Smart Girls Think Twice Read Online Free PDF Page B

pregnant,” Emma replied.
    “I was upset. In shock. What mother wouldn’t be?” Maxie took a moment to compose herself. “So it’s Sue Ellen, right? That’s why she tossed her cookies.”
    Emma avoided her mom’s eagle eye. She certainly didn’t want to be accused of revealing secrets because she blinked at the wrong time or something. She already felt guilty that her mom had overheard them all talking.
    Maxie stomped her foot, a sure sign she was losing her patience and her temper. “Who’s pregnant?”
    “We both are,” Leena said.
    “ What? ” Emma’s mouth dropped open. So did Maxine’s and Sue Ellen’s.
    Sue Ellen recovered first to say, “You can’t be pregnant. I’m pregnant.”
    Leena shrugged. “You haven’t cornered the market on being pregnant.”
    Sue Ellen pointed an accusatory finger at Leena. “You’re only doing this because I’m pregnant and you have to do everything I do!”
    “Hardly,” Leena retorted.
    Emma edged closer to her suitcases once again. Her sisters and mom were the drama queens.
    Emma liked things calm and orderly. “I, um, think I’ll let you three work things out.”
    “What, you’re not part of this family now that we’re pregnant?” Sue Ellen said. “Nice to know where your loyalties lie.”
    Emma resented that accusation. “Hey, I’m wearing that Pepto-Bismol pink bridesmaid’s dress with the dumb-looking butt bow and stupid puffy sleeves to your wedding. I think that proves my loyalty.”
    Leena nodded her agreement. “My bridesmaids’ dresses are much better than Sue Ellen’s.”
    “See, that’s what I mean.” Sue Ellen glared at Leena. “This is just a competition to you.
    The weddings, having a baby. All a competition.”
    “Hey, I’ve had my wedding date set for ages,” Leena said.
    “Yeah, well my proposal was more romantic than yours,” Sue Ellen retorted. “And Donny makes more money than Cole the veterinarian does. Smiley’s Septic Service is a gold mine.”
    “You know the concept of sibling competition is an interesting one,” Emma began, hoping to stave off any further escalation in their argument. “So is the part that birth order plays in character development . . .”
    Her attempt at playing peacemaker was not greeted with appreciation. Instead both her sisters turned to her and shouted, “Shut up!”
    “You shut up,” Emma shot back. “I can be as messed up as you both are.”
    “Are you going to tell me that you’re pregnant too, Emma?” Sue Ellen demanded.
    “No, but—”
    “Having a baby trumps everything else,” Sue Ellen stated.
    No surprise there. Her sisters had always demanded their place in the spotlight, leaving Emma standing on the sidelines. A mixed metaphor maybe, but an apt one. Their crisis du jour had always been more dramatic than anything Emma could come up with.
    Not that Emma was vying for that kind of attention. She wasn’t. She never had. Even as a kid, she’d always been the observer. The one quietly in the corner with her head in a book, off in another world.
    Her mom patted her shoulder. “Ignore them, honey. They’re just jealous that you are an important professor.”
    “Your daughters tell you they’re pregnant and all you do is think of Emma.” Sue Ellen’s voice held more than a tinge of bitterness. “Figures. No surprise there.”
    Maxie turned to her oldest daughter. “Now what are you talking about?”
    “The fact that Emma has always been your favorite.”
    “She’s a good girl.” Maxie gave Emma another approving pat on the shoulder.
    We’re all good girls , Emma wanted to say but somehow couldn’t. She wasn’t sure her older sisters would appreciate her attempt to stick up for them. Maybe they didn’t want to be good. Maybe they liked being nonconformists.
    Emma’s uncertainty underlined the fact that she didn’t know her sisters all that well anymore.
    She’d always felt closer to Leena, who was only two years older. But now . . . Emma didn’t know