“I thought Mom had stopped gambling. I’m assuming that’s where you took her?” As soon as Olivia said the words, she knew she shouldn’t have, because that was another point of contention between the two sisters. Their mother had visited casinos off and on for years, and her “sometimes” addiction had nearly caused her and Neve to lose the house their family had once owned free and clear; not to mention, credit card debt had crippled them both for many years. Olivia had eventually stepped in and helped them script a plan to keep the house and hold the creditors at bay, but it was a monthly struggle that usually resulted in Olivia giving them money to stay afloat. Olivia did so with the understanding that her mother stay away from casinos.

“I know what you’re going to say. Look, Shirley paid for the room, and Mom said she wasn’t going to gamble—just hang with her friends. I took the credit cards. She has only fifty dollars to spend on food.”

Olivia wanted to rail against her sister for even letting their mother consider a trip to the casino but bit her tongue. She’d talked to Neve about setting boundaries for their mother, and her sister had at the very least done that when she took away the credit card. Both she and Neve had agreed that their mother had to make her own decisions and own her own mistakes but that neither of them would be at financial risk again. “Well, that was a good move at least.”

“I know you’re against it, but those are her friends, and it’s hard to sit on her 24-7. It’s not my job to be her jailer.”

“No, it’s not your job. I appreciate you limiting her as much as you could. We’ll hope that she can stay away, though I find that unlikely.”

Olivia sank onto the couch and watched Chase through the hazy glass. The actress stood on the porch, listening to Zeke tell her something. He used big motions with his hands, and Chase looked intrigued. Her earlier defensive action was both alarming and productive. Chase had actually showed empathy by closing the door on Neve’s hurtful comment, but Olivia was worried about her client’s potential attraction to Zeke. She’d seen that spark of interest in Chase’s eyes. Distractions like their hunky neighbor could be counterproductive for someone who needed to self-examine and enact change in her life.

Olivia looked back at her sister. Neve had sunk down in the harvest-gold tweed lounger with a little poof of dust, released into the late-afternoon sunlight streaming into the cabin.

Olivia decided to try again. “So are you still seeing the ER nurse? Um, Daniel, right?”

Neve shrugged. “We hang out every now and then.”

“What about Scott?”