Free Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin Page A

my—"
    "Cell phone," I mumbled. I opened my eyes, stared at the glittering handbag on the bedside table, a little worse for wear as a result of its trip to the floorboards during last night's wreck. Beneath the bag, where I'd laid it before we left, sat my personal phone. Ringing. Which meant it was either Evie or Albert, neither of which did I feel like talking to at—I glanced at the clock—eight in the morning.
    I said a very unladylike word as I reached over to pick up the phone and my ribs reminded me to fight dirtier next time some hulking bruiser wanted to trade blows. "Do you have any idea what time I went to sleep last night? I mean this morning?" I waited. Nothing. Oops, forgot to press the button. I might actually be glad about that later.
    Beep. "Hello?"
    "Jaz, I'm so glad you answered."
    "Evie… have you been crying?"
    "It's either that or pound Dad over the head with a mallet."
    Crap. I am
so
not up to this
. "What's he done now?"
    "More like what hasn't he done." Evie really didn't belong in our family. Too sweet. Too anxious to please. It tended to bring out the worst in the rest of us, including Albert.
    "Okay, what hasn't he done?"
    "He hasn't taken his insulin every day, or followed his diet, or minded the infection in his f-f-foot."
    "I thought we hired a nurse to do that for him."
    Evie took a deep, trembling breath, but she still started crying again, hard enough that I didn't understand what she said next.
    "Evie, all that bawling can't be good for the baby, so cut it out." I knew I sounded stern, but bossiness is the main perk of big sisterhood. And she did calm way down, way quick.
    "Now, first of all, where's your husband? He'd be having a cow if he knew you were this agitated over Albert."
    "Tim's in Philadelphia on business."
    "Okay, after you get off the phone with me, call him. It'll make you feel better. Now, what about the nurse?"
    "Dad fired her."
    "What?!" I felt the prickling along my scalp that signaled Big Anger. I wished I was the Queen of Hearts so I could just order my little card soldiers to cut off Albert's head. "When?"
    "About a month ago."
    "A month! But I've sent him two checks to cover her salary since then."
    "Me too." Tears had crept back into Evie's voice. I could just imagine her sitting with her elbows on her little breakfast table, her straight, honey-brown hair sweeping forward to cover her face as she dropped her forehead into her hand. "Apparently Dad's been using the money to buy donuts, beer and cigarettes. Now he's sick, the infection's spread to his heel and up his ankle. The doctor at the veteran's hospital says he may have to amputate, but he won't know for sure until he examines Dad, and
Dad won't go
!"
    "What. A. Dumbass."
    "Jasmine!"
    "Well he is."
    "No,
I
am for not keeping better track of him. But we've just been snowed under at work with this turnaround." She was an engineer for Trifecta Petroleum in Indianapolis. Can anybody say free Indy 500 tickets? Yeah, baby. "And by the time I get home I'm so tired I can barely move. But that's no excuse—"
    "Yes, it is. The last thing you should be doing is driving to Chicago to look after the original Grumpy Old Man.
He's
the one who's abusing himself, not you, so quit feeling guilty."
    "Does that mean you'll call him?"
    "Yeah, right after I hang up with you."
    "I'm on my way to work, but you can call me back later tonight to let me know how it goes if you want."
    "I'll try. But no promises. I'm in the middle of something big right now."
    "Me too. Unfortunately, I'm it." She laughed a little—music to my ears.
    "You're so full of it," I said. "I saw the last picture you e-mailed me. You're gorgeous." I meant it.
    "Th-thank you."
    "Are you crying again?"
    "Only a little. And in a good way this time."
    "Well, I guess that's okay. Take care of yourself and Evie Junior, okay? You two are the only girlfriends I've got."
    "Okay. Love you. Bye."
    "Love you too." Beep. She was gone, back to the normal, everyday life that