“I made a house call this morning,” she said as she set the dish on the table, right where Ryan had?—
Nope. Nope. Nope.I was not thinking about what Ryan and I did on that table while my mother was in the room.
“Oh really?” I said, trying to get my bearings and swat that memory out of my mind.
“There’s a lady who’s had me doing her hair for ages. She can’t leave her house to get to the salon, so I go do her wash and set at her house once a week. She’s a riot. Can’t get around much, but her mind is sharp as ever.”
“I bet she has lots of good stories,” I said as I dumped the cutting board into the sink and washed my hands.
Ryan and I hadn’t prepared anything fancy—just burgers, baked beans, chips, fruit and veggies, and chocolate chip cookies since we had finally figured out the recipe.
The grill sizzled as Ryan dropped patties onto the grates, making my stomach growl. “We should be ready to eat in a minute,” I said.
“Anything I can help with?” Mom asked.
I handed her the plate of raw onions. “Mind taking those out to Ryan so he can grill them?”
While she slipped outside, I racked my brain for anything to say to Amber that wouldn’t earn me a sneer or derisive huff. Surprisingly, she beat me to it.
“It looks different in here,” she clipped with a smack of her gum.
“Yeah. Bev said the last renters trashed the place.” I sighed. “They had to re-do a lot of it. The second bedroom still isn’t done.”
“Lookswaybetter,” she sneered.
And there it was. Everyone always said sisters were mortal enemies growing up and best friends as adults. Amber and I had been thick as thieves when we were younger. But somewhere around our teenage years and early twenties, something had changed.
Thankfully, Ryan and Mom came back inside, laughing as they chatted away.
He gave me a peck on the cheek as he added the plate of burger patties and grilled onions to the spread.
I wasn’t surprised that they had immediately fallen into a conversation. Ryan could get to know a piece of drywall and make it believe it was the most important thing in the world.
He made me feel like the most important thing in his world.
“Fill me in,” Ryan said, pointing to the Watergate salad as we descended on the food to load up our plates. “What is that?”
“Taste it before you judge it,” I clipped. “It’s my favorite. And I would choose that entire bowl over you.”
Ryan put a respectful helping on his plate, though I did clock the way he shuffled away the rest of his food so it didn’t touch the pale green fluff.
“It’s pistachio pudding, crushed pineapple, Cool Whip, and marshmallows,” Mom said. “Some folks put nuts or maraschino cherries in theirs, but Autumn likes it plain.”
“It’s better with cherries,” Amber clipped.
“Do we have some cherries in the fridge still?” I asked Ryan before turning back to Amber. “We made old fashioneds the other night. I think we might have some if you want to put them in yours.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Yeah. I think there were a few left,” Ryan said, offering Amber a smile.
She just huffed and plopped down at the table, picking at her burger. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not eating it anyway.”
My mom cut her eyes from Amber to Ryan to me, but quickly looked down at her plate.
“I’m almost done with the book I’m writing,” I said to break the silence.
Amber stuck her tongue out. “Who even reads anymore? Books are so, like, old.”
