Diamonds Are Forever

Hopefully they would never find out.

“You’re going to have to say something to them, ’cause here they are.” Peyton motioned to the house, where Grandma and Mom had stepped out to wait for them—Grandma smoothing out her dress, Mom wringing her hands.

The initial greeting went well. Courtney managed to be pleasant, as if she hadn’t been giving Mom and Grandma the silent treatment since Thanksgiving. Peyton was a little sullen, but then again, when wasn’t Peyton pouting over something?

“Thank you for not shutting me out these past few weeks, like your sisters did,” Mom whispered to Savannah while hugging her. “I appreciate it more than you know.”

Savannah’s heart jumped, and she checked to see if Courtney and Peyton had heard. But they were already on their way inside the house, and they didn’t seem to have caught Mom’s slip-up.

“Of course,” she said, pulling away. “But you know Courtney and Peyton don’t know I’ve been talking to you, right? So please don’t say anything about it again? I don’t want them to get mad at me.”

“They shouldn’t make that decision for you,” she said. “But if you don’t want me to mention it again, I won’t.”

“Thanks.” Savannah smiled, glad that Mom still looked healthy. Her skin was clear, she no longer had circles under her eyes, and she’d kept off the weight she’d lost since rehab. Maybe Peyton was right, and Mom was better off living away from them?

As much as it hurt to think about, it might be true.

They went inside, and Grandma was the only one to be found in the living room,

“Your bags are in the guest room, and your sisters are down there getting settled in,” she said. “Aunt Sophie’s taking a nap, and her room’s right above yours, so be quiet when you unpack, okay?”

“All right.” Savannah wanted to stay with Mom and Grandma, but she also wanted to see how her sisters were doing. And she didn’t want her sisters to think she was taking Mom and Grandma’s side. “I’ll be back up soon.”

She headed down the steps and into the big bedroom that she and her sisters shared when they visited Grandma. She loved having her own room in the penthouse at the Diamond, but sometimes it got so quiet. She liked coming here and sharing the room with her sisters. This bedroom was about three times bigger than the one they’d crammed into in their dilapidated apartment in Fairfield, but it reminded her of old times.

Peyton was unpacking her stuff, but Courtney was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Courtney?” Savannah asked. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t think so.” Peyton shook her head. “She didn’t say anything when we got down here—she just went straight to the bathroom. She looked like she did after finding her and Britney’s baby book. Really pissed off.”

“Crap,” Savannah said, glancing at the bathroom. “I guess seeing Grandma and Mom didn’t go as well as she made it seem.”

“You guessed right.” Courtney stomped inside, slammed the door and glared at Savannah. “What was that about with Mom?”

Savannah opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Had Courtney overheard what Mom had said? If she had...then Savannah was screwed.

She decided to act clueless. “What was what about?” she asked, sinking onto her bed and glancing at Peyton for help.

“I don’t know what’s going on.” Peyton threw her hands up and took a step away from Courtney. “Did I miss something?”

Savannah’s chest tightened, her eyes darting back and forth between her sisters. Courtney needed to stop glaring at her like she was the worst person ever—like she hated her.

She swallowed and looked down at the carpet. “Is this about the hug Mom gave me when we got here?” she asked. “Because I had to hug her back. I’m sorry.”

“Stop lying.” Courtney’s voice echoed through the room. “I’m sick of all the lies. I heard what she said to you. So just—stop. Stop pretending like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“What did she say?” Peyton crossed her arms. “What am I missing?”

Tears filled Savannah’s eyes, and she tried swallowing them away. She couldn’t say it—not without crying.

Leave it to Mom to talk without thinking and screw up everything.

“She thanked Savannah for not shutting her out these past few weeks,” Courtney told Peyton. “Which means that Savannah must have broken our pact. She’s been talking to Mom.”

“Is that true?” Peyton asked Savannah.

“I couldn’t not talk to her.” Savannah sniffed and wiped away a tear. “She hates what she did, and wishes she could take it back. Us not talkingto her was making her feel worse.”

“She can’t just ‘take it back.’” Courtney paced around the room, her hands curled into fists. “Britney wasn’t some small thing that slipped Mom’s mind. She was our sister—she was my twin—and Mom didn’t tell us about her because it was too hard for her. Don’t you see how selfish that was?”

“I know,” Savannah choked out. “I tried not talking to her—I really did. But she kept reaching out to us, and she’s our mom. I couldn’t ignore her.”

“And I’m yoursister,” Courtney said. “Me, you and Peyton—­­we agreed to take space from Mom so she would know that she can’t lie to us without any consequences. But you not being able to do it...it’s like you don’t care about what she did. Like you don’t care about Britney.”

“That’s not true,” Savannah said. “I do care about Britney, and I hate that Mom never told us about her.”

“So why are you acting like she doesn’t matter?”

“Because Britney’s dead!” The moment she realized what she’d said, Savannah clasped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.

Courtney stopped pacing, her face pale. She stared at Savannah as if she didn’t recognize her.

“What the hell, Savannah?” Peyton said. “When did you become such a bitch?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she mumbled, unable to meet her eyes. Her sisters were looking at her with so much betrayal that she wanted to bury herself under the covers. “Mom just kept reaching out to me, and I felt so bad ignoring her...”

“Mom kept reaching out to you because she knows you’re the weakest of the three of us,” Peyton said. “She knew you would give in.”

“At least I let myself care about people,” Savannah shot back. “You just push everyone away. Of course you had no problem shutting Mom out—shutting people out comes naturally to you.”

There were three knocks on the door, and they all went silent, watching as whoever it was opened it and peeked her head through. Aunt Sophie. Her skin was wrinkled and hollow, with age spots all over it, and the circles around her eyes were so dark that they could have been bruises. In her ivory, flowing nightgown, she looked like a ghost who hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Is everything okay in here?” she asked, her voice soft and frail.

“Aunt Sophie!” Courtney exclaimed. “Did our talking wake you up?”

“I wouldn’t call what you were doing ‘talking.’” Aunt Sophie laughed, although it turned into a hacking cough. She caught her breath, then said, “Yelling is more like it.”

“We’re so sorry,” Courtney said, clasping her hands together. “We didn’t mean to bother you.”

“I know,” Aunt Sophie said. “I opened my window this morning for some fresh air, and your window down here was open, too. Sound really travels out here in the country.”

“How much did you hear?” Savannah asked.

“Everything.” Aunt Sophie hobbled over to the closest bed—Savannah’s—and sat down. She held her hand against her head, as if just that short walk had made her dizzy, and took a few long, steadying breaths. “As I understand from what I heard, the three of you made a group decision not to speak to your mom and grandma, and Savannah spoke to them anyway without telling you.”

“We don’t need to ‘talk this out,’ or whatever,” Peyton said. “We’ve got it covered.”