I plucked it from her fingers and set it down over Esmer’s dresser. “Maybe some other time.”
“And with a different color,” Esmer added with a chuckle. “Like blue or pink?”
Jasmine clapped her hands together, her mouth falling open in a big oval. “Oh, pink sounds lovely!”
Pink sounded God-awful, but I didn’t say so out loud.
Dinah stayed out of sight until she called us downstairs for lunch. We walked into the dining room to see the table set up with the fancy china from the hutch, a scene straight out of a Jane Austen novel. Tiny silver forks and spoons sat by each plate. The cups all had saucers. There was even a small vase with some flowers at the center of the table. Jasmine gushed about the elegance of the spread. Behind her back, Esmer and I shared a wrinkled nose. We were having hot tea, finger sandwiches, sliced fruit, cheese squares and oatmeal raisin cookies for lunch. Dinah practiced more of her smiling for my sister, managing to look almost pleased with the compliments.
“You didn’t have to go out of your way for me,” Jasmine said, falling into the chair right next to Dinah’s. “You’re so kind.”
“Not at all, child,” the old woman murmured. Then she poured the tea.
“Your home is gorgeous. Esmer tells me this is your family’s house. Does that mean you grew up here?”
Dinah nodded, keeping her smile in place.
Jasmine popped a square of cheese into her mouth and kept talking as she chewed. “Do you have siblings or are you an only child?”
Esmer added some grapes and half a sandwich to her plate, but she kept throwing curious glances at her great aunt. I got the feeling she was as curious as Jasmine was, but was hiding it for her own safety. When Dinah’s face tightened, reverting her to the grumpy old lady I was more familiar with, I opened my mouth to tell Jasmine to shut it. But then—
“There were five of us but now only three remain, including myself.”
Jasmine swallowed, having the decency to look contrite. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
The old woman’s face was just as sharp but her tone softened when she said, “Death comes for us all in the end.”
My sister’s gaze drifted toward the window over Esmer’s shoulder, to the rain and the world beyond. It was a hollow look, a sad and tired and resigned sort of look. “Too true.” Then she smiled. “Could you pass the honey, Esmer?”
The tea tasted bitter and gross no matter how much honey I added to it. I forced myself to take a gulp between bites of turkey sandwich and pieces of strawberry. I saw my barely contained disgust mirrored on Esmer’s face. Jasmine kept twittering about how wonderful it all was, that this was the most refined and beautiful lunch she’d ever had. I thought she was laying it on a little thick and shot her a look that I hoped would get her to take the compliments down a notch. But then Dinah started smiling again, so I let it go.
Jasmine volunteered to help clear the table once we were done eating. Dinah waved away the offer before I could second it, thankfully.
“Not to worry, child. I can handle this. Why don’t you three play a board game in the sitting room?”
Before Esmer came along, I doubted Dinah had had any children in her house, so why would she have board games? Unless…Esmer was just as surprised as I was when she spotted the boxes stacked neatly on the coffee table. Still wrapped in plastic.
“Wow,” she said, “the old bat went all out.”
“Your aunt is the nicest lady!” Jasmine squealed, prancing over to peruse our options.
Esmer and I shared raised eyebrows. She was the most confusing lady.
Jasmine took the Settlers of Catan board game in both hands and read the back. Then, still reading, she raised her voice to say, “Ms. Hagan, won’t you join us? It says four to six players.”
“Thank you, child, but it’s quite all right. This will take some time. I don’t want you waiting on me,” came the reply from the dining room.
Jasmine pushed out her bottom lip and scrunched her brow for half a second before she plopped down over the plastic-covered couch to begin unwrapping the board game.
“I guess it’s decided,” I murmured. “Hope you wanted to play, Esmer.”
She shrugged. “Why not?”
It was such an ordinary afternoon. I couldn’t completely relax because I kept anticipating a vision, a death to shatter the illusion of normalcy and force us to hurry on home. I envied my sister’s ability to be in the moment. She stared intently at her cards and moved her pieces strategically. Esmer asked light getting-to-know-you questions, pulled off reckless and unpredictable moves, made my sister laugh. Occasionally poked fun at me. Gave me what I could’ve sworn were bedroom eyes once or twice. I kept my cards close to my chest, literally and metaphorically, keeping my answers short, my face blank. Fighting the temptation to pull her aside and ask her outright what the hell she thought she was doing.
Was she testing me, seeing if I’d pick up the vibe she was throwing out and flirt back?
I wouldn’t know how to do that even if I wanted to. I’d become good at people-watching, but I’d always looked away when I caught two people flirting. It was just too awkward and weird. I didn’t take notes on smooth and subtle ways to let someone know I was interested.
With Penny…Well, things had been very different with Penny. For one thing, it had been her ballsy, loud-mouthed friend Hillary who had approached me during lunch to inform me that Penny thought I was cute. She’d continued to pester Penny until Penny came over to me several days later to ask if I wanted to sit at her table. With her and her friends. And God knows what possessed me to say ‘yes.’ I guess it was because Penny had been pretty cute
