Secrets of the Tulip Sisters

“In about an hour,” Olivia murmured.

Kelly wanted to point out there wasn’t a tub in the guest bathroom, but before she could say that, she realized her mother planned on using the tub in the master bath. Not anything she wanted to think about.

“I guess we’re cooking,” she said when their mother left. “Any ideas?”

“I bought a couple of pork tenderloins at the grocery store. I have an easy recipe for baking them. It’s plenty of food and Marilee doesn’t eat beef.”

“Why not?” Kelly held up a hand. “Never mind. You deal with the pork, I’ll look at sides.”

She washed her hands, then opened the refrigerator. There were brussels sprouts and cauliflower in the vegetable crisper, and a bag of red potatoes in the pantry.

She washed the vegetables, then began cutting the Brussels sprouts in half and the cauliflower into florets. After tossing them with olive oil, salt and pepper, she dumped them onto a cookie sheet.

“How long does the pork cook?”

“Forty-five minutes at 350.”

“Perfect. These can go in with them. They’ll caramelize. I’ll get the potatoes ready now and we can start them closer to dinner. Does Marilee like mashed potatoes?”

“As far as I know.” Olivia put everything in the oven, then crossed back to the counter. “Are you okay?”

“Not really. What the hell is she doing here? Why now? It’s so awful. I don’t like having her around. She’s not a nice person.”

“You’re right. She’s exactly the same. Selfish and cruel. I don’t want her here, either.”

“Dad won’t throw her out,” Kelly complained as she started peeling potatoes. “I can’t figure out if he’s the nicest guy on the planet or a total sucker.”

“I think he wants her here for us.”

“What? That’s ridiculous. Why would he think...?”

Because her mother had walked out when she was fifteen, Kelly thought. Because even though Marilee had been a nightmare, she’d been a presence in the house. Because Kelly had felt both relieved and abandoned when her mother had left.

“I should talk to him,” Kelly said.

“It’s not going to help. He’ll do what he thinks is right regardless.”

“I know. It’s so annoying. All of it.” Kelly dropped the peeler and the potato and impulsively hugged her sister. “I’m glad you’re here. I can’t imagine going through this without you. Thank you for being my buffer. I’ll do my best to be yours.”

Olivia hugged her back. “We’ll get through this,” she promised. “Marilee doesn’t have much of an attention span. Once this stops being fun, she’ll leave.”

“You are wise in the ways of the evil one,” Kelly teased. “How often were you two in touch?”

Olivia turned to check on the oven. “Not that often. We texted and stuff. Met for dinner a few times.”

Kelly felt a stab in her gut. Not jealousy, she told herself. She hadn’t wanted anything to do with their mother. She’d been glad when Marilee had left. Okay, glad and filled with guilt that it was her fault. But never once had she wanted Marilee to return.

“You’re right,” she said firmly. “We’ll get through this. And when she leaves, we’ll celebrate with Jell-O shots and hot fudge sundaes.”

“It’s a date.”

*

Kelly told herself no matter what happened at dinner, she was going to be calm, agreeable and quiet. She would smile, make pleasant, meaningless conversation, then escape. She would hide out in her room and binge watch something fun on her tablet.

She carried the bowl of mashed potatoes to the already set table. Olivia had sliced the pork tenderloin and put it on a serving platter. The roasted vegetables were in a bowl. As Kelly took her seat, she noticed there was only a single bottle of wine. No way that was going to be enough.

As if reading her mind, Olivia stepped close and whispered, “Second bottle on the buffet,” she said as she pointed. “I’ve already opened it.”

“Yay you.”

They smiled at each other. Kelly appreciated knowing there was another person she could depend on in the house. Everything about her mother’s visit creeped her out, and having her dad be so accepting of the situation wasn’t the least bit reassuring.

Marilee strolled into the dining room. She’d changed into an off-the-shoulder dress that was way too fancy for an at-home dinner. Jeff had on his usual jeans and long-sleeved shirt. In deference to the warmer temperatures he’d replaced his winter plaid with a more seasonal light cotton.

He scanned the table. “This looks very nice.”

There was an awkward moment as they all tried to decide where to sit. Kelly couldn’t figure out which was worse—being next to her mother or being across from her. She settled on next to her. At least that way there wouldn’t be any eye contact.

Jeff held out Marilee’s chair, then took the seat across from her. Olivia sat across from Kelly. The awkwardness continued as everyone reached for serving plates and bowls only to draw back.

“I’ll start,” Kelly said firmly and picked up the bottle of wine.

She filled her glass, then passed the bottle to her sister. Olivia flashed her a smile. The need to giggle bubbled up.

There was only silence as the food was passed. The sound of flatware on china was excruciatingly loud. Kelly sliced off a bite of pork.

“It’s delicious,” she said. “Thanks for fixing this, Olivia.”

“You cooked?” Marilee asked. “What a surprise. When did you learn to cook? Why am I always the last to know?”

Jeff shot Kelly a look, as if warning her not to say anything. Kelly did her best to look innocent.

“I’ve cooked for a while now, Mom,” Olivia said.

“I didn’t know that. How interesting.”

Silence returned as the air thickened with all that was not being said. There weren’t just elephants in the room, Kelly thought. There was the entire African savanna population. If they weren’t careful, they were all going to get trampled.

Marilee reached for her wine. “This is so nice. It’s been far too long since the four of us were together like this. Now when was the last time we all had dinner?”

Kelly told herself to be quiet. That in maybe twenty minutes, she could make her escape. That no one would be helped by her stating the obvious. She had every intention of not saying a word. But instead of filling her mouth with something safe like roasted Brussels sprouts she found herself blurting, “Probably the night before you took off, Mom. Unless you were out with one of your lovers. I can’t remember. Olivia, do you remember?”

The words fell like bombs on the table. They exploded and in their aftermath, no one knew how to react. Jeff recovered first.

“Kelly, that’s unnecessary.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Dad. It seems completely necessary to me. Are we really going to do this? Simply pretend it’s all fine? That nothing about this situation is strange or uncomfortable or twisted?”

She turned to look at her mother. “Why are you here? Why did you come back?”