Nic (2 page)

The question surprised Mindy. She thought for sure Izzy would’ve told her best friend where she was going. But one look at Celina’s face made it clear that she hadn’t. Weird. Should she tell her? She couldn’t see any harm in letting her know.

“Apparently, the winds gave my sister directions to New Orleans.” She laughed.

Celina gasped.

“What is it?” Mindy asked.

“Nothing,” Celina said.

“Tell me.”

“I just always wanted to go there. Izzy and I talked about it a lot. She said we’d run away there one day.” Celina grew quiet. “Guess that won’t be happening now. She’ll fit right in down there.”

That was what worried Mindy. What if Izzy didn’t come back? What if there was no room in her ‘new’ life for her sister?

“I hope she’s okay,” Mindy said.

“You need to stop worrying about her,” Celina said. There was sternness in her voice that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

She was right, but the saying about old habits dying hard was true. “It’s what sisters do,” Mindy said quietly. She was surprised Celina wasn’t more concerned given how much she knew about Izzy, but maybe she was in shock about New Orleans.

“I know you love her, but your sister is a flake. You have to live your own life now,” Celina said. “It’s past time Izzy learns to stand on her own two feet.”

Mindy didn’t want to think about Izzy anymore. It would mean examining her own sorry life. “So what’s on the agenda tonight?” she asked.

“I thought we’d go for a Ryan double feature.” Celina reached into her purse and pulled out two DVDs. “Dibs on Gosling.”

“Man,” Mindy said. “That’s not fair.”

Celina laughed.  “Like settling for Reynolds is such a hardship.”

Mindy glanced at her and smiled. “True. I wouldn’t exactly kick him out of my bed.”

“No woman with a brain in her head would.”

Lights faded away as they drove out of town and made a right onto a back road that would eventually lead to Mindy’s home.

Thick woods on both sides of the road swallowed what little light came from the headlights. Mindy cranked the radio and pressed on the accelerator. The miles rolled by.

Celina was doing her best pop princess impersonation when Mindy spotted the entrance to a long drive.

“Hey.” She nudged Celina. “Is that the road you take to get to that club you’re always talking about? Pits or something.”

Celina stopped singing and looked out the window. “Yeah, that’s it,” she said reluctantly. “The place is called Sticks.” She crossed her arms over her chest and sank down in her seat. “Izzy never really liked it. She said the place made her feel uncomfortable. She only went there a few times.”

“Really?” Mindy asked. “I was always under the impression that Izzy liked it. Well, as much as she liked anyplace.”

“No!” Celina said. “The only time she ever wanted to go there was when she had the urge to dance.”

Dancing was one of the few passions she and her sister shared these days, but they rarely indulged in the activity at the same time.

“Can’t believe that I’ve driven by the entrance so many times and never noticed it before,” Mindy said. “For some reason, I could’ve sworn that you and Izzy told me it was on the east side.” She was positive they had.

Celina laughed off her comment, then shifted in her seat. “You aren’t exactly Ms. Observant,” she remarked.

It was common knowledge around the animal clinic that Mindy was driven and focused, but only on work and school. What little time remained had gone toward caring for Izzy and protecting her.

Mindy stared at the entrance through her side mirror until it faded into the night. “Now that I know where it is I’ll have to go,” she said.

Celina cleared her throat and picked at the edge of the pizza box. “I’m not sure Sticks is your kind of place.” She stared out the window as she spoke.

Mindy frowned. “What do you mean? You said it was fun. You told me there were tons of good-looking men. I know you’ve been going there just about every weekend with your friend Erin. Izzy went with you last week.” She took a breath. “In fact, you’ve gone there with everyone but me.”

“Isabel didn’t have a good time,” Celina said softly. “She hated it so much that she made me promise not to take you there.”

Why would her sister do that? Mindy vaguely remembered Izzy coming home freaked out, but since that wasn’t unusual, she hadn’t been concerned at the time. Now she was.

Though she’d never shown it, Mindy’s feelings had been hurt that Celina had never invited her to go with them to the bar. Had she asked, Mindy may have very well declined the invitation, but Celina had never bothered.

“Why would Izzy ask you to make that promise?”

“Why does Izzy say or do anything?” Celina asked, smoothly deflecting the question. “To find out the answer, you’d have to ask your sister.”

They both knew that would never happen.

“Did anything unusual happen the last night you guys were there?” Mindy asked.

Celina readjusted the pizza box on her lap. “Not that I recall. It was a blast like always.”

“Then I don’t get why you and Izzy think I should avoid it,” Mindy said.

“I can’t speak for your crazy sister,” Celina said. “But knowing you and knowing Sticks the way I do, I can honestly tell you it’s not your type of place.”

Why is Sticks great for Celina, but not for me?

Appearance-wise, they were polar opposites. Celina was tall, had long, dark hair, sun-kissed skin, a stunning face, and a trim figure that models would kill for.

Mindy had learned to live with being vertically challenged. Her curvy body was made for a different era—an era that didn’t give side-eye to a woman who enjoyed eating a whole sandwich and a side of chips.

“Don’t think you’re going to get away with that answer without explaining yourself,” Mindy said.

“You know what I mean,” Celina said.

Mindy shook her head. “No, I don’t. What exactly is
my
type of place?” She immediately pictured a library and rolled her eyes. How long had Celina and her sister been conspiring behind her back? It made her angry that between them they’d decided what was and wasn’t good for her. How dare they after everything she’d done! She was the poster child for responsible behavior.

Celina’s face pinched.

“Spill it!” Mindy wasn’t about to let her off the hook.

Celina sighed. “You’re more of a coffee bar kind of girl. Sticks is wild. Most nights it’s a free-for-all.”

Mindy’s heart sank. “Are you saying I’m not any fun?” Celina wouldn’t be the first one of her friends to imply she didn’t know how to have a good time. Being her sister’s keeper had left little time for a social life. The added responsibility had cost Mindy a lot of friendships over the years.

There were times, though—in the dead of night—that Mindy wondered if her sacrifice had been worth it. Wondered what would’ve happened if, just once, she had shrugged off her responsibilities and kicked up her heels.

Celina’s brown eyes widened. “I didn’t say you weren’t fun,” she insisted.

“No, you implied it.” Mindy frowned as childhood taunts of “Monotonous Mindy” echoed in her head. She wasn’t monotonous. Not anymore. She could have fun. There was no one to hold her back now. Tears unexpectedly made her eyes burn. She blinked them away before Celina noticed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Celina said. “It’s just that Sticks isn’t your typical bar. It’s really rowdy. Fights are common. Most of the guys that go there are...
different
. You’re used to hipsters, not the kind of chest-beating, blue-collar he-men that frequent Sticks.”

Mindy glowered. “I like he-men. I just haven’t met many in real life.” Try never.

She wasn’t lying about being attracted to those types of guys. Or
any
type of guy, for that matter. It had been a long time since Mindy had dated. Her dry spell now resembled the Mohave. She was willing to try anything at this point.

“And I enjoy going to wild places on occasion,” she said.

Celina snorted. “Name one wild place you’ve gone to. Seriously, just one. Before you answer, I want the dates, too, because I can’t remember the last time you went to a rowdy bar,” she said. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve planned your ‘impulsive’ moments.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is,” Celina said.

Heat spread up Mindy’s neck and into her face. She took her eyes off the road. “Perhaps if you’d invited me to go along with you just once, we wouldn’t be having this argument.” Her voice cracked.

Celina patted her arm. “I told you that Izzy didn’t want me to. She made me promise.”

“Well, Izzy isn’t here anymore. This isn’t about her. This is
my
life we’re talking about, not my sister’s,” Mindy grumbled.

Maybe Celina and Izzy were right. Maybe she wasn’t any fun. Maybe her sister had inherited all the fun genes in the family. That would explain why Celina always took her other friends to Sticks and left her at home.

Celina glanced out the windshield and slammed her hands against the dashboard. “Mindy, look out!”

* * * * *

They were going to die! And it was all because she didn’t get invited to a bar. The black mass lying halfway in her lane grew larger and larger as she bore down upon it.

Mindy screamed and jerked the wheel to the right, missing the object by inches. Her tires screeched and her heart did its best to crack her ribs. She hit the brakes and the car skidded dangerously before coming to a stop in the center of the road.

She pressed a hand to her chest and looked in her rearview mirror to make sure no one was behind them. Darkness met her.

“What was that?” Mindy asked. She hadn’t gotten a good look at it. She’d been too busy trying not to hit it.

“Not sure. A bear, maybe?” Celina slowly released the dash. “That was close.” She looked over her shoulder. “Turn around so your headlights illuminate it. I want to get another look at it.”

With shaky hands, Mindy managed a three-point turn. The massive animal came into view. “I think you’re right about it being a bear.” Nothing else outside the zoo could be that large. She couldn’t see the beast’s face, but its crumpled body was almost as tall as the hood of her compact car.

“No, it’s the wrong shape.” Celina squinted. “We need to get more light on it.”

Mindy hit her high beams, illuminating the road and more of the animal.

They both gasped.

Whatever it was, it was massive. Really massive. “It has to be a bear. A grizzly from the size of it. There’s nothing else in the wild around here that big,” Mindy said.

“Buffalos are,” Celina said.

“That isn’t a buffalo,” Mindy said.

“I know,” Celina said. “Only one way to find out for sure.”

Mindy squinted at the animal through her bug-stained windshield. “Do you think it’s dead? It looks dead.”

“Yeah,” Celina said. “I think it’s dead. We need to get it off the road.”

Mindy glanced at her. “Have you been lifting weights without telling me? There’s no way we’re going to be able to move it, unless we cut it up.”

Celina scrunched her nose. “Ew! I’m not cutting anything up. If need be, we’ll hook your tow chain around it and pull it off the road. If we leave it there, someone’s going to hit it and total their car.”

“Looks like it’s already been hit.” Mindy checked the deserted road to see if there was a car lying in the ditch. “I don’t see any wreckage.” She also didn’t spot any broken glass. “Maybe someone shot it.”

Celina paled. “Let’s hope not,” she said. “That wouldn’t be good for anyone involved.”

It might not be good, but it was common for the area. Mindy pulled over to the side of the road and parked. She flipped on her hazards and kept her headlights trained on the animal.

Celina unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Mindy walked to her trunk and popped it open, then grabbed two pairs of latex gloves. She pulled a pair on, then handed the other set to Celina.

“I don’t see a lot of blood.” Celina moved closer to examine the animal. “Holy crap! It’s still breathing.”

The news startled Mindy. She’d thought for sure the animal was dead. “Get away from it,” she said. “It might attack out of fear and pain.”

Celina glowered at her. “I’ve been working at the animal clinic longer than you have. I may not be a veterinary student, but I know what I’m doing.”

Mindy sighed. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

School was a sore subject for Celina. She’d had to go to work to help support her parents and had never managed to finish high school. After they died, she’d eventually gotten her GED, but the achievement had done little to ease her insecurities.

Mindy had encouraged her to continue her education, but Celina had balked. She’d claimed that if Izzy didn’t need a degree, then neither did she.

As excuses went, it was pretty sad. But not nearly as sad as the real reason Celina had no interest in going back to school.

The real reason she hadn’t bothered to better her life was because Celina was waiting for a knight in shining armor to come and sweep her off her feet. It was a fantasy she clung to and it was just as real to her as monsters were to Izzy. Celina wanted that knight more than anything and wouldn’t settle for less.

Years of looking after Izzy had taught Mindy that you couldn’t change someone, especially once they’d made up their minds.

“I’m going to move in closer to see if it has any other obvious injuries,” Celina said.

“Are you sure it’s alive?” Mindy couldn’t see any movement. Maybe what Celina had witnessed was the body settling after death.

“I just saw its chest rise again,” Celina said. “I’m pretty sure that means it’s alive.”

Mindy took a deep breath. She wanted to point out that she was the one with the medical training, but didn’t want to upset Celina any more than she already had. “Is it a bear?”

“No,” Celina said. “It’s canine.”

“That’s not possible,” Mindy said. “It’s too large.”

Celina tore her gaze away. “Pretty sure the animal in the road is definitive proof that you’re wrong.”