Sisters

SEVENTEEN




It began to snow around midnight and continued on till morning. When Alex woke up and looked out her window the streets were silent, the tree branches laden, the driveways and curbs adrift in snow. She lay under the covers, still half asleep, thinking how lovely it looked outside her window.

Suddenly Dory appeared in the doorway to her room. She was wearing a down parka over her nightgown and shivering. ‘The power’s out,’ she said.

Alex looked at the clock radio beside her bed. It read four o’clock. She tried to switch on the bedside lamp to no avail. ‘Damn.’

‘No heat, either,’ said Dory.

‘Oh. I guess not,’ said Alex. ‘Not if the power’s out. Sorry.’

Dory shrugged. ‘Not your fault,’ she said. ‘You didn’t make it snow. I’m going downstairs.’

Before Alex could reply, Dory vanished from the doorway. Alex slid down under the covers and relished the warmth. Once she got out from under these covers it would be a struggle to stay warm. There was no telling when the power would be back on. She wasn’t really looking forward to a day in the cold and the dark with Dory.

She closed her eyes and felt the beginning of a headache. She needed to be able to wash her hair before her interview tomorrow. She couldn’t meet Louis Orenstein looking like this. Oh, well, she thought. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Maybe the power is out in Boston as well.

She thought she would try to go back to sleep, and she had nearly succeeded when she smelled something cooking. Bacon. Alex sat up in bed, frowning. Suddenly she heard a voice calling her name. ‘Alex. Breakfast.’

Alex forced herself to get out of bed. She hurried to the closet, threw on several layers of her warmest clothes and headed for the stairs. When she got down to the kitchen, she saw Dory standing at the stove wearing a parka, boots and gloves, and wielding a spatula. Coffee was steeping in the glass push pot, and there was a pile of bacon and pancakes on a plate next to the oven. Dory was busy flipping eggs.

‘Wow,’ said Alex admiringly.

‘Snow day,’ said Dory amiably. ‘We need a good breakfast.’

‘So the range top works,’ said Alex.

Dory pointed the spatula at the piles of food. ‘As you can see.’

‘That’s great. I am hungry.’ She went over to the china closet and took out some plates. She set them down on the kitchen table.

‘I thought we’d eat in the living room by the fireplace,’ said Dory.

‘Oh,’ said Alex, in the mood to be agreeable. ‘OK. That’s a good idea. I’ll go get a fire started.’

‘Already did it,’ said Dory.

Alex’s eyes widened. ‘Really? Wow.’

‘What?’ Dory asked suspiciously.

‘Nothing, I’m just . . . lucky you’re here.’

Dory smiled and flipped an egg.

In truth, it was beyond the scope of the fireplace to heat up the room. If you stood five feet away from it, it was as cold as being outside. But Alex and Dory pulled their chairs near to the hearth and sat huddled with their plates on their laps, eating their breakfast. Alex ate twice what she normally had for breakfast.

‘I guess you liked it,’ said Dory.

‘It’s really good. Were you a girl scout or something?’

Dory shrugged. ‘My dad’s from Colorado – in the mountains. We’d drive out there sometimes to see his family, and one year we camped along the way. My mother and Lauren hated it. Lauren was always worried about her hair and manicure. But I liked it. My dad taught me how to build a fire and all that.’ Alex watched as Dory calmly related a family anecdote and asked herself the question she had asked herself a million times these last few weeks.

Did you kill her?

It seemed unimaginable that this slender, fragile woman who had just cooked her breakfast could have stabbed her own sister to death. She didn’t dare ask the question.

Dory frowned at her. ‘What?’

‘Oh. Just thinking that your camping experience came in handy today,’ said Alex.

Dory nodded and finished her breakfast. Alex took their plates into the kitchen and stopped to pull some extra blankets from the downstairs linen closet on her way back. She handed one to Dory, who was shivering by the fire. Dory put it over herself gratefully. Alex resumed her seat and did the same.

‘Did you ever go camping?’ Dory asked at last.

Alex shook her head. ‘My parents weren’t really . . . outdoorsy. They liked going to museums, restaurants. City stuff.’

Dory nodded and looked thoughtfully at the photo on the mantelpiece. ‘What was my mother like?’ she asked offhandedly.

Alex took a deep breath and thought about her mother. ‘She was . . . a wonderful person. She was very smart. She worked part time as an accountant. But I think what she liked most was just being home with us. She liked being a wife. And a mother. She had an easy laugh. You could tell her anything. She always made me feel . . . appreciated. Loved.’

Dory nodded. ‘She sounds nice.’

‘I wish you’d have known her,’ said Alex, meaning it.

Dory shrugged. ‘Just wasn’t meant to be.’

They were silent for a minute.

‘Do you think you’ll have kids someday?’ Dory asked.

‘I hope so,’ said Alex. ‘I mean, I’d like to get my career going first. And ideally, find the right guy to have kids with. But, yeah. Eventually. What about you?’

‘I don’t really think so,’ Dory said, staring into the fire.

‘You don’t like kids?’ Alex asked.

‘I just don’t think so,’ Dory said in a tone of finality, as if she wanted to close the door on the subject.

Alex nodded and then she shuddered. ‘Man, I hope the power comes back on. I don’t know how we’re going to keep warm all day.’

Dory straightened up and spoke in a no-nonsense tone. ‘We’ll go out and shovel. That will warm us up.’

Alex winced and looked at the icy windowpanes. ‘You want to go outside?’

‘Don’t be a wuss,’ said Dory, standing up. ‘It’ll be good for us.’

They stumbled through the snow to the backyard shed where Alex was able to find two shovels. Then they went out into the driveway and began to dig out.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before they were warmed up, and even though she got a blister on her palm and her back began to ache, Alex kept on shoveling. It was preferable to going back into the freezing house, and there was something undeniably congenial about doing this task with Dory. It almost felt as if they really were sisters.

Alex straightened up and leaned on her shovel. ‘This is kind of fun,’ she said to Dory.

Dory looked up at her. ‘No slacking off,’ she said.

‘Aye, aye, captain,’ said Alex, smiling to herself and resuming her task. They were almost done with the front walk when Alex saw a large figure, bundled up and heading in their direction. Between the man’s knit watch cap and the scarf wound around his neck, Alex saw a pair of black glasses frames. She lifted her hand in greeting. Seth waved back.

When he got closer Alex said, ‘We’re not doing your driveway. Don’t even ask us.’

‘Damn,’ said Seth. ‘How’d you know what I wanted?’

Dory straightened up and smiled shyly at him. ‘Hi, Seth.’

‘Hi, Dory,’ he said. ‘You two did quite a job here.’

‘I had to force her,’ said Dory.

‘It’s true,’ said Alex. ‘It’s just that it was so cold in the house, it seemed like it might be warmer if we got moving. Do you guys have power?’

‘Just came back on ten minutes ago,’ he said.

‘Oh, great,’ said Alex, although she felt vaguely disappointed. It seemed as if the snowy morning without electricity had brought her and Dory closer together. She almost hated to see it end.

‘You better watch it!’ Dory cried. Both of them turned to look at her, and just then a snowball exploded on the shoulder of Seth’s parka.

He gave Dory an exaggerated menacing glare. ‘Oh, you’re in trouble now, little lady,’ he said. Reaching quickly down, he packed a snowball and hurled it at her, grazing her jacket.

Dory let out a whoop and lobbed another at Seth. They exchanged fire for a few moments, and then Seth turned and pelted Alex’s sleeve with a snowball. Alex bent down and quickly packed a snowball to lob back at him.

‘Hey, no fair,’ he cried as the snow turned to powder against his forearm. ‘Two against one.’

‘She’s not on my team,’ said Dory. She aimed at Alex, and the icy orb hit Alex right in the face.

Alex turned on her. ‘Oh, is that the way you’re going to be?’ She threw one at Dory that fell short.

‘That’s right,’ said Dory, an edge in her voice. She hit Alex in the face with another snowball.

‘OK, cut that out,’ said Alex, wiping her face. ‘That hurt.’

‘Stay out of it, then,’ said Dory.

Suddenly there was an uneasy feeling in the air, as if the passing storm had doubled back on the house.

Seth clapped his hands together, knocking off the snow. ‘That’s probably enough for me, anyway,’ he said.

Alex brushed off her coat. ‘Do you want to come in for a warm drink or something?’ she asked.

‘The game’s not over!’ Dory cried. This time the icy snowball hit Alex near her temple.

‘OK, stop, Dory!’ Alex shouted.

‘No!’ Dory cried, pelting her again.

Seth held up his hands. ‘Halt. We surrender.’

‘Alex, you suck at this game,’ Dory said.

‘Girls, girls. I’m on my way down to the store,’ said Seth. ‘I told my dad I’d get him some soup. I’ll get enough for all of us. You two are welcome to come down for lunch.’

Alex hesitated and looked in Dory’s direction. But Dory had jammed her shovel into a snow bank and was wading through the drifts back toward the house.

‘Maybe another time,’ said Alex.

Seth frowned at Dory’s retreating figure. ‘You don’t think she took that seriously, do you?’

Alex shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Honestly.’

Seth hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully. ‘Look, Alex, are you sure this is a good idea, having her living here with you? I know you want to think the best of her and give her the benefit of the doubt, but you don’t know what she’s really like,’ he said.

‘It might not be for much longer, if the DA decides not to refile the charges.’

‘And if he does? You could be looking at a year or more.’

‘If she doesn’t stay here, she goes back to prison,’ said Alex. ‘I’m not going to do that to her. Not over some stupid snowball fight.’

‘Just because something’s stupid doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous,’ he said grimly.

Alex looked back at the house, which looked beautiful and inviting, banked with snow. Dory had disappeared inside. ‘I’m trying to be patient,’ she said. ‘We just need to get . . . used to one another.’

Seth kicked into a mound of snow with the toe of his boot. ‘Who are you trying to convince?’ he asked. ‘Me or yourself?’