Heather (Seven Sisters Book 1) Read online

  Heather

  Seven Sisters Book1

  Kirsten Osbourne

  Copyright © 2018 by Kirsten Osbourne

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Kirsten Osbourne

  Prologue

  Heather McClain looked at her sister Jessica as she got to the house where she’d grown up. “Do you have any idea why Dad called us here?” she asked. Her dad was always calling family meetings, usually so he could show off his newest tech gadget, but this time he hadn’t said why they were all expected to be there. But as usual, he’d ordered, and his girls had obeyed.

  “No idea. He’s being closed-mouthed about this. Hopefully he doesn’t just want to show us his newest game he’s programmed for the Atari. I mean, I love video games as much as the next girl, but I don’t need to see another golf simulator and be expected to get excited over it.” Jessica was the second sister in the family of seven McClain daughters.

  “I guess we’re about to find out.” Heather was the eldest, and she had a little house she loved right in the middle of Bagley, Texas. She had planned to spend the night curled up in front of the television watching The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Saturday nights were the only nights when she took time away from her busy life to vegetate in front of the TV, and she hated that she’d been stopped. Thankfully she’d just gotten a VCR, and she could tape the shows and watch them later. Who knew how long her father would keep them there?

  “How was aerobics this morning?” Jessica asked, looking at her sister out of the side of her eye.

  “Ugh. I swear every woman in the world should not don a leotard simply because it’s an aerobics class. Shorts and a T-shirt work just as well.”

  “You wear a leotard for aerobics class!”

  “I’m the teacher! It’s what I wear when I teach their darling daughters and granddaughters how to dance every day. Why shouldn’t I wear one?”

  “Why shouldn’t they?” Jessica shot back with a grin.

  Heather sighed. Sometimes talking to her sister was like talking to a brick wall. “I’m taping The Love Boat and Fantasy Island if you want to come over and watch them after whatever Dad has planned for us.” She enjoyed watching the shows alone, but she knew her sister hadn’t yet invested in a VCR.

  “Ooh! Count me in! I can’t believe Dad chose a Saturday night. Last time we told him he could never interrupt our Saturday night shows again.”

  “We’ll live.” Heather opened the front door and walked inside without knocking, knowing her mother expected it. “Mom! We’re here!”

  Her mother emerged from the kitchen, a grin on her face. “I was just microwaving some supper. I love how fast my new gadget works!”

  “That’s the next thing I’m buying myself,” Heather said. “I want a microwave.”

  “The new ones aren’t nearly as expensive as the radar ranges were in the seventies.”

  “I’m glad you’re an eighties lady, Mom.” Heather kissed her mother on the cheek. “Why exactly are we here?”

  Her mother sighed. “You know your father. He has some new gadgets you all need to see as soon as possible.”

  “Oh, yay! Is Marti here?” Marti, the youngest sister, went to school in Austin, and she rarely made it home on weekends.

  “She is. Your father said all seven of you needed to be here tonight.” Mom led them into their father’s study, where all of the sisters were waiting for the miraculous unveiling of something.

  Heather went straight to her father, Robert McClain, and kissed his cheek. “Hey, Dad. What is so important?” She knew he wouldn’t answer, but she also knew he loved to be able to hide his secrets. She was showing her love by letting him hide whatever he was doing.

  “I can’t say until everyone is here!” Dad said, his eyes still glued to his brand-new Macintosh.

  Heather looked around her, quickly counting heads. She wanted to make it for her shows if at all possible. She had fifteen minutes. Maybe they’d all pile on the couch in the living room and watch. She touched her own chest, mouthing the names of her sisters as she went through them all. “Heather, Jessica, Gaylynn, Rebekah, Tracy, Candice, Marti.” She shook her head. “We are all here, Dad. All seven of us, and we’re dying to see whatever it is that you want to show us.”

  Dad grinned but shook his head. “We’re doing this my way. You can watch your shows when they repeat.” He looked around at all seven of his daughters, a look of pride on his face. “I have two new gadgets to show you, and there’s another I’ll be getting just as soon as it’s available.”

  Heather and Jessica exchanged a look. They’d been right, but it was no surprise to either of them. “Okay, Dad, I’ll bite. What are the new gadgets?” Heather glanced at her watch, saying a quick prayer that he would hurry, but she knew as well as her sisters did that it was not going to work.

  “Not until I want to tell you. First, I’m going to tell you about what I don’t have yet, but I will soon.” He leaned back in his office chair, a huge grin on his face. He loved when all of his daughters were surrounding him. How could he not feel pride when they were all so beautiful and smart? “You know back in September, a plane was shot down in Soviet airspace, but it was an accident. You see, the Korean plane had never intended to fly into the USSR. They just went off course. Well, the US military has had a technology called Global Positioning Systems for years, and they’ve just opened it up for non-military use. Can you imagine what it would be like if we could just look at a gadget and know where we are? No man would ever have to stop and ask for directions again!”

  “Like any man does!” Heather responded.

  Robert glared at his eldest daughter. “I asked for directions when we got lost on the way to Yellowstone. Remember?”

  “Dad, that was in 1972. More than ten years ago!”

  He shrugged. “I keep a map in the car.” He shook his head. “Stop trying to distract me, Heather! This gadget is going to change our world. I’ve already invested in a company who is working on the first handheld device. I can’t wait!”

  “Me neither,” Jessica said, her face full of enthusiasm. Heather had always been impressed by Jessica’s acting skills.

  “So . . . the second gadget is even more exciting. With as much as you girls love telephones, I’m sure you’re going to be super excited by this!” He held up an object that barely resembled a telephone. It was white, looked solidly made, and had an antenna sticking out of it. “I paid a pretty penny for this beauty, but it’s a cell phone. I can make calls from my car with this thing!”

  Heather looked at her sisters, surprised. “That’s pretty cool!”

  “I know! Let me show you how it works!” He punched buttons on the phone, and the house phone rang. Their mother answered.

  “Hello?”

  “I’m talking to you from a cellular phone.”

  “That’s really nice, Bob.”

  “I want to try!” Marti said, reaching for the phone.

  “No way!” Bob put the phone behind his back to hide it from his phone-hungry youngest child. “It’s a buck for
every two minutes you talk on it.”

  Marti immediately backed away. “I’m a college student. That’s my food budget for a week!”

  Everyone laughed, knowing she was exaggerating. “You should come to my place to eat after this,” Heather offered.

  Marti shook her head. “Nope. I’m staying here because Mom promised to do my laundry.”

  Heather looked at her mother. “You always spoil her. I was doing my own laundry at ten.”

  “And I can do my own laundry!” Marti protested. “But I came home for the weekend, and Mom said she would do it.”

  Heather rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else. What was the point? Marti would always be the spoiled sister. When Jessica looked at Heather, she could read her sister’s mind. They’d always thought the youngest sisters had it too easy.

  The next thing their dad did had them all gawking. He pushed a few buttons on his computer, and they could hear the sounds of dialing. “What are you doing, Dad?” Gaylynn, the third sister, asked. “That sounds like a phone call. How are you doing that?”

  “I’m doing something that is going to change our world! I’m calling into a computer system that will allow me to talk to other people online! Soon, there will be no real mail! It will all be computer mail.”

  Heather shook her head. “I don’t believe it. People will never give up writing letters to each other for typing things on a computer. It just won’t happen.”

  “You mark my words, Heather. In another twenty years, people are going to be paying their bills online! I bet they will rarely talk to each other, because computers will be the favored way to communicate. Our world is changing, and that’s all there is to it!”

  Heather looked at Jessica, and she knew her sister was thinking the same thing she was. “Okay, Dad. Whatever.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a loud clap, sounding like thunder, and the lights went out. Their mother sighed. “It looks like all your gadgets blew a fuse, Bob. I’ll go check the breaker.” She picked up a flashlight they kept on the desk in his office, knowing he would need it. He was constantly making their power go out.

  Heather stood there for a moment, feeling tingling throughout her body. “Does anyone else feel as if they got a little of the power that just went out? Like flung into their bodies?”

  “Were you electrocuted, Heather? Are you all right?” Bob sounded very concerned.

  “I think I’m fine. It wasn’t so much an electrocution as it was a power surge.” She wanted to say that it had the same feeling as when she’d gotten her first kiss, but she knew her dad would not approve. As far as he was concerned, she was thirty-two years old and had never been kissed. She wasn’t going to disillusion him.

  It was then that the lights came back on, and Heather saw that each of her sisters looked as shell-shocked as she felt. Maybe she would wait to watch her shows. “I’m not feeling great. I think I’ll go home.” It was then she noticed that her father had a reddish hue to his skin. It had never been there. When Mom walked back into the room, she had a blue hue. As soon as she walked close to their father, both of their hues blended beautifully, causing them to both look a bit violet. How odd.

  Her mother hugged her. “Yes, go home.”

  Heather looked over at Jessica. “Come over tomorrow night. I’m not up for watching TV tonight.”

  Jessica nodded, looking a bit ill herself. “I’ll be there around seven or so.”

  “Sounds good.” Heather headed for the door, wondering what was going on. She was miserable all of a sudden. A hot bath and her bed were all she needed.

  Chapter One

  Heather finished her third class of the day and quickly mopped her face with a towel. The little ones were keeping her jumping.

  Mrs. Jackson walked over, and Heather wished there was a place to hide. “I think that little Susie should be playing the part of the sugar plum fairy. She’s the best dancer in the class, and you know it as well as I do.”

  Heather bit back a groan. “I’ve assigned the parts as I felt they needed to be assigned. I’m sorry if you’re not pleased.” The truth was, little Susie Jackson was the worst dancer in her four-year-old class. She danced into walls and fell on her butt more often than all the other girls in the class put together. And with a class of four- year-olds, that was truly saying something.

  “There’s a dance studio opening up in Nowhere. I’m sure the teacher there would recognize my daughter’s talent for exactly what it is.”

  “I’m sure she would. If you feel led to take Susie there, I will understand. Maybe I’m just not the right teacher for her.” Heather did her best to keep her face even. She knew that the true problem was that Susie had absolutely no natural talent and would be better off swinging a softball bat, but she couldn’t say that to Mrs. Jackson.

  Mrs. Jackson looked shocked. She was from one of the wealthiest families in Bagley. Of course, Heather was from the wealthiest family in Bagley. Her uncle ran a boys’ ranch outside town, and they had always funded the place with their own money, though people in town rarely realized that. She’d be attending the annual fundraiser on Saturday afternoon. She’d cancelled all her classes and everything.

  “If you don’t want my business, then that’s just what I’ll do!”

  Heather refused to back down. She’d known Angela Jackson since she was Angela Simpson and eating her boogers in kindergarten. “I’ll miss you, Susie. Maybe we’ll see each other around town though.” She leaned down and hugged the little girl, who clung to her. “I hope you like your new teacher.”

  Susie’s eyes filled with tears. “I like your class, Miss Heather.”

  “I like having you in my class, but if your mama wants you to go to the new school in Nowhere, I can’t stop that from happening.” Heather glanced at the clock on her wall. “I have exactly forty-five minutes to eat lunch before my next class is due.” She turned and walked toward her kitchen, knowing it would infuriate Angela but not really caring. She’d never been the other woman’s fan anyway.

  “Come along, Susie!” The door of the dance studio opened and slammed shut.

  Heather sighed. She walked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. There was her grilled chicken salad she’d made for lunch. It had sounded great that morning, but now all she wanted was a taco. Tacos were her comfort food, and she was going to have one!

  There was a small mom and pop place around the corner with the best tacos in Bagley. Maybe the best tacos in all of Texas. She shrugged her coat on over her leotard and hurried out the door. She didn’t usually run around in just her leotard and tights, but she had no time to change if she wanted her tacos, and man did she want her tacos.

  As she hurried, she watched people’s hues. For the past seven months, every time she went out in public, she saw the hues of people. She could tell the people who were meant to be together by how their hues blended as they walked toward one another.

  In front of her, for instance, were two perfectly good people, but when they were together, their hues turned black. It was all Heather could do not to tell them to stay far away from each other. She could see that the woman was pregnant, and she knew the fates would not be good to them. Black was always bad when it came to hues blending.

  In front of the taco stand was a man with a hue like no other. The color hovering over him was a pure sky blue. She was drawn to it in a way she’d never been drawn to another. She didn’t talk to him, though, because she had no time. As much as she wanted to get to know him, she knew he wasn’t a local. She knew everyone who lived there in Bagley. Why would she want to start a relationship with a man who wasn’t a local?

  She stood behind him in line, and when he moved out of the way, she placed her order. Two tacos and a bean and meat burrito. And a Dr. Pepper. She knew she shouldn’t have the sugar because she had to teach another three classes that afternoon and two that evening, but it couldn’t matter to her. She needed that Dr. Pepper after her run-in with Angela. The woman ha
d been a thorn in her side ever since kindergarten.

  When she was handed her food, she turned around to see the man staring at her. He looked as flummoxed by her as she felt by him. “I’m Michael Muir,” he said quietly, taking off his cowboy hat and tipping it to her.

  “Heather McClain, but more importantly, I’m late!” Gripping her bag of Tex-Mex fabulousness in one hand and her Dr. Pepper in the other, she hurried toward the dance studio.

  “What are you doing tonight?” Michael asked, obviously hurrying to keep up with her.

  “Teaching dance. It’s what I do every night.”

  “What about Saturday? Do you teach dance on Saturdays?” The man sounded slightly panicked as he tried to pin down a time he could see her again.

  “Usually, but this Saturday, I’ll be at the McClain Boys’ Ranch. There’s a huge fundraiser.”

  “May I escort you?” He stood outside the dance studio, obviously not wanting to go inside.

  Her eyes met his, and she looked away for a moment, catching their reflections together in the plate glass window of her dance studio. His sky blue blended beautifully with her pink. The color was a shade of lavender that had always been a favorite of hers. It was even the color of the leg warmers she was wearing. “Meet me here at noon. You can drive me out there, and we’ll spend the day together.”

  He grinned, tipping his hat. “I’ll see you then, Heather McClain.”

  “And I’ll see you, Michael Muir.” She hurried inside and shut the door in his face. Five minutes to eat. She was going to be miserable all day, either from eating too fast, or not eating. She chose tacos over starvation and shoveled the food in quickly.

  She had just finished the last bite of her burrito when the bell over the door tinkled, letting her know that the first of her afternoon students had arrived. She turned with a smile on her face and shrugged out of her coat. It was time for tap. She preferred ballet, but tap was fun as well.