Page 54 of Day Break

“I agree,” I said, suddenly. I watched surprise flood onto Chloe’s face. “While we’re here, under grandfather’s roof, he has agreed that Chloe is in charge of the house. This house,” I added, making my point clear. “That doesn’t include any of your personal stuff. Your dirty clothes are not to be brought into this house. They are not part of this house.”

“She’s been in Sherry’s old room.” My aunt’s eyes narrowed slightly, changing tactics. “God only knows why. What if she’s taken things from there? There is no reason for her to be snooping about. None.”

“Her tasks involve dusting. Besides, it’s past time we cleaned out the room.” I glanced over to Chloe. “It is a task that is way overdue.”

“It’s disrespectful,” my aunt hissed.

“She was my sister. I doubt she’d want the place to remain a shrine forever.” I was growing even more irritated. “Now, if we’re done here, I’m sure Chloe has work to get back to.”

My aunt’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I will expect full reimbursement for the ruined shirt,” she said firmly, turning to leave.

“Did you personally pay Chloe for the work that she’s done for you?” I countered.

My aunt opened her mouth, but then shut it again and left.

I suppose I shouldn’t have been shocked to find out that my family had convinced Chloe to do all their laundry. They were all manipulative and selfish. They wouldn’t let a chance go by to utilize something someone else was paying for.

From what I could tell, my family had carted load after load of their dirty clothes over to the house in large bins in the back of their SUV. Chloe explained how she would then carry them up the stairs and into the laundry room in her own suite.

“This stops now,” I told her. “They are not your employer. My grandfather is. Does he know about this?” I asked.

Chloe looked down at her hands and shook her head. “They were very persuasive.”

I lowered my voice so that only she would hear me. “They don’t know, do they?” I was suddenly worried that they were holding her secrets over her head.

Her eyes jerked up to mine, then she shook her head quickly. “No,” she said softly.

“Then why?” I asked, needing to know more.

Chloe just shrugged her shoulders. “If you don’t mind, I have things…” She motioned towards the stairs. “I have to change the sheets in your grandfather’s room.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I wanted her to know that she didn’t need to do anything my family demanded of her, outside of my grandfather. “Go,” I said, firmly. But she didn’t move. “We will discuss cleaning Sherry’s room out later. Maybe when I have some free time.” She nodded, and her eyes searched mine for a moment. “Go,” I said a little more softly. She turned and headed back down the hallway.

The rest of the day I was too distracted to work, so I took Byron on a walk to the beach. School had been out for a few weeks, so the beach was full of locals and even a handful of tourists.

Whidbey Island didn’t get a lot of tourists, but there was a resort on the other side of the island and the beaches here would get plenty of visitors.

Today, Byron and I walked more than two miles before turning around and heading back. When we had almost made it to the entrance of the beach, Byron barked happily and rushed over to Chloe, who was sitting in the sand with her knees up and her head resting on them.

She appeared to be crying. When Byron sat next to her, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, burying her face into his soft fur.

“Hey, is everything okay?” I asked, sitting beside them.

Chloe glanced up at me and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

“I had a run-in with your uncle, Robert.” She sighed. “Then another one with your cousin, Derrick. How do you handle them?”

“I take long walks,” I advised her with a shrug. “Normally, I avoid them. I see them about once a month, once every other month if I’m lucky.”

She sighed and rested her chin on her elbows. “I used to think everyone else was lucky to have a family.”

“Until you met mine,” I said dryly.

She glanced over at me, then nodded slightly. “You and George are nice. I’d believed…”

“What? That the rest of my family would be cool?” I laughed. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“What happened?” she asked.