looked lovely, as usual. I saw no sign that her binge the other night had done her any harm. Probably the night had been harder on me than on her, I thought ruefully. She was the one who got to sleep late the next morning.
She was dressed in skinny jeans and a sort of tunic tee-shirt with an asymmetrical hem. Always the fashionista. I knew when people looked at the two of us together they probably thought of Ally as “the pretty one.” That’s what I thought when I saw pictures of the two of us side-by-side. She was the dark-haired beauty of the family. I always thought she looked like Scarlett O’Hara in
Gone with the Wind
.
I needed to have a serious talk with her about the drinking issue, but I also wanted to confide in her about tonight. Despite the difference in our ages, she’d done a lot more dating than I had. Maybe she could give me some advice.
I gave her a hug. “Hey, Sis, I’m glad to see you!” It made me happy that she had come here to the store.
“You, too,” she said. “Things are looking good here! And busy! Think you can slip out for lunch with me?”
“Just let me finish with this one guy and I’ll get Jess and Dan to take over for a while.”
She had a seat while I finished up. She checked her iPhone for messages, probably took a look at her Facebook page, gazed out the window. She looked perfectly normal. What had I been expecting—dark circles under her eyes? Or had I been wishing she’d show some signs of a guilty conscience?
“How about a quick bite at The Organic Market’s cafe?” I asked as we made our way out the door.
“I was really thinking about someplace where I could get a glass of wine,” she said.
“You’re suggesting this despite the fact that I practically had to carry you out of a frat party the other night?” I asked. It was a struggle to keep my voice quiet enough so the whole store full of people wouldn’t hear what I was saying.
“Kitty, that was no big deal,” she said, “except that I’m probably the laughing stock of that fraternity now that everybody saw you make such a big fuss and drag me out of there. But hey, that’s in the past. It’s a new day. I thought we’d go someplace nice and you could order a couple of glasses of Chardonnay or something and we could sip it together and have a nice time.”
“Drinking midday isn’t my style. And I don’t buy alcohol for minors,” I said. I could feel my body stiffening up, bracing for an argument. This conversation wasn’t starting out at all the way I had hoped.
“Oh, Kitty, you’re such a prude! How did I ever end up with you for a sister?”
I was about to make some snotty reply—nothing quite like sisters for knowing just how to push each other’s buttons—but she put an arm around me and gave me a little sideways squeeze.
“No worries,” she said. “Organic Market it is. Tofu egg salad! My favorite!”
She could always make me laugh. I grinned at her and said, “Well, you could always go with the vegetarian hot dog and baked beans.”
Even though it was October, it was still warm enough to eat outside, so we chose a sidewalk table. She liked to tease me about the health-food fare I often ate, but she enjoyed salads as much as I did and this place made a killer chopped salad that we both loved. We gave the waitress our order and then each took a sip of the ice water she had brought us.
I didn’t know quite where to begin, but I took a breath and plunged right in. “Ally, I’m worried about you. You scared the heck out of me last night.”
“Oh, right. Like you never took a drink in college,” she said mockingly.
“My college drinking career isn’t under discussion here,” I said. “But for the record, I never ended an evening throwing up in a fraternity bathroom.”
“Yay, you,” she said, in the same tone. Then she softened her voice slightly. “Honestly, Kit, it wasn’t a big deal. Alcohol is pretty
She was dressed in skinny jeans and a sort of tunic tee-shirt with an asymmetrical hem. Always the fashionista. I knew when people looked at the two of us together they probably thought of Ally as “the pretty one.” That’s what I thought when I saw pictures of the two of us side-by-side. She was the dark-haired beauty of the family. I always thought she looked like Scarlett O’Hara in
Gone with the Wind
.
I needed to have a serious talk with her about the drinking issue, but I also wanted to confide in her about tonight. Despite the difference in our ages, she’d done a lot more dating than I had. Maybe she could give me some advice.
I gave her a hug. “Hey, Sis, I’m glad to see you!” It made me happy that she had come here to the store.
“You, too,” she said. “Things are looking good here! And busy! Think you can slip out for lunch with me?”
“Just let me finish with this one guy and I’ll get Jess and Dan to take over for a while.”
She had a seat while I finished up. She checked her iPhone for messages, probably took a look at her Facebook page, gazed out the window. She looked perfectly normal. What had I been expecting—dark circles under her eyes? Or had I been wishing she’d show some signs of a guilty conscience?
“How about a quick bite at The Organic Market’s cafe?” I asked as we made our way out the door.
“I was really thinking about someplace where I could get a glass of wine,” she said.
“You’re suggesting this despite the fact that I practically had to carry you out of a frat party the other night?” I asked. It was a struggle to keep my voice quiet enough so the whole store full of people wouldn’t hear what I was saying.
“Kitty, that was no big deal,” she said, “except that I’m probably the laughing stock of that fraternity now that everybody saw you make such a big fuss and drag me out of there. But hey, that’s in the past. It’s a new day. I thought we’d go someplace nice and you could order a couple of glasses of Chardonnay or something and we could sip it together and have a nice time.”
“Drinking midday isn’t my style. And I don’t buy alcohol for minors,” I said. I could feel my body stiffening up, bracing for an argument. This conversation wasn’t starting out at all the way I had hoped.
“Oh, Kitty, you’re such a prude! How did I ever end up with you for a sister?”
I was about to make some snotty reply—nothing quite like sisters for knowing just how to push each other’s buttons—but she put an arm around me and gave me a little sideways squeeze.
“No worries,” she said. “Organic Market it is. Tofu egg salad! My favorite!”
She could always make me laugh. I grinned at her and said, “Well, you could always go with the vegetarian hot dog and baked beans.”
Even though it was October, it was still warm enough to eat outside, so we chose a sidewalk table. She liked to tease me about the health-food fare I often ate, but she enjoyed salads as much as I did and this place made a killer chopped salad that we both loved. We gave the waitress our order and then each took a sip of the ice water she had brought us.
I didn’t know quite where to begin, but I took a breath and plunged right in. “Ally, I’m worried about you. You scared the heck out of me last night.”
“Oh, right. Like you never took a drink in college,” she said mockingly.
“My college drinking career isn’t under discussion here,” I said. “But for the record, I never ended an evening throwing up in a fraternity bathroom.”
“Yay, you,” she said, in the same tone. Then she softened her voice slightly. “Honestly, Kit, it wasn’t a big deal. Alcohol is pretty
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