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and left the room.
    Kiera and Isabel stared at the empty doorway. The energy in the room seemed to have been sucked out with his departure.
    “Carl’s an interesting fellow,” Kiera remarked. “A bit dramatic, but interesting.”
    “Aunt Nora was taken with him,” Isabel said. “She told me he reminded her of a young George Hamilton. When I asked her who George Hamilton was, she got real mad at me and said she wasn’t that old. I have no idea what she meant. Hey, Kate, what about Carl?”
    “What about him?”
    “Pay attention. We were discussing your love life—”
    “No, we weren’t. You were.”
    Isabel ignored the interruption. “And since you don’t seem inclined to do anything about it on your own, I feel I should help.”
    Kiera burst into laughter. “And you think Kate and Carl would be a good match?”
    Kate grimaced as she tried to keep from laughing, too. “Not only is Carl not my type, he’s engaged. His fiancée is much more suited to his idiosyncrasies than I could ever be.”
    Isabel blushed. “Okay, maybe not. But, Kate, you need someone more laid-back to balance your uptightness.”
    “There’s no such word,” Kiera said.
    “Please, have mercy on me,” Kate pleaded. “Take Isabel home.”
    “Okay, we’re out of here. Call me in the morning and let me know when I can pick you up.”
    Isabel wasn’t the least offended that Kate wanted to get rid of her. She headed for the door then stopped. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. Promise me, Kate.”
    Kate responded to the fear in her voice. “I promise.”
    Isabel nodded. “Okay.” She sighed as she added, “Now that you’re home for good, things will be back to normal.”

Chapter Five
    Kiera drove Kate home from the hospital the next afternoon. They pulled into the driveway just as a messenger from a CPA firm was about to knock on their front door. While Kiera signed for the delivery, the messenger dropped a fat package into Kate’s arms.
    “Guess what we’re going to be doing tonight,” Kate said as she opened the door and headed to the kitchen. She took a knife to the envelope and emptied the contents on the table.
    Isabel followed her sisters into the kitchen. “What’s all that?” she asked. She disappeared behind the refrigerator door as she searched for something to munch on.
    Kiera answered her. “Bills. I had Tucker Simmons, the CPA, send over all of the accounts Mom handled.”
    Isabel shut the refrigerator and walked over to the table with a celery stick in her hand. “So why are they giving us the bills now?”
    “When Mom became so gravely ill, she set it up that Mr. Simmons would take over the bills for one year after she was gone. I told her I could handle it, but she insisted it would be too difficult for me to manage from Boston. And you know how persuasive Mom could be.”
    “Is there enough money left to pay all of these bills?” Isabel asked, waving her celery stick at the pile of envelopes.
    “I guess we’re about to find out,” Kiera said. “Mom was so secretive about her budget. Whenever I asked her how the money situation was, she always said the same thing, ‘We’re doing just fine.’ ”
    “That’s what she always said to me, too,” Kate added. “It was so aggravating.”
    Isabel took exception to her sisters daring to criticize their mother. “She was being thoughtful. She didn’t want any of us to worry. Kiera, she wanted you to focus on medicine, and Kate, she wanted you to finish your master’s. Neither one of you needed any money because you both had scholarships and grants. Nora and I were dependent on Mom though, and she wanted to make it easy for us. That’s why she did what she did. I’m sure of it.”
    “I wonder how much is left in the trust,” Kiera said, ignoring Isabel’s impassioned defense of their mother’s financial decisions. “And do we know how much is still to come from Mom’s pension?”
    Kate shook her head. “I don’t even know how much