Linny's Sweet Dream List by Susan Schild Page B

ideas fly, she could sort them out later. Holding the pen to the page, she waited . . . and waited. No other ideas were flying. Roy scrambled up, tight-rope walking up her legs, and lay down on the notebook on her stomach with a contented sigh. Scratching his ears, Linny felt herself relax, and promptly fell asleep.
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    Saturday afternoon, Kate slid a casserole dish onto the kitchen counter and raised an eyebrow. “You’re wearing that? You look like Ms. Corporate-Uptight.”
    â€œWhat?” Linny glanced down at her outfit. She’d spent a good twenty minutes in front of the closet before she’d made this choice. Throwing up her hands, she grumbled, “I don’t have any clothes.” What she didn’t say was that she was scared as a rabbit about the potluck.
    â€œLet’s go take a look.” Kate sailed toward the bedroom.
    Linny snagged an apple from a bowl on the table and followed her, taking in her sister’s artlessly ruffled hair, and vintage cotton sundress. Audrey Hepburn gone country. Lounging on the bed, she munched the apple as she watched her sister fold open the crooked closet door.
    Kate held out her hands, palms up. “Why are all your clothes so neutral? You need color.” She held up a taupe jacket, examined it, and looked at Linny appraisingly. “You’re not beige. You are more of a peach, plum, brandy, cherry red . . .”
    â€œA fruitcake?” Linny offered helpfully, holding up her apple.
    â€œLet’s find a fun outfit for tonight, Miss Fruitcake.” Kate’s tone was firm. “Also, let’s get rid of any frumpy, neutral clothes, and only keep what flatters you.”
    Linny stood, tossed her apple core in the trash, and felt a buzz of energy. “Out with the old, in with the new?”
    â€œExactly,” Kate agreed. “Be ruthless. I’ll start here, and you start at that end.”
    For the next half hour, the two pulled clothes from the hangers, and dropped them onto the thrift shop pile. Linny enthusiastically tossed in the perennially wrinkled linen dress, the boxy jackets, and the Oxford cloth blouses that Kate said looked like a man’s shirts.
    â€œLet’s look at accessories, too,” Kate suggested, as her cell rang. “Hi, baby.” She sank down on the bed and listened, her eyes narrowing. “So, you’re going to be late for your own staff supper?”
    Linny slid onto the bed and, chin in hand, listened unabashedly.
    Her sister’s eyes were fiery. “I’ve heard this all before. Just get home as soon as you can, and we’ll talk about it later. Okay. Goodbye.” She ended the call with a little stab of her finger. “Yikes,” Linny said mildly. Kate was usually unflappable.
    â€œIf Roy had a doghouse, Jerry would have to borrow it,” Kate glowered. “He’s been working late and has to go in most weekends trying to keep up, but he still worries business will dry up if he turns down a single job.”
    Linny felt a flash of sympathetic kinship toward Jerry. “It’s hard to say no.”
    Her sister grimaced. “He’s forty pounds overweight with a family history of Type 2 diabetes. He eats terribly, doesn’t exercise and he’s stressed out. If he dies young, I’ll . . . I’ll . . . ,” she spluttered.
    She finished for her sister. “. . . kill him. We could be the Black Widow sisters.”
    Kate just shook her head. “That man . . .”
    She shot her sister a knowing look, and grinned “. . . is the best thing that ever happened to you.”
    â€œI know.” Her expression was dark, but she gave a hint of a smile.
    â€œLet’s finish up. Apparently, I’m hosting a staff cookout by myself in a few hours.”
    Despite the skirmish, Linny knew Kate and Jerry always got past their fights and seemed stronger for it. They were an unlikely pair— his mountain man build and her