When I had gathered myself, I wiped my face on my sleeve and made my way into Sarah's house. As I unlocked the door I wondered if I would always think of it as "Sarah's House" or would I come to think of it as Paige's house.
I could hear a voice leaving a message as I walked through the door. By the time I got to the phone all I heard was, "...so my plane lands at just after noon tomorrow. I'll catch a cab and I'll see you about 1:30 or 2:00 o'clock. Stay strong, Paige, my dear. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." It was a voice that I had dreaded to hear, although I knew it was inevitable. It was the voice of Sarah's sister, Elizabeth.
I knew that Elizabeth would be coming and I hadn't been looking forward to it, at all. Of all the unpleasant tasks I faced in those days, dealing with Elizabeth promised to be the most uncomfortable.
Elizabeth never cared much for me and I was never fond of her. She was disappointed that Sarah had married Carl. She felt that Sarah could have done better.
Elizabeth never liked me at all. I was never sure exactly why. I supposed it was a number of things. I never knew just how much she knew about my fealings for Sarah. Carl was always aware of my feelings, but just accepted it. There had been some competition, but he knew he had won. He accepted it and I accepted it and we didn't mention it. Elizabeth sensed it and it bothered her. She really didn't like either of us, and me least of all.
After Carl's passing, her awareness of my feelings for Sarah really seamed to trouble her. She did everything in her power to stand between me and Sarah and Paige. Fortunately she lived in California and she had little impact on our lives.
Sarah and Elizabeth couldn't have been more different, as sisters go. As I have mentioned, Sarah was petite and light complected, with sandy-blonde hair. Sarah was as sweet a girl as you would ever want to meet. Sarah always had a kind word for every won she encountered.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, took after her father's side of her family. That is to say that she was taller, darker and more robust. Elizabeth was more of a take-charge type of personality. Even though Elizabeth was Sarah's younger sister, she was the more dominate personality and was much more assertive.
Paige was never fond of Elizabeth either. She liked to refer to her aunt as "Lizard Breath". I poured myself a strong drink and settled on the couch and stared at the muted TV screen in the dark as I thought about Sarah and how much I had loved her. I had another drink, and another, and another.