Her Sister's Shoes by Ashley Farley

kissed her daughter’s head. “You’d be bored down here with all the grown-ups, anyway.”
    Sean turned to Jamie. “What say we go inside and play a little Xbox? Cooper just bought the new edition of MLB.”
    “That’s the only kind of baseball I can play anymore,” Jamie mumbled.
    Cooper and Bitsy entered the house through the side door of the garage while Sean wheeled Jamie to the terrace. Sam pretended not to notice when Sean stopped at the bar and discreetly removed two icy Bud Lights from the cooler. He dumped the cans into Jamie’s lap, spun the wheelchair around, and disappeared through the french doors to the game room.
    Sam didn’t approve of underage drinking, anymore than she approved of the twenty-one-year-old drinking age. In her view, if our government trusted a young man to vote, be responsible for his own health care, and defend our country at war, why shouldn’t we trust him enough to drink a beer? If all went as planned, Jamie would be off to college soon, where he’d undoubtedly be exposed to plenty of alcohol. Who better for him to experiment with than the cousins he loved and trusted?
    Sam and Faith guided their mother toward the bar. While standing in line for a drink, Sam noticed her mother’s blouse was inside out and drew Faith’s attention to it.
    Faith’s eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on the tag. “That’s nothing. You should’ve seen the first outfit she was wearing when I went to pick her up.” She held her finger to her lips, and they stepped back so Lovie couldn’t hear them. “I’m really worried about Mama. Her house is a disaster, with dirty plates in the sink and clothes thrown all over the place. She has three alarm clocks on her bedside table with little reminder notes stuck to them.”
    Sam sighed. “I guess Jackie was right. Something weird is going on with her. I’ve been too wrapped up in Jamie’s recovery and the renovations at the market …”
    “At least you have a legitimate excuse. I realize now that I’ve been neglecting her.”
    “Not on purpose,” Sam said. “We are used to seeing her every day at work. Once the renovations started, we failed to reach out to her because it wasn’t our habit.”
    “However lame that excuse is, it’s the truth,” Faith said.
    Once the bartender served them their drinks—a glass of Pinot Grigio for the sisters and tonic water straight up with a lime for Mom—Sam and Faith took Lovie inside to straighten out her blouse.
    When Faith went upstairs to check on Bitsy and Sam was waiting for Lovie to finish in the powder room, Bill appeared.
    “Are you stalking me?” Sam asked.
    He chuckled. “I guess I am, if you want to put it that way. I was hoping for the opportunity to tell you how sorry I am about today.”
    Sam nearly choked on her wine. “Cheaters are never sorry for their actions. They’re only sorry they got caught.”
    “Ouch. That hurt. But I guess I deserve it. I promise I’ll tell her tonight after the party.”
    Sam struggled to keep her voice down. “In case you haven’t noticed, Jackie has worked damn hard on planning this party. Her memories from tonight should not include her husband asking her for a divorce.”
    He hesitated, then said, “I guess it won’t hurt to wait until the morning.”

    Sam and Faith stationed themselves with their mother along the edge of the dance floor. When the boys made their obligatory appearance, undoubtedly prompted by Bill, Sam took the opportunity to dance with each of the twins while Jamie gobbled down a loaded plate of food, the most appetite she had seen from him in months. Afterward, the three boys greeted several adults before snatching another beer from the cooler and disappearing back inside their man cave.
    The band had left the stage for their first break when Curtis stumbled into the party. Sam caught up with him at the food table. “Faith volunteered your services at the market tomorrow. I hope that works for you?”
    He stuffed a whole ham