“You’re twins.” He put two fingers together. “You should be this close.”
“We’re sisters.” She made a wide vee with her fingers. “Sometimes we’re this close.” Then she relented. “We’re close. I shouldn’t say we’re not. But we do compete with each other.”
“I don’t see you doing it.”
Savannah thought of the feelings of inadequacy that still hit her at times. When she was with Jared, his attentiveness banished them. Still they lingered. “I do it, just in different ways from Susan.”
“She thinks you’re much smarter than she is.”
“That’s the myth, I suppose. Who knows how smart Susan is? She’s never given herself much of a push. Are you going to give her a push, Sammy?”
“Me? I’m not out to push her anywhere.”
“What are you out to do?”
He thought about that for a minute, then said quietly, “Make her happy. Make me happy.”
It was sweet how he’d put it, she thought. If he could do what he wanted, she’d be happy for them both. “What about the drinking?” she asked, anxious for his opinion. “Do you think it’s a serious problem?”
“I wouldn’t call Susan a full-fledged alcoholic, if that’s what you mean. Drinking isn’t the be-all and end-all of her life. When she’s busy, she doesn’t think of doing it. It’s when she’s bored or angry or alone that she hits the bottle.”
“You can’t be with her all the time.”
“No. But maybe I can give her a purpose.”
“Like…”
He grinned. “Making me happy. What would you say if I tried to domesticate her?”
Slipping her hand under the straps of her briefcase, Savannah stood. “I’d say you were nuts. I thought you weren’t out to reform her.”
“I’m not. But if she choose to stay home planning dinner—”
“—and then you don’t make it home because you’re sent on an emergency assignment, what’s she going to do?” She fingered her briefcase before looking back at Sam. “I love you, Sammy. You know that. And I love Susan, and there’s nothing I’d like better than to see the two of you together, but if you’re serious about it, that’s something to be considered. I could cope with the absences because I have my work, but unless Susan has something, what’s she going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll have to find her something.”
“She’ll have to find herself something. There are things she can do, but the effort has to come from her if it’s going to work. She hasn’t reached the point of wanting to try.”
“Then I’ll have to get her to that point.”
“How’re you going to do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’ve tried. It hasn’t worked.”
“SoI’lltry.”
“And if it still doesn’t work?”
“Idon’t know.Damn it, Savvy, why are you so down when it comes to Susan?”
“I’m not down,” Savannah said quickly, then meekly asked, “Am I down?”
“You don’t think she can pull herself out of the hole she’s in.”
“Of course, I do—”
