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fucking useless. They don’t really care about her.”
    Tabitha dabbed at her eyes again and covered her perfect pout with her hand so it looked like she was kissing her own knuckles. The move was self-protective, yet unexpectedly attractive.
    “I know. I’ve told Ash that myself, but she won’t listen.” She tightened the belt around her silk kimono and walked to the French doors, peering out over the pool house and gardens. “Megan, do you love your sister?”
    I turned, half expecting a lecture, when I saw tears streaming down Tabitha’s face. My God, what the hell was going on here? “Of course I do. Why do you ask?”
    She was mum again, her reasoning apparently snuffed out by emotion.
    “Tabitha, is there something you want to tell me?” Had Father thrown Ash out? Had Ash moved without telling me? Was Ash in jail? My mind was racing at this point, all with disastrous things that could have happened to my sister. As much as I envied her and competed with her, even at twenty-two, Ash was still my life, the person who completed me. Yes, she could still make me feel like a fourteen-year-old—hell, they all could, being home reduced me from a college grad to a sniveling teen all over again—but I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if something had happened to her.
    Her ash blond hair fell in front of her face as Tabitha dropped her head and sank down into a rouge leather armchair. Her lip looked like it was quivering, but there was no sound coming out, not even a breath.
    “Tabitha? Did something happen to Ash?” I demanded, a bit louder this time. She was freaking me out.
    “No, no, no,” she said quietly. “I just wanted to, I just, oh, never mind. Everything’s going to be fine.” With that, she wiped her tears, pushed her hair back, and rose to her feet. The fragile flower I saw moments ago was gone, in its place the woman formerly known as my stepmonster, the bitchy beacon of suburban perfection.
    I was stunned into silence. I couldn’t help but feel torn at the display of emotion. It was as if I was seeing Tabitha—the inner Tabitha—for the first time, and the whole scene left me feeling…conflicted, I guess you could say. At a loss for words, I turned and went back to my room, where I spent the next several hours vacillating between reading—always my safe haven—and e-mailing my college friends. I was hoping a word from people who knew me as an adult would do more than just cheer me; it would add some buoyancy to my day-to-day existence. I wasn’t sure why being home made me revert back to some self-doubting but petulant kid, but it did every time. Father wanted me here now and made it so I was trapped here until I could access my trust fund on my birthday. Who makes an inheritance due at twenty-three? All my friends got their money at twenty-one, or even eighteen. Still, the safety of what I knew and the security of Father’s money trumped any desire I had to venture out on my own without a support system. As soon as my inheritance was accessible, though, I could leave this place and feel whole again.
    Tabitha sulked and drank until Father came home. As usual, the two of them fought like cats and dogs, leaving me sitting alone at the family dinner table. I wanted to wait for them that night and ask about Ash, but I gave in to the coercion of my stomach and ate without them. I finished dessert and retired to my room. They were still locked in combat behind closed doors.
    I stayed up late, waiting for Father to berate me for eating without him, but he never came upstairs. I was still awake when I noticed lights go on in the pool house. I was surprised by the intensity of the relief I felt that Ash was home again. I rushed to the balcony, only then realizing how worried I’d been about her unexplained absence.

    *

    The next morning Ash was gone again. She returned around noon, stayed for a few hours, and then slipped out again. At first I didn’t even notice she’d left again until it