that awful sound kept sliding out.
She tried to stop it, tried to clamp tier lips together, but it wouldn't be contained.
Someone touched her elbow. For a moment she thought it was Sam and tried to shake him off. Her arm
was clasped more firmly, and she realized that Paige was at her side.
It was easier to concentrate on her sister than on the abscenity she had just witnessed. The lesser pain of
Paige's hatred seemed almost a safe harbor in comparison to the starkness of Sam's betrayal.
Susannah felt her lips quivering again. Sam and Mindy. Sam was having sex with Mindy. Her husband.
The man she had loved so blindly for so very long.
She realized she was in the kitchen. An awful pain traveled from her throat down through her stomach, a
pain that crushed her heart and filled her breasts like bitter milk.
Paige spoke hesitantly. "Let's get out of here."
"Go away." Susannah shoved the words through a narrow passageway before her throat closed on a
sob.
Paige's fingers grasped her arm. They were icy cold, distracting Susannah from her desperate need to
draw another breath.
"Let me take you somewhere."
Susannah couldn't tolerate pity, especially coming from someone who hated her so much. "Just leave me
alone," she said almost desperately. "I don't ever want to see you again."
Paige released her arm as if she had been burned and closed the keys Susannah had thrown at her in her
fist. "Suit yourself. I'll send your car back in the morning."
Susannah stood at the kitchen windows and stared out into the darkness. Seconds ticked by. Paige's icy
white dress whipped past. Before long, footsteps clicked on the floor behind her.
She kept her eyes on the blackness beyond the window. It was as dark as the inside of her
grandmother's closet, as malevolent as a shed on the edge of the desert.
"The old silent treatment, Suzie? It's so goddamned typical of you, I don't know why I'm even surprised."
Her breath caught on a sob. He had gone on the attack. Why hadn't she realized that was what he would
do? The pain was so fierce, she didn't think she could bear it. She gathered herself together as best she
could and turned slowly to face him.
His black, straight hair fell over his forehead and stuck out near his ear just the way it did when she ran [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]