They were sorting through the boxes unloaded from Bonnie and Bertie’s van. Cindy had already put the books aside to look for first editions. The chairs were sorted and tagged already. Which left the clothes and accessories.
“I’m going to ask your mom to look for more vintage beaded purses on her buying trips,” Cindy said, holding up a lace wedding gown that looked to be a size two at most. “They would sell like crazy. Especially on eBay. This is beautiful.”
Averil reached for a hanger. “I have no idea how old that one is.” She hung up the dress, sniffing as she worked. “But it’s happy.”
“Good to know. For the right bride, this is a real find.” Cindy put it on the rack. “Now that your mom is back, is she the boss or is it still Nina?”
“Good question. I’m not sure. Nina’s the bossy one. Bertie sometimes handles things.”
Cindy looked up. “Bertie’s your mom’s...partner?”
“The romantic kind.”
Cindy pulled another dress out of the box and held it up. But her gaze was on Averil. “You’re comfortable with your mom being gay?”
“Uh-huh. It explains dad leaving her all those years ago,” she joked.
“You’re comfortable with the idea.”
“It’s not like my family was ever normal. I was in high school when Mom told us. I liked Bertie a lot. Having her around made things easier. Bertie’s always been a buffer between Nina and me.” Something she’d forgotten in her quest to come home.
She loved her sister, but they did better from a distance. Which made her need for Nina’s approval confusing. Kevin always complained Nina was the voice in her head. Averil wasn’t sure she could dispute that, but why would she want the voice of a person who made her crazy?
They continued to unpack clothes. There were several minidresses from the 1960s which made her think that she could write a fun article on finding hot, fresh looks in grandma’s closet. She paused to scribble down a few notes.
Cindy watched her. “That’s right. You’re a writer, aren’t you?”
“Articles, mostly. I write for California Girl magazine.”
“You must be very talented.” Cindy laughed. “In my previous life, all my writing was legal based. It sucked my soul dry. Now I can barely scratch out an email. Ever write any fiction?”
Averil thought about the novel that was unstarted, let alone not finished. “I think about it,” she admitted. “Which turns out not to be the same as doing it.”
Her phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket. “It’s my husband,” she said, pleased to see Kevin’s picture pop up. “Give me a second.”
“Sure. Take all the time you need.”
Averil stepped out the back door of the store. “Hey,” she said. “How’s it going?”
“I need to talk,” Kevin said. “Do you have time?”
“Sure. What’s wrong?” There was tension in his voice, which in turn made her tense. Had he been in an accident? Had he figured out she wasn’t worth the trouble?
“It’s James,” he said.
“James, your friend from work?”
“Yeah. He just told me...” Kevin sighed. “He’s having an affair with his assistant.”
Averil walked to the low stone wall by the parking lot and sat down. She knew James, she thought, stunned. And his wife. They’d been to their house for barbecues and had gone out to dinner.
“Does Melissa know?”
“I don’t think so. What the hell is he thinking? He just told me.” He swore under his breath. “I don’t want to know. I like Melissa. I like my friends being happily married. This is all Don’s fault.”
“Your boss? What does he have to do with anything?”
“He cheats all the time.”
“What? No way. I’ve met him. And Jan.” His wife was a pretty fiftysomething who obviously adored him. She baked cookies and volunteered and always had something funny to say. “They have four kids.”
“Don always has something on the side. That’s what it’s like here. The guys talk about it like it’s no big deal.”
Averil was grateful she didn’t have to stand right now. She pressed her hand against her stomach. “Is this your way of telling me something?”
“What? No. I’m not that guy. I love you, Averil. I don’t want anyone else. That’s not the point.”
A relief, she thought, wondering if she could believe him.
“It’s James. Now he’s one of them. The thing is, they don’t understand the consequences. If Melissa finds out, she’s going to leave James. She’s not an idiot. She’ll make sure his life is hell, and then she’ll be gone. He’s going to wake up and wonder how he lost it all. I’ve told him that, but he says he can’t help it.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Nothing. I can’t make him see what he’s doing. He’ll have to live with the consequences. I just wanted to hear your voice. You’re the one I talk to about this kind of stuff.”
Averil relaxed a little. Because she and Kevin were each other’s best friend. Because he wasn’t completely comfortable with everyone else’s feelings, and she was his emotional barometer. Now his reason for calling was clearer. He wasn’t threatening. He needed her. Just like she needed him.
She sighed. “Poor you, having to deal with this.”
“Tell me about it. Men are idiots.”
“Not you.”
“I try not to be.” There was a pause. “I have to get back to a meeting. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“I like hearing yours, too.”
“I love you, Averil.”
“I love you, too, Kevin. Very much.”
* * *
“I thought you were dating Dylan,” Bonnie said, as she sat on Nina’s bed and watched her daughter get ready.
Nina pulled the hot rollers from her hair. She hadn’t stayed long at Kyle’s the night before, mostly because she hadn’t wanted to be caught sneaking in the house at five in the morning. But he’d claimed his “Nina needs” hadn’t been met by their quick encounter, and he’d asked to see her again the next night. Only this time they were going to have a date and he was picking her up. Something she would have been fine with, if it hadn’t meant Kyle meeting her mother.
“Dylan and I are friends,” she said, thinking of the friendly text he’d sent her that morning. “It’s nice that after all this time we can still talk to each other.”
“You used to be in love with him.”
“That was ages ago.”
“I know he broke your heart, but that only makes him more significant. I’ve never understood exes becoming friends. If Bertie left me...” She paused and shook her head. “I can’t even think about it.”
“Bertie loves you. Don’t worry about it.”
“I know. I’m so lucky to have her. She did mention your new young man.” Her mother smiled. “I heard you come in last night.”
Nina finger-combed her hair. “Sorry. I tried to be quiet.”
“You were. I happened to be up. I never sleep well the first night we’re back. I’m too happy to waste a whole eight hours unconscious.” She watched as Nina pulled on a lightweight sweater and then slipped into heels.
“Nice,” Bonnie said, surveying her. “Sexy but not obvious. Your sister would be in black leather.”
“My sister has the body for it.” Averil had always been thin, Nina thought with some resignation. And willing to take risks. Although when she thought about how eagerly Kyle touched her, maybe she should think about a little black leather for herself.
She was going to spend the evening with Kyle. She would enjoy their dinner and their post-dinner. In the morning she would be smug and have glowing skin. If that wasn’t the end to a perfect weekend, she didn’t know what was.
The doorbell rang.
Nina glanced at the time and groaned.
“You did warn him about us, didn’t you?” Bonnie asked.
“I said who you and Bertie were,” Nina told
her. “There’s no need to warn him about anything.”
Her mother grinned. “So he knows we’re witches?”
“Very funny. Come on. You can meet my young man.” Young being the key word.
She and Bonnie walked into the living room. Bertie had already let Kyle in. Nina crossed to him and took his hand. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi, yourself. You look amazing.” He smiled at Bonnie. “I can see where Nina gets her best qualities.”
Bonnie laughed. “Yes, those are all me. Everything else comes from her father.”
“Okay, then,” Nina said. “On that note, we’re going to go.”
“Do you have to?” Bonnie asked. “We’d like to get to know you.”
“Don’t be frightening,” Bertie told her. “Middle-aged lesbians take getting used to.”
“We’re not middle-aged,” Bonnie said, sounding horrified. “That’s so old.”
“Unless you plan on living past a hundred, I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”
Nina shook her head. “Okay, and for the second time, on that note, we’re out of here.”
“Have a good time,” Bonnie said. “Stay out as late as you’d like. We know you’re having sex. There’s no need to try to hide it. You can come back here, if you’d like. Nina’s room is in the back of the house. No one would hear you.”
Kyle looked stunned. “That’s very thoughtful,” he managed to say.
Nina pulled him toward the door. “Escape while you still can,” she told him. “They will suck you in and trap you, if you’re not careful.”
When they were out front, he glanced back at the door. “I like them,” he admitted.
“Sure. From a distance, they’re hilarious. But on a day-to-day basis, they’re a challenge.”
“You like that they’re back.”
“I do. It makes me as twisted as them, but I can live with that.”
He opened the passenger door. “So dinner and then sex?”
She laughed. “A man with a plan. I like that.”
Chapter Thirteen
NINA ARRIVED HOME Tuesday after work to find the house filled with Calypso music and the blender running in the kitchen. Averil met her in the living room.
“We’re playing Practical Magic,” her sister said with a laugh as she handed over a margarita glass rimmed with salt and brimming with a slushy pale green mixture.
Nina admired Averil’s open Hawaiian shirt. The white tank top underneath matched her shorts. A necklace of tiny shells hung around her sister’s neck.
Nina took a sip of the drink and gasped as the tequila settled on her tongue. “Okay, Bertie made these.”
“You know it.”
Bertie made the best margaritas on the island, but she was more than a little heavy-handed.
“We’re all going to have a hangover in the morning,” Nina murmured as she danced along to the beat. “Okay, let me get changed and I’ll be right out.”
“We’ll be getting drunk while we wait.”
Nina made her way down the hall. Once in her room, she stripped out of her scrubs before pulling on jeans. In the back of her closet, she had a bright pink T-shirt that was decorated with sequined flip-flops. She pulled her hair back in a braid and slipped on plastic palm tree earrings. Because costumes were required on Practical Magic night.
The movie was one of her mother’s favorites. Some families watched Christmas movies in December. In the Wentworth household, the women watched Practical Magic on both nights of the solstice. When she was twelve, while her friends had been pretending to be models, Averil had tried to convince everyone she was a witch. Her complete lack of magical powers had made the process difficult, but Averil had given it her best shot.
Nina took her drink with her and arrived in the kitchen in time to watch Bertie and Bonnie dance to Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut” song.
Bertie wore a sarong as a skirt and a bikini top. Nina toasted her moves, along with her trim body.
“We should all look so good at fifty,” Averil said in Nina’s ear.
“I wish I looked that good now,” Nina told her.
Bonnie wore a grass skirt over shorts and a T-shirt. Both women had silk flower leis around their necks. They each held a margarita in one hand and linked fingers with the other. The sisters moved their hips and sang along with the familiar lyrics.
The smell of limes and margarita mix mingled with the mouth-watering tang of teriyaki chicken that was already on the grill outside. Bertie had perfected a low temperature recipe that had everyone begging for more.
Nina turned to her sister to mention the chicken, but found Averil obviously thinking about something other than the party. Instinctively, she grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the living room.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” Averil pulled free of her grip.
“It’s not nothing. You’re upset.”
“Then you should be happy. Nothing makes you feel more useful than telling other people what they’ve done wrong.”
Nina felt the familiar frustration and annoyance welling up inside of her. The road to this argument was so well-worn, neither of them had to think before arriving at a disagreement.
She took a quick swallow of her drink and drew in a breath. This time she wouldn’t react, she told herself. This time she would listen and be supportive, no matter how annoying Averil became.
“I’m sorry you think that,” she said honestly. “I really am interested in what’s bothering you. Is it Kevin?”
Averil hesitated, then nodded. “He called me a few days ago because of something going on at work. He found out one of his friends is having an affair. It really bothers him. We know James and his wife, and this isn’t going to end well for either of them.”
Nina didn’t understand why that would make Averil so sad. “You’re worried about the other couple?”
“Some. Maybe. Mostly I wonder about Kevin. Not that he would cheat on me. I believe he loves me. It’s just I’m here and I miss him.” She held up her hand. “Please, don’t tell me to just go home. I know that. But before I go back I need to figure out my life.”
Nina gulped more of her margarita and told herself that she was going to continue to find patience and be a supportive sister. Because what she really wanted to say was, “Why go looking for trouble?”
“Every time I’m around Kevin, I notice how much he loves you,” she said instead. “It’s so clear in what he says and how he acts. You’re exactly who he wants to be with. Maybe thinking about that will help.”
Averil sighed. “It does. He’s great and we’re talking more. I just—”
The doorbell rang.
Averil looked toward the sound. “Are we expecting someone else?”
Bonnie stepped out of the kitchen and laughed. “Oh, good. It’s your young man. I called and invited him.”
“You have a young man?” Averil asked, as Nina moved toward the door.
“The one she’s sleeping with,” Bonnie said loudly. “Kyle. He’s adorable. Remember how he used to follow Nina around years ago? I’d nearly forgotten all about him. Apparently he still adores your sister.”
Nina felt herself flush.
“He’s the guy who has you staying out all night,” Averil said with a grin. “I remember him from school. He was okay, I guess, but he and his family moved before I realized boys were anything other than annoying. Wow, a younger man.”
“Not that much younger,” Nina said between gritted teeth.
Averil grinned. “Look at Nina, robbing the cradle.”
“You will all be quiet and behave,” Nina told them before hurrying to the door. She opened it and found Kyle standing on the front porch.
He looked good in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt. He held out a bag of frozen coconut shrimp. “As per the invitation.”
She sighed. “My mom invited you to dinner and asked you to stop at the store on your way?”
“I don’t mind,”
he told her. “I would have brought wine, but she said that would be a waste.”
“That’s my mother.”
He stepped into the house and turned to Averil. “Hi. Kyle.”
“Averil. The baby sister. We’ve met. You accidently stood outside of my bedroom window when you pulled your Say Anything move that summer.”
“Sorry about that,” he said with an easy grin.
“No problem.”
They shook hands.
Nina relieved him of the bag of frozen shrimp and led the way to the kitchen. “We’re getting drunk. I hope you can handle it.”
“I’ll do my best.”
* * *
Rather than risk the deep fryer, Bertie cooked the shrimp in the oven. By the time they sat down to dinner, they were on their second pitcher of margaritas, and it wasn’t taking much to send at least one of them into hysterical laughter. Nina did her best to pace herself. She had to be prepared to throw herself between Kyle and anyone in her family. That meant keeping some control of her faculties.
In addition to the shrimp, there was a huge platter of teriyaki chicken and a couple of salads. The windows in the dining room were pushed open to allow in a light breeze.
Kyle was next to Nina. They sat on the same side of the old table. Every now and then, he dropped his hand to her thigh and squeezed gently. She liked having him around, and she liked how he touched her. He was a man who knew his way around a woman’s body. He seemed to enjoy the process as much as the endgame—or he was good at pretending. She was content either way.
“Tell me about your road trip,” he said as the food was passed around. “Nina mentioned you go out to estate sales and find inventory for the store.”
“We look for treasure wherever it is,” Bonnie said. She was flushed and gesturing broadly, but still speaking in complete sentences. “Beauty calls to me. This time we bought the contents of several storage units at an auction. That was exciting. One man bought one with a gun safe in it. We were all waiting to see what was inside.”
“Guns?” Averil asked.
“If only,” Bertie murmured.
“What was it?” Kyle asked. “Jewelry?”
Bonnie stared at him. “Bones.”
Nina took a chicken breast and passed the platter to Kyle. “Excuse me?”
Evening Stars Page 15