Indigo [Try Pink Act Two] Read Online Free PDF

than she ever did. For the past two
years, we gazed at each other but now we seemed to watch as if looking
for some sort of cue about what to do or say next.
    The doorbell stuttered then rang and Jilly dropped her roller with
a splat onto the drop cloth. Her breathing picked up and her expression melted
from content to panic. I held my hand out to her and she took it.
    "Go in the bedroom," I told her. "Close the
door."
    "Who is it?" She nearly squeaked when the bell rang a
second time.
    "I dunno, baby. Go in there until I find out."
    "I don't want you to go alone."
    "Jess, open the door. The gate guard told me you were
here," my brother's voice boomed through the door and the bell rang again.
Jillian relaxed almost immediately but I grew more nervous.
    "Just Declan." She sighed out his name like it was a
breath of ocean air.
    I wasn't relieved. I opened the door while Jilly cleaned up the
splattered paint. My brother stood there, with his Irish blond hair, freckled
cheeks, and bushy beard. He rushed me and I nearly cried out with the force of
his hug on my sensitive ribs.
    "Where the hell have you been?" he exclaimed. "Mom
said you didn't know where Jillian was and then you're phone was turned off.
And your place exploded."
    "I'm here," I said after he let me go, forcing the grunt
from my throat. "Jilly's here." I waved him in and did everything in
my power not to keel over.
    "That's all you have to say?" His voice continued at a
higher volume than usual. Jillian hurried over to me and touched my face just
when I felt about to puke. She immediately solved the problem by distracting my
brother.
    "We went on a trip. Where've you been, De? I've missed
you," she said, and he hugged her, too. He calmed down finally and rubbed
her back a bit. When they leaned back, he looked the two of us over.
    "You both look like shit. What kind of trip was it?"
    "You want some tea? Jilly made passion tea," I said,
gesturing toward the kitchen.
    "Quit sidestepping my questions and no thank you." He
frowned at me and crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't come here for
nothing."
    "Well then, pick up a paintbrush and get to work if you don't
want to stand around doing nothing," I said and Jilly laughed a little.
    To my surprise, he did it. The three of us finished a wall, in
relative silence, in just a few minutes. When we moved on to the next one,
Declan broke the mood.
    "You really upset Mom," he said.
    "I know," I said, glancing at Jilly whose brows
furrowed.
    "She said you were acting the way you did after Graydon
died," he continued.
    "I get it, De, really. We're just…" I sighed and turned
to face him. "We're just painting the living room, okay? That's what we're
doing."
    Declan looked between the two of us, his eyes falling on Jillian
first. "You're letting her get away with this?"
    "For now," she answered, her tone more confident than it
had been over the past few days.
    We went on this way for an entire wall more until Declan finally
gave up. He leaned against the arm of the sofa and watched us quietly.
    "I still think you should paint something on this wall."
She nodded toward it, her hands on her hips while she looked at it as if
mapping out the placement on a canvas.
    "What'd you have in mind?"
    "I dunno."
    "I'll paint a wall for you in our new place," I said and
she smiled.
    "Your new place?" Declan asked.
    "We're looking at a place in South Dakota," I said.
"Put a bid in."
    "Did you really?" His eyes widened a bit.
"When?"
    "Yesterday."
    "Where in?"
    "Black Hills National Forest area. It's perfect,"
Jillian said, her eyes lighting up a bit. I set the paint roller down and she
approached me, the bounce in her step returning. For the first time in months,
I actually felt myself smile. Not just on my face but on the inside, too.
    "You're serious about this?" Declan stared, his mouth
hanging open a bit.
    "Yeah." I nodded and slipped my arms around Jilly when
she moved to me. She hugged me then leaned back, smiling while she toyed