“Ummm…why?”
“Because he said that the curves and engine placement onthem were ‘fascinating’. I swear he’s such a goofball sometimes. He went in tomock up some drawings apparently and left me here.”
“Hey, is he still acting weird?” Propping her feet up on thetable, Poppy twirled a curl that had managed to escape from her bun.
“Yeah…a little. Since we’ve been hermits this last week, hehasn’t disappeared on me but he seems nervous about something.”
“You mean, other than aliens?”
“I don’t know. Before all this happened he was reallysecretive about where he was. For a minute I thought he was cheating but thenBecky said she’d seen him browsing through rings downtown at a jewelry store…”
“You mean engagement rings?” Poppy took pride in needling hersister. Pixie was the type of person who was superstitious when it came toanything and everything.
“Don’t say that! You’re going to jinx it!” Pixie interruptedquickly.
“So, not to say he is going to propose, but if hedid, would you say yes?”
Poppy already knew the answer even before she asked thequestion. Pixie was nothing if not predictable. While Poppy had floundered withschool majors and then entering the workforce, it seemed Pixie’d plannedeverything out from the time she was in high school. The next step for herwould obviously be marriage and then the two-point-five kids complete with awhite picket fence and perfectly blooming flower boxes.
“Of course I would. We’ve been dating for two years andliving together for one. Why wouldn’t I?” By her tone, Pixie obviously had nodoubt that her life plan was a sound one.
“Well…do you luuuuurve him?” Poppy sang obnoxiously into thephone.
“Yes, why would you ask that?” Pixie was starting to soundoffended at the questions.
Poppy thought for a moment and decided to go for broke. Itwasn’t that she didn’t like Brian. He seemed like a great guy: stable job,stable salary, stable sense of humor. That was the one thing that bothered her.He was plain toast when she had always imagined her lovable sister with someonewho had a little more spice.
“I like Brian. I really do.” Pausing to try to make this asgentle as possible, she chose her words carefully. “When you’re together…youseem different. You don’t laugh as much or crack jokes. When we are alone, wesay ‘fuck’ about a million times and laugh so hard we snort. It’s sad when mysister seems to lose a little bit of her spunk when her boyfriend is around.”
There, she’d said it. Now she was full-on twisting the curlin her hand as she waited for Pixie to say something. Anything.
“Poppy…Brian is a great guy. He’s loyal and sweet. And hehas a great job and would make a wonderful father. We aren’t getting anyyounger, you know. Plus, we’ve been dating for two years.”
“I know. I just don’t want you to settle for someone becausehe’s comfortable, Pixie. I want you to have some passion in your life. Are youpassionate about Brian? I know when you first started dating you seemed sohappy and then it seemed as though the more you settled in, the more boring itgot.”
Poppy sat quietly while waiting for her sister to absorbwhat she was saying. Pixie was obviously doing the same thing since there wassilence on her end as well. After a few moments with neither of them talking,Poppy decided to let it go.
“I just want you to be happy. And if you love him, thenyou’re happy and I’m happy for you.”
“Great. So let’s all be happy and drop the subject, okay?”Pixie had apparently had enough of the Brian discussion so Poppy changed itquickly.
“So, the big question is…toilet paper at Mega Mart or acrosstown? The bonus is that I can stop for food across town on the drive back andnot have to eat canned ravioli again.” She pulled on a light jacket. Floridaweather was a little chilly in January so her winter gear consisted of a thinjacket and a scarf.
“Well, hell, if we’re basing your decision on a repeat ofcanned ravioli then by all means go across town and get alien-napped. Justdon’t call me when they pull out the probes.” Teasing Poppy for her ability tomake decisions based on her stomach, she added, “But I do want you to call mefirst thing when you get home. Okay?”
“Of course, sister dear. Hey, by the way, when are you goingto go back in to work?” Zipping up her jacket, she made sure she had her walletin her purse before heading out the door.
“The restaurant reopened this afternoon with a bare-bonesstaff. I’ll need to go in tomorrow and figure out payroll in the morning buttoday I’m taking the day off. Brenda is there acting as manager on duty so Idon’t have to worry too much.”
After scanning the stairwell to make sure everything wasquiet and no little green men were hiding, Poppy jogged down the steps to herlate-model Honda. “Isn’t Brenda the chick who’s been causing problems lately?”
“Yeah, but it seems we only have issues when she tries to dopaperwork. I swear, I spend more time fixing her fuck-ups than it would havetaken me just to do whatever it is myself to begin with.”
By this point, Poppy had reached her car and climbed in.“Okay, Pix, I’m in my car and I’ll call you when I get back.”
“Gotcha. Drive carefully. Brian said people are stillwatching the ships more than the road, so pay attention.”
Poppy ended the call with their customary air-kissing noisesand started the car.
“What the fuck?”
According to her gauge, someone had managed to steal most ofher once-full tank of gas. Seriously? Poppy couldn’t believe it. Breathe inand breathe out, Poppy. Fuck breathing! she thought, banging herhands on her steering wheel. She leaned forward and rested her head against thecar horn. There went fifty dollars and hello, side trip she hadn’t anticipated.Poppy ran through a list of the gas stations on her route and figured she hadenough to get to one at least.
What a bunch of assholes.
Chapter Three
Two miles into her drive across town quickly changed Poppy’sdestination. All four lanes of traffic had come to a
