“Head in the game, girls,” he repeated. He sent Patti a wink and she shook her head. Then he was gone.
Marna and Ginger made no noise, but they slumped with relief at his absence. I plopped down on the couch with them. My heart hummed and throbbed at the thought of California.
Ginger glanced toward Patti in the kitchen, then whispered to me, “Your mum actually likes Kai?”
“Yeah. She loves him.”
This seemed to surprise Ginger. She stared at Patti with wonder in her eyes.
When I looked at Marna, she wore a pinched expression as she stared at the carpet. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
Without looking up she cleared her throat and paused. “Nothing.” She gave me an award-winning smile.
“Well, I don’t know about you girls,” Patti called out, “but I’m starving. You wanna help me throw everything together before I go check on the chicken?”
The twins shared uncertain expressions.
“Sure, we’ll help,” I answered for them. “What do you need us to do?”
“All right, how about you and Marna make the salad, and Ginger can help me bake this cake.”
Their eyes filled with horror.
“You mean like chopping things?” Marna whispered.
“Yeah. It’s not hard. We’ll do it together.” At my prompting they stood but made no move toward the kitchen with me.
“I’m not sure you ought to trust me with a knife,” Marna said.
“Or me with baked goods,” Ginger added. I’d never seen her so unsure of herself. If it were just me making the request, she’d tell me to go screw myself, but neither girl seemed to know how to act around Patti. They fidgeted and glanced at the kitchen.
Patti came over and took Ginger by the arm.
“You’ll both be fine,” Patti insisted. “It’ll be fun!”
The seriousness of the twins in the kitchen was comical. They took each step of their jobs with slow, attentive detail, checking and double-checking the measurements while Patti ran out to flip the chicken. Somewhere halfway through, the girls loosened up and we started chatting. Patti put Ginger at ease in a way I’d never seen her. At one point we were all laughing and I realized I’d never seen Ginger laugh in a carefree way, only the mean kind of amusement brought on at someone else’s expense. Usually mine. Ginger caught me looking and straightened, smile disappearing. Patti watched with her keen, wise eyes. She wasn’t missing the significance of any gesture here.
When she returned from getting the chicken off the grill, Ginger said, “Oh, that smells divine, Miss Patti.”
Who was this complimenting girl? Patti smiled and thanked her.
Ginger was so proud of the cake when it was finished that she took several pictures of it with her phone. She even wanted a picture of her and Patti holding the cake together, which nearly made Patti burst with motherly affection. I couldn’t even manage to feel jealous as Patti heaped nurture on Ginger. It was so sweet it made my eyes sting. Marna kept sending fond glances at her sister.
“I did that part right there all by myself,” Ginger said to Marna, pointing to the frosting trim. “Brilliant, isn’t it?”
“Bang-up job, Gin.” Marna squeezed her sister around the shoulder.
The four of us had a surprisingly wonderful time together. And through it all, my skin buzzed every time I thought about the upcoming trip to California.
I was sad when it was time for the twins to leave. I walked them out to their rental car after they received big hugs from Patti.
As we stood on the sidewalk, Ginger poked her sister in the shoulder. “You need to tell her.”
The scathing look Marna shot Ginger was something I’d never seen from her. The fluttery feelings I’d been experiencing during dinner quickly turned to a sour feeling.
“Tell me what?” I asked.
The sisters shared a knowing look. Then Marna and I held each other’s eyes in silence until I knew. I just knew.
My voice shook when I whispered, “You told him, didn’t you?”
“No!” Marna said, and her voice shook, too. “Not directly. He asked me and . . . and . . . I told him no! But . . .”
Ginger turned her attention to me. “You should know Marna is the worst liar in history. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice, but Kai and I poked fun at her growing up ’cause she always pauses before she tells a lie—as if she’s working out the story in her head before she tells it.”
Oh, no. He knows. I covered my mouth, feeling sick.
“I’m so sorry, Anna,” Marna whispered.
“What did he say?” I demanded.
She cleared her throat, a dainty sound. “He wouldn’t let me explain the circumstances. He just kept saying he had to go.”
“Tell her everything,” Ginger prompted.
“There’s more?” I asked. I felt sick.
Marna’s eyes bugged out at her sister.
“What?” Ginger asked. “She should know what she’s walking into.”