Her Sister's Shoes by Ashley Farley

figure out how to get all their stuff in your hot-rod man car.” But she’d eventually given in when she pictured the boys cramming their six-foot bodies in the compact backseat of their father’s convertible.
    Jackie poured herself a third cup of coffee—she usually had only one—and took it outside on the porch. Was this what her life had become? Sitting around drinking coffee all day. Mimi had slowly reduced Jackie’s workload at Motte Interiors until the only project she had left was the Sweeney makeover.
    When Jackie had presented the Sweeney venture to her, Mimi glared over her tortoiseshell readers. “Commercial decorating isn’t really our style, dear. Taking on this project will make the company appear desperate.”
    In all the years Jackie had worked for her, Mimi had never tried to hide her distaste for their family business. Commoners were beneath her social status, and retail merchants who peddled a product as smelly as seafood sat on the bottom rung.
    “We are talking easy money, Mimi,” Jackie had argued. “Sam already knows what she wants. All we have to do is execute her plan.”
    Mimi had reluctantly agreed to let Jackie continue with the Sweeney’s venture, but she’d never inquired about their progress or asked to see the designs, and she’d excluded Jackie from staff meetings and planning sessions on all their other projects.
    She could take a hint. Time for her to find a new job.
    Bill’s words echoed in her mind. Take a chance on something new, maybe a new career, or even the same career but with a boss who appreciates you.
    Jackie had landed some big accounts for Motte Interiors over the years, clients that were still loyal to her for all their decorating needs.
    “I’ll take my clients and start my own firm. What do you think about that?” she called out to the blue heron ambling near the edge of the water.
    The heron craned its long neck to get a good look at her before flying off.
    Jackie’s body slumped. Maybe she should take up golf.
    She slammed her coffee mug down on the railing, suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. She would focus her attention on the boys, make up for all the extracurricular activities and sporting events she missed out on while she was working. Might as well make the most of these last two years before the twins left for college. If she hired a housekeeping service to do the basic cleaning, she could take over the shopping and cooking herself. After all, she had a folder full of recipes she’d been dying to try. She imagined a pot of chili, a fire crackling in the fireplace, yellow ginkgo leaves blowing across the front walk where a row of carved jack-o-lanterns waited to welcome the boys home from football practice.
    Who was she kidding? The boys wouldn’t notice if she painted the walls of the living room black. And they hated it when she tried out new recipes. They shoveled food in their mouths so fast they hardly tasted it.
    She would simply have to find a better use of her time.
    Jackie glanced down at her new floral sundress. She’d taken extra care with her appearance that morning in the hopes that Julia would invite her to lunch to celebrate her birthday and apologize for not showing up for her party on Wednesday night. But it was already close to noon and her cell phone remained silent.
    She contemplated changing into her bathing suit, grabbing the new Dot Frank novel she’d picked up from the bookstore, and going down to the dock for an afternoon of sunning. Then she remembered the hours she spent at the dermatologist’s office, reversing the damage she’d done to her skin in her youth.
    She should support her family and attend the market’s reopening. She needed to check on her mother, anyway, to find out how she’d been feeling since she got out of the hospital two days ago. But she lacked the energy to spar with Sam or answer Lovie’s relentless questions.
    No children, no husband, no housekeeper, no best friend. Alone. All dressed up