Sisters

by Danielle Steel

  “Good morning, girls,” Jane said brightly. She was wearing white shorts with a pink top and low-heeled sandals. Sabrina couldn't help noticing that she still had great legs. All three older sisters had been blessed and got their legs from her. Candy's were endless and were more like their dad's. “What can I make you?” They all started out by muttering that they didn't normally eat breakfast, no one was hungry, and coffee was fine. They were on a wide variety of time zones. It was already nearly dinnertime for Candy, who was still sleeping, and for Annie, who didn't want to admit it but was starving. She grabbed an orange from a bowl of fruit on the counter, and started unwinding the rind, as her mother poured coffee for Annie and Tammy. For Tammy it still felt like the middle of the night, but she was wide awake. They all were. In spite of the late night the night before, they all were energetic. Jane suggested scrambled eggs, and put a plate of muffins on the table, with butter and jam. All three girls helped themselves while chatting. Sabrina suggested that one of them should wake Candy, so she didn't get up in the middle of the afternoon. Annie silently disappeared from the room and went to rouse her, and ten minutes later they both came down. By then, their mother was making scrambled eggs and bacon. They all insisted they weren't hungry, but as soon as the eggs were ready, they helped themselves to generous portions, including several strips of bacon. Sabrina was pleased to see that Candy took some of the eggs too, half a muffin, and a single strip of bacon. It was probably the most she'd eaten for breakfast in several years.

  Jane even sat down with them and had a plate of eggs herself. “What do you all want to do this morning?” she asked with interest. There wasn't much to do, since it was the holiday and everything was closed. But she thought they might want to call some of their friends who still lived in town. Many had moved away, gotten married, or had jobs in other cities, but the girls still stayed in touch with some.

  “I just want to hang around with you guys and Mom,” Annie said, echoing what they all felt. “And Dad, if he doesn't feel too outnumbered.” They knew he enjoyed having them home too, but he had always been someone who needed his own space. When they were younger, he had spent a lot of time playing tennis and golf with friends, and they knew from their mother that he still did.

  At fifty-nine, he still acted and moved like a young man, and hadn't changed much. There was more gray in his hair, but still the same spring in his step. And they all agreed that their mother looked better than ever. Her face was still beautiful and hardly lined. She could easily have lied and taken ten years off her age. It was hard for all of them to believe that she was old enough to have children their age, despite the fact that she had started young. She had almost no wrinkles at all, and took fairly good care of herself. She went to an exercise class three times a week, and had mentioned taking ballet to stay in shape. Whatever she was doing had paid off. Her figure was even better than it had been when she was young.

  “Mom, what do we need to do to get ready for the party tonight?” Annie asked.

  Her mother said that the caterers would be arriving at four o'clock. Guests were invited for seven. “But I need to go to the store at some point,” Jane announced. “There's a supermarket open today on the other side of the highway. I forgot to get pickles for your father.” They were having hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken, and everything that went with them. The caterers were doing a full buffet, with salads, french fries, onion rings, several platters of sushi, and an assortment of ice creams and pies. “You know how your father is if he doesn't have pickles, and I think we're almost out of mayonnaise. I didn't think of it till last night. I can do it after lunch,” she said, not wanting to tear herself away from them for even a minute. Annie looked over and smiled at her and understood.

  “I can go with you, Mom. Why don't we go after breakfast and get it done? It won't take long.” It was a ten-minute trip to the market their mother was referring to. “I can do it for you, if you want.”

  “I'll come with you,” Jane said, rinsing off their dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, as Sabrina helped. It was times like this when Jane was glad she still had two machines. They still had two washing machines and two dryers as well. There had been a time when they couldn't have managed with anything less. But now, most of the time, when she and Jim were alone, it took days to fill the machines. Normally, she turned them on long before they were full. But with all the girls home, everything would be in use again.

  With so many hands at work, it took them only a few minutes to clean up the kitchen, and their mother ran upstairs to get her car keys and purse. She was back a minute later, as the three other girls headed toward the pool to check on their father, while she and Annie went out the back door to the car.

  Jane started the engine in her Mercedes station wagon, and they drove off, as she and Annie chatted. She told her mother about the classes she was taking in Florence and the new techniques she had learned. They were all based on ancient principles, and she was even learning how to mix her own paints, in some cases with egg.

  “Do you think you'll ever move back?” her mother asked, trying to sound casual, and Annie smiled. Annie knew it pained her to have even one daughter far away.

  “Eventually, but not yet,” Annie said honestly. “I love what I'm learning there, and it's a good life. It's a wonderful place for an artist.”

  “So is New York,” her mother said, trying not to be pushy about it. “I just hope you don't stay there forever. I hate having you so far away.”

  “It's not that far, Mom. I can fly home within a day, if you ever need me.”

  “It's not that. Your father and I are fine. It's just that I enjoy seeing more of you than just three times a year when you come home for holidays. That never seems like enough. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, and I'm glad you come home. I just wish you were around the corner, or in the city like Sabrina.”

  “I know, Mom. You and Dad should come to see me. Florence is such a beautiful city. It will be hard to leave when I finally decide to.” She didn't tell her that Charlie was planning to leave, and she was thinking about it. She didn't want to give the relationship that much importance, particularly in her mother's eyes, who was ever hopeful that Annie would come home. And she didn't want to give her mother false hope.

  They found a parking space at the supermarket easily, and went inside together. They put the few items they wanted in a cart, and qualified for the express lane. They were back in the parking lot in less than five minutes. The weather was extremely hot, and they were both anxious to get home and jump in the pool. It was hours before the guests would come. Jane was looking forward to spending the day with them, mostly in and around the pool. The temperature was supposed to go over a hundred that afternoon. She just hoped it would cool off a little by that night. If not, the guests were going to be sweltering outside at seven o'clock, and it would still be sunny and bright. It wouldn't get dark till after eight o'clock.

  “This is even hotter than Florence,” Annie commented as they got back in the air-conditioned car. She was grateful for the blast of cool air on her face when her mother turned on the ignition.

  They had to cross the highway to get back to the house, and Annie was talking about Charlie as they got behind a truck that was carrying a load of steel pipes on a flatbed behind it. Jane was listening to her intently, and as Annie talked, they both heard a loud snap, and saw the steel pipes begin to fall off the truck. Some rolled off to the sides, causing cars on the other side of the road to swerve to avoid them, and the rest of the pipes shot backward off the truck toward Jane's Mercedes. She was trying to slow down as Annie gasped and saw three of the pipes shoot off the truck straight at them. Instinctively, she reached out toward her mother and shouted “Mom!” But it was already too late. Like a scene in a movie she couldn't stop, Annie saw the pipes come straight through the windshield into the car, as Jane lost control of the wheel, and the car plunged into the oncoming lane. Annie heard herself screaming and tried to grab the steering whe
el, and as she did there was a sound of metal being crushed, breaking glass, and brakes screaming all around them. She looked toward her mother and couldn't see her anywhere. The door on the driver's side was open, the car was moving at full speed, and Annie saw the driver of the car they hit just as everything went black around her and she lost consciousness.

  Two of the steel pipes had gone straight through their car, as it careened wildly and finally stopped after it had hit two oncoming cars. Cars behind them and ahead of them came to a screeching stop, and traffic backed up instantly, as someone called the police.

  There was no sign of movement in any of the cars that had been hit, and the driver of the truck stood by the side of the road crying, as he looked at the scene of carnage his truck had caused. By the time the police came, he was in shock and unable to speak. Fire trucks came, ambulances, highway patrol, local police. The drivers of all three vehicles had been killed, along with a total of five passengers. There was only one survivor, the firemen were able to ascertain, and it took half an hour to get her out of the car. She had been pinned under the steel pipes, and she was unconscious as the ambulance drove her away. The rest of the victims were taken out of the cars, laid down on the highway, and covered with tarps, as they waited for more ambulances to arrive. The police on the scene looked solemn as the traffic backed up for miles. It was what always happened on the Fourth of July. People got in car accidents, tragedies happened, people died and became statistics. Jane had flown out of the car when the pipes hit them, and died instantly. And as they drove Annie to the trauma unit at Bridgeport Hospital, she was barely alive, clinging to life by a thread.

  At the house, her sisters chatted with their father, innocently enjoying a hot sunny summer day. They were expecting their mother and sister back at any moment, and had no inkling that they would never see their mother again, and that their sister was fighting for her life.

  Chapter 6

  Two men from the highway patrol rang the Adamses' doorbell shortly after twelve-thirty. They had left the scene of the accident as Annie was taken away in the ambulance. They had found Jane's driver's license in her handbag in the car, and they could tell from Annie's that she was Jane's daughter. She still had her parents' Connecticut address on her U.S. driver's license. She had an Italian license in her handbag as well. If necessary, highway patrolmen were allowed to notify next of kin by phone, in case of an accident. But Chuck Petri, the officer in charge at the scene, thought it was inhuman to do that. If something had happened to his wife or daughter, he would want a real live human being to come and tell him, not a phone call. So he sent two patrolmen to the Adamses' address and handled traffic at the scene himself, as they directed a single file of cars to move past the crushed cars and tarped bodies, going five miles per hour. The highway would be tied up for hours.

  The two patrolmen ringing the bell looked acutely uncomfortable. One was a rookie and had never done anything like it before. The senior officer with him was his partner and had promised to do the talking when someone answered.

  It took a few minutes for someone to come to the door, since they couldn't hear the doorbell clearly from the pool. Sabrina had just said she wondered where their mom and Annie were. They had been gone for nearly an hour, a lot longer than it took to get to the store they had in mind. Maybe the store was closed and they had had to go somewhere else for the pickles and mayonnaise. Tammy went to answer the door when they heard it; she was going to the kitchen to get something to drink anyway. She pulled open the front door and saw them through the screen door, and as soon as she did she could feel her heart pound, and forced herself to believe that this couldn't be as ominous as it appeared. They were probably there about some minor infraction, like the sprinkler leaving spots on the neighbor's window, or the dogs making too much noise. That had to be it. The young officer was smiling nervously at her, and the older officer looked at her with a somber frown.

  “Can I help you, officer?” Tammy asked, looking him directly in the eye, reassuring herself silently again.

  “Is there a Mr. James Adams here?” He was listed with the DMV as Jane's next of kin. His young partner had gotten it off the computer for him on the drive over.

  “Of course,” Tammy said respectfully, and stepped aside so they could come in out of the heat. The house was cool to the point of being chilly. Their mother liked to run the air conditioning full blast. “I'll get him for you. May I say what this is about?” She wanted to know herself, more than for her dad. But suddenly her father was right behind her, as though he had sensed that the doorbell signaled something important. He looked puzzled when he saw the two officers in highway patrol uniforms.

  “Mr. Adams?”

  “Yes. Is something wrong?” Tammy saw her father's face go pale, just as Sabrina and Candy walked in.

  “May I speak to you alone, sir?” the senior officer asked, having taken his hat off in the house. Tammy noticed that although he was bald, he was a nice-looking man about her father's age. The officer with him looked about fourteen years old.

  Without saying a word, their father led them into the library he and their mother used as a den in the winter. It was a pretty wood-paneled room with a fireplace, lined with antique books they had collected for years. There were two comfortable couches, and several large leather chairs. Jim sat down in one of them, and waved them both to the couch. He had no idea whatsoever why they were there. He had the insane idea suddenly that one of them was about to be arrested, and he couldn't imagine why. He hoped that one of the girls hadn't done something stupid. Candy was still young and was the only one he could think of who might. Maybe she had smuggled some drugs through customs when she came from Paris, or Annie in the spirit of her artistic life. He hoped not, but it was the only thing that came to mind. His daughters were hovering in the hallway just outside, looking worried, as the senior officer took a deep breath, clutching the hat in his hand. It was a while since he had done anything like this, and it was hard.

  “I'm sorry to tell you, sir, there's been an accident. About twenty minutes ago, on Highway 1, about five miles from here.”

  “An accident?” Jim looked blank, and in the hallway Sabrina gasped and clutched Tammy and Candy's hands. It wasn't computing in their father's brain.

  “Yes, sir. I'm sorry. We wanted to come and tell you in person. There was an incident with a truck, a bunch of steel pipes got loose and caused a three-way head-on collision. Some of the pipes went through one of the cars. The driver was Jane Wilkinson Adams, her date of birth was June 11, 1950. You're listed as next of kin with the DMV. I believe she was your wife.” His voice dwindled to nothing as Jim stared at him in horror.

  “What do you mean, she ‘was’ my wife? She still is!” he insisted.

  “She was killed instantly in the accident. The pipes went through her windshield and ejected her from the car, which hit two other vehicles head-on. She was dead on impact.” There was no way to dress it up. The terms were ugly. And Jim's face suddenly contorted in pain as it finally hit him, and all that it meant.

  “Oh my God … oh my God …” The girls could hear a sob in the room, and not being able to stand it any longer, they rushed in. All they had heard was “dead on impact,” but they still didn't know who, Annie or Mom or both? They were desperately frightened as their father cried.

  “Who is it? What happened?” Sabrina was the first to enter the room and ask, with the other two close behind her. Candy was already crying, although she didn't know yet for whom, or why.

  “It's Mom,” their father said in a choked voice. “… There was an accident on …a head-on collision … steel pipes fell off a truck …” Tammy and Sabrina's eyes filled instantly with tears as well, as Sabrina turned to the officer with a look of panic, and he told them how sorry he was about their mom.

  “What happened to my sister? She was in the car with Mom. Her name is Anne.” She couldn't even let herself think that they had both been killed. She held her breath and braced herself the
moment she asked.

  “She's still alive. I was going to tell your father, but I wanted to give him a minute to catch his breath.” The officer looked apologetically at them all, as tears filled the rookie's eyes. This was even worse than he had imagined. These were real people, and they were talking about their mother. He didn't look it, but he was Candy's age. He had three sisters, close in age to them, and a mother close to their mother's age. “She was badly injured in the accident, they just took her to Bridgeport Hospital. She was unconscious when they got her out of the car. It was a miracle—she was the only survivor in all three cars.” In all, eight people had died, but the officer didn't tell the Adamses that. He had come here first, because Annie was still alive. And they had to be notified quickly so they could go to the hospital. The time factor was less crucial in the cars where everyone had died.

  “What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?” Tammy interjected quickly, as Candy just stood there and sobbed, looking like a gigantically tall five-year-old.

  “She was in critical condition when they took her. I'll drive you folks down there if you like. Or I can lead the way with the siren on, if you want to take your car.” Jim was still staring at him in disbelief. Nearly thirty-five years with a woman he had loved deeply since the first hour he met her, and now suddenly in the flash of an instant, in an incredibly stupid freak accident, she was gone. He hadn't even fully understood what they'd said about Annie. All he could think of now was his wife.

  “Yes,” Sabrina answered before anyone else could, “we'll follow you.” The officer nodded as she and Tammy sprang into action. They ran upstairs and grabbed their handbags, and with sudden forethought, Sabrina took the address book and party list from her mother's desk. They were going to have to call off the party that night. Tammy made sure all three dogs were inside and took bottles of water from the fridge and threw them into her bag. A moment later they were all running toward their father's car. It was a large recent-model Mercedes sedan. Sabrina got behind the steering wheel and told him to get in. He got into the passenger seat next to her, as Candy and Tammy slid into the backseat and slammed the doors. All Sabrina could think of was that maybe Annie would be dead before they even arrived. She was praying she'd still be alive.