Free The Good Sister by Leanne Davis Page A

encourage her to bake more… for us.”
    “Me, Jessie. She baked them for me.”
    Lindsey’s head whipped back and forth between them. Her astonishment and awe of their good-natured ribbing was evident by her gaze. She didn’t know what to make of them. Her cell phone rang and she quickly glanced at it, frowning, before lifting it to her ear with an apologetic smile and saying, “Hi, Elliot.”
    She wandered halfway down the hallway so that they couldn’t hear her. Jessie sighed loudly and muttered under his breath, “My God, the asswipe doesn’t leave her alone for a single moment. I’m not kidding you, he calls her like once an hour. Or she suddenly ‘has’ to call him. She almost goes into a panic sometimes. She even has an alarm set on her phone to remind her.
    He took a cookie. “Don’t say anything about it. You heard Will.”
    “I know.  I just wish she didn’t like such controlling assholes.”
    “She does though. She seems a bit lost without him. Like she can’t figure out how to put her shoes on without his guidance and instructions.”
    Jessie exhaled a snort. “Oh my God, you  noticed that? You’ve been around her like five minutes. I obsess about it and what it means. I didn’t realize it was so obvious, even to those who don’t know her.” Jessie abruptly sat down, peeking down the hallway to verify Lindsey couldn’t hear her. Noah leaned in closer, suddenly intrigued by what Jessie had to say about her beautiful, remote, and fragile sister.
    “Oh, Noah, when my father was alive, her sole goal was to please him, and please him she did. I used to hate her for it. Is there even a trace left in her that she might actually remember something or know how to do something? Though she was never deployed, she had a respectable job and reputation around Fort Bragg. I thought she would stay in the Army as her career. I’m not kidding you. She was a totally kick-ass person. She was so proud of it. And then, after she discovered my father was an amoral monster, she just seemed to give up. It was like suddenly, everything she was or worked so hard for was crap. So she quit! She quit trying, and studying and being the perfect soldier, the perfect daughter, the perfect girl.
    “Then along came Elliot, and now you see her. When she said she was dropping active duty to switch to Inactive Reserves, I think I literally fell off the chair I was sitting in. I mean, Lindsey Bains pretty much giving up on the military? After all her training? Essentially quitting the Army? I didn’t understand it then, as I do not now. And no matter how hard I pressed for an explanation, she would never say why . Why did she change the only goals and expectations she always maintained for herself? No other reason, but Elliot. He is the only person whose orders I could ever believe she was following when she suddenly quit everything to sit and smile like a senseless robot at silly luncheons. Prior to Elliot’s influence, she was on track to be amazing; and instead, she became some rich asshole’s, vapid arm ornament. I just don’t know how she let that happen to her life. ”
    “Maybe she wanted to be the complete opposite of what her father wanted her to be.”
    Jessie bit her lower lip. “I never thought of it like that. Maybe. Look, Noah, I was thinking about something. And since we’re here… talking…”
    “What?” He nearly groaned. What could Jessie want?
    “So remember those test results? I was hoping things were going to go as they currently are, but the doctors are worried about the pregnancy, just a bit. They want me to take it easy. And you can imagine Will’s overreaction to such advice. He practically forbade me to walk into the bathroom. Anyway, he’d like me to quit working here for a while. I hate to. You know how I feel about working for you. But with school, the house, and everything else, maybe I am spreading myself too thin.”
    His heart sunk. “Ah, Jess, how the hell can I run this place