The Sister-in-Law: An absolutely gripping summer thriller for 2021 by Pamela Crane (best romance novels of all time .TXT) 📗

before that, Jackson had dropped a gallon of milk on the floor and left it for Candace to clean up. And don’t even ask me how or why Jackson’s underwear ended up clogged in the toilet.

All the spills, the toys everywhere, the noise … it was a normal life with kids, but not a life we were ready for. And the moment Candace reprimanded them, Harper got defensive. The last straw happened this morning on Candace’s way down the stairs when she stepped on a toy that sent her tumbling onto her stomach. She had finally calmed after an emergency visit to Urgent Care to ensure the baby was okay. It was a lot for her to deal with, and I knew I was asking too much of a new marriage, letting my sister and her kids live with us for this long.

‘I know I promised you they’d be gone by now, and I’m working on it,’ I said as I set my keys on the entryway table and headed upstairs to change clothes.

Candace followed me up the stairs to our bedroom where I changed out of my scrubs into joggers and a tank top that Harper would make fun of. My whole hipster wardrobe had been customized to Candace’s taste, and my sister had something to say about all of it. Between the two of them, I couldn’t win. Where one was approving, the other was critical.

‘You keep saying that, but they’re still here. It’s a simple conversation. Why are you making this so difficult? All you have to say is, Harper, it’s time for you to get your own place. See? Easy,’ Candace ranted on.

‘Honey, this is my sister. I can’t just kick her out like that. It takes a little … finesse.’ It was the same answer I had given to her yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. ‘Besides, I don’t want her alone right now. She’s still mourning her husband, and no one has hired her yet, so she has no money to pay for a place to live.’

‘Yeah, about that job search, what the hell is taking her so long? And why hasn’t she already found something? Her kids are both in school – she should have already been working during the day.’

‘She’s only been here two weeks, babe. Besides, you don’t understand all the stress she’s under.’ She didn’t. She couldn’t. She wasn’t in Harper’s shoes.

Candace would never understand just how much Harper had suffered after Kira died. How she had gotten a job to distract herself, but the medicine she’d been prescribed numbed her to the point where she couldn’t focus, which led to her getting fired from the plant nursery. The monthly anniversary of Kira’s death had led to breakdowns in front of clients, which led to her being fired from her secretarial job. Firings number three and four were inevitable because some mornings she couldn’t get out of bed. She wasn’t ready for the workforce, and I wasn’t going to push her.

‘So help me understand, Lane.’ Candace sounded sincere.

‘Harper has had … a rough year, to say the least. Last year she lost a child, her two-year-old daughter. She drowned. And it wasn’t Harper’s fault, if that’s what you’re thinking. Her husband blamed her, and she took it upon herself, but the reality was that it just happened.’

Candace’s face softened. ‘Oh, I didn’t know all the details about what happened with Kira. I’m so sorry.’

‘And even if she did make a deadly mistake, does she deserve to suffer for the rest of her life over that? You can’t judge it unless you’ve been through it. Anyway, after that happened, Harper changed. She was never quite the same. I don’t know if she can even hold a job with how messed up she is right now. Grief does that to you. It changes everything and until she’s had time to heal, I don’t think shoving her into a hostile, lonely work world will help.’

Candace touched my arm, sorrow in her gentleness. Sympathy.

‘Add in losing her husband and, well, would you be able to function after all that?’

She shook her head sadly, then wrapped her arms around my waist. ‘I feel terrible that she’s gone through so much. I’ll stop bugging you about it. I know it’s hard for everyone.’

With her head tilted up to me, I kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips. Then trailed down her neck as she pulled me against her.

‘I’ll show you hard,’ I murmured into her collarbone.

Sliding her fingers through my hair, she pulled my face to hers, her kisses eager and bossy. I picked her up, she straddled me, and I carried her to the bed. Dropping her on her back, I stood above her, ripping off her clothes, pulling her panties down to her knees, then paused to admire her perfect body. The swell of her belly, teeming with life. Love welled up inside me, in the eagerness of my hands as I unclasped her bra, and the force of her legs around my waist pulled me closer. I climbed on top of her, gazing down at the woman I adored, and pressed my fingertip to her lips when she tried to speak. I didn’t want words to intrude on this moment.

‘The door,’ she said as my finger muffled her speech.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘Someone’s knocking on the front door.’

And now I understood how passion deflated when kids entered the picture. Kids – or strangers knocking on your door – were the needle to the balloon. Pop!

‘You have got to be kidding me.’ I climbed off of Candace, slid off the bed, and pulled my pants back up, wondering how I was going to hide my bulge.

Candace patted my groin and chuckled. ‘Better luck next time, babe.’ Then she threw on her clothes and trotted to the stairwell. She paused at the top of the stairs, then backtracked to the bathroom. ‘Actually, I’m going to grab a quick shower. I’ll be down when