Free Nowhere to Hide by Carlene Thompson Page A

you told me to remember that we’re not kids and I’m simply your older sister, not your big sister who gives the orders—not that I ever could give you orders. You’ve never been exactly pliable.”
    “You mean I’m stubborn.”
    “I thought I was being tactful.”
    “You were.” Marissa sighed and leaned closer to the mirror. “Oh gosh, my face! I have bruises around my eyes, I have a long scratch on my jawline, and I shudder to think what my poor nose looks like under these bandages—”
    “Enough!” Marissa jumped. Catherine rarely raised her voice. “You have been fretting over your looks since Saturday night. Even Lindsay is getting tired of listening to you.”
    Marissa looked down at her constant companion, sitting beside her with a red rubber ball in her mouth. Marissa stooped to stroke her on the head. “She loves me no matter how battered I am. You can’t blame me for not wanting people to see me when I look like I’ve been in a boxing match.”
    “Well, at least you still have all of your teeth. It could be worse.” Catherine walked toward her, smiling. “After we stop at the hospital and they take the bandages off your nose, you’ll brighten up with some lip gloss and we’ll put concealer under your eyes and blush on your cheeks.”
    “But my nose—”
    “It isn’t broken. It can’t look too bad. And just think of—”
    “Don’t you dare say ‘think of what you could have looked like.’ That isn’t going to make me feel one bit better.”
    “You’re right. Imagining how things could have been worse never makes me feel better, either.” Catherine ran a wide-toothed comb through her shining hair and reached down to remove a piece of lint from her brown wool slacks.
    “I wish I were as tall and graceful as you,” Marissa said forlornly.
    “Oh, for God’s sake, Marissa!” Catherine looked at the dog, Lindsay. “Your mother has a big case of feeling sorry for herself today, do you know that?” Lindsay cocked her blond head and Catherine’s gaze shifted back to Marissa. “I’m five-seven; you’re five-four—a perfectly respectable height. I have what people politely call a ‘willowy’ figure; you have ‘curves.’ My hair is straight as spaghetti and you have natural waves. Your eyes are as blue as…as the Adriatic Sea.”
    “Catherine, you’ve never been to the Adriatic Sea.”
    “Well, I know it’s considered the bluest sea. Your eyes are like sapphires burning from inside with dazzling blue fire, your skin is like the finest porcelain, and your teeth are like pearls. If we lived a few hundred years ago, men would write poetry to your beauty. They would—”
    “Lock you up for being insane.”
    Marissa and Catherine both burst out laughing, then flopped back on the bed as they continued to giggle. Lindsay watched them curiously.
    “Oh, my gosh,” Marissa finally gasped, pulling free and wiping tears from her cheeks. “We haven’t laughed like that since Mom died.”
    Catherine nodded, pushing her hair behind her ears and dabbing at mascara smears beneath her eyes. “I know.”
    “What’s gotten into you?”
    “Everyone thinks you’re the court jester of the Gray family, but I have a sense of humor, too.”
    “I didn’t realize I was considered the Grays’ court jester, but I guess I could be worse things.” Marissa paused and looked at Catherine with narrowed, slightly bruise-encircled eyes. “If things had gone differently Saturday night, I’d attribute this good mood of yours to your date with James. But you can’t tell me you had a wonderful time with him. I completely ruined your evening.”
    In an uncharacteristically lighthearted gesture, Catherine lightly kissed Marissa’s forehead. “Although you scared me half to death, you did not ruin my date.”
    “Oh? Did something happen after Eric left and I went to bed?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the shy and serious sister, remember? Now put on one of those heavy faux fur coats of