Twin Roses

by Sarah Cross

  But on the way back to the café, Ruby talked as if nothing extraordinary had happened. She prattled on about customers, what they had to do today, how hot it was. Pearl tried to follow suit—she kept the conversation bland, easy—until they arrived at the café and went right back to work.

  Rolling out marzipan and shaping tiny rose petals, feeling the familiar ache in her fingers, Pearl could almost make herself believe that no one was upset, no one was deliriously happy. Today was as simple as yesterday. Tomorrow would be the same. She wasn’t really in love—why would she be in love?—and Ruby wasn’t hurt. Listen to her out there, talking with customers and laughing! Ruby was fine; she hadn’t fallen for Theo. It had just been … intense. The reversal of the curse. The death of the thief. Theo’s return.

  All those years they’d spent worrying had come to an end in seconds—it was as shocking as being in an accident. Maybe she and Ruby and Theo were still recovering. Thinking they felt one thing, but …

  That night, in the bedroom the sisters shared, Pearl remembered the accidental brush of Theo’s finger against her hand as they’d sat at the curb. It was nothing—just the side of his finger—but her hand had grown warm in that spot, and she’d shivered a little and wished he’d touch her face. Not right then, but someday. He was human again—finally himself. Rediscovering skin, and fingertips, and the back of a girl’s hand, and she wanted to be there for all of it. It felt a little like waking a boy from a sleeping curse and being the first person he saw when he opened his eyes. She wanted to extend that moment, to keep being the first. First person he touched, first person he held, first person he kissed.

  Was that love or selfishness?

  Was it both?

  “Ruby,” she whispered. “Are you awake?”

  Ruby didn’t answer.

  There wasn’t enough coffee in the café to perk Ruby up that morning. The night before, she’d pretended to be asleep when Pearl called her name, and eventually her sister had sighed like she’d reached the end of a particularly good romance novel, and that sigh had kept Ruby awake another two hours, at least.

  Around eleven, the college students, tourists, and lonely regulars started filling the tables. Ruby played low-key music for the sake of the summer school kids studying and locals reading the paper. One table was occupied by a couple who came in a lot: Jewel, a girl with a Diamonds and Toads curse, and a blonde Goldilocks named Luxe. Jewel paused periodically to cover her mouth with a handkerchief—to catch the gems and flowers that slipped out when she spoke. Luxe was one of those people who thought the customer is always right was an essential truth instead of a mildly helpful suggestion. Earlier, she’d complained that the frosting on the cupcake she’d ordered was too gritty, and while Ruby was plating a new one for her, she’d made a face at the My cupcakes bring all the bears to the yard poster and asked, “Why would you want bears in your yard?”

  “It’s a joke. A reference to a song. Swap out ‘cupcakes’ for ‘milkshake’ and ‘bears’ for ‘boys.’ ”

  “That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.” Then Luxe said something about the replacement cupcake not having enough sprinkles on it, and Ruby handed her a whole shaker so as not to hear the inevitable Now there are too many sprinkles! she was sure would follow if she attempted to remedy the situation herself. Then Ruby watched as, back at her table, Luxe dropped the shaker into her purse.

  Jewel eyed her girlfriend critically. “Seriously, Luxe?”

  “She gave it to me!”

  A few minutes later, the shaker was back on the counter.

  Since then, the café had been mostly quiet—a steady flow of customers, but nothing hectic. Jewel was writing in a notebook, her free hand linked with her girlfriend’s, and Luxe was eating her cupcake, which, with the addition of about four hundred sprinkles, Ruby assumed was now just right.

  The chime over the door sounded, and Ruby’s welcome smile switched on. A young guy had come halfway in but was still holding the door, facing the street and looking out. The silhouette of a crown was shaved into the back of his dark hair, just above the nape of his neck. It was something Royal guys did when they wanted to broadcast their status. Ruby had always found the trend obnoxious. It was one thing if you wanted people to know about your curse, but if you needed them to know your family tree had noble blood coursing through its branches, you were probably a jackass. The guy was wearing a red T-shirt, shorts, and red sneakers—casual, but everything looked expensive.

  When he finally turned, and she saw his face …

  He looked like Theo. If Theo had grown up surrounded by guys who shaved crowns into the backs of their heads.

  She wanted to hand him off to someone else, but the only other employee in the café was Pearl. And asking Pearl to use the register was like asking Ruby to frost a cake.

  Theo came in then, and together the boys approached the counter. The older Trevathan brother scanned the signs, the chalkboard menu with the little roses and bears Pearl had sketched, the Twin Roses mugs for sale. He looked everywhere but at Ruby.

  Theo stood admiring the pastry case. The bounty of frosted, glazed, and otherwise sugary treats was kind of amazing if you’d been living in the woods for ten years. “Did Pearl make all of these?”

  “Pearl or my mom,” Ruby said. “What would you like? Yours is on the house. No freebies for your friend, though.”

  “Brother,” Theo corrected. “Thurston’s my brother.”

  “I hear I’m your boyfriend now,” Thurston said, finally looking at her. “That doesn’t get me a free cupcake?”

  “Any guy who wants the world to know he’s a Royal as much as you do can afford to pay for a cupcake.”

  Thurston leaned over to check out the display. “I don’t know if these are worth it. They’re probably straight out of a box.”

  “Pearl made them,” Theo said. “Didn’t you hear Ruby?”

  “She’s in the kitchen,” Ruby said, pointing the way. “If you want to say hi.”

  “I can go back there?”

  “Yeah, just don’t startle her and make her break something. You don’t have paws anymore, so she’ll make you clean it up.”

  Theo laughed. “That’s right. I never had to help out at your house. Whenever I tried, I just made a bigger mess.”

  Ruby would have liked to talk to Theo—to have him to herself for once—but it wasn’t like they could have a quality conversation while Thurston was there.

  She turned to Thurston. “So do you want a coffee? Or were you just dropping him off?”

  “Is she prettier than you? Your sister?”

  “We’re twins.”

  “I just wondered if there was a reason Theo didn’t pick you.”

  “No one’s picked anyone.” She’d already disliked him because of the crown, but now he was earning it. He had to know that would be a sore spot for her—after all, being second-best was his role in the curse, too.

  Thurston pointed to a row of raspberry sodas in the refrigerator. “One of those.”

  “Anything else?”

  “No. Just waiting for Theo.”

  He paid, dropped a dime in the tip jar—cheap-ass Royals—then picked a table and angled his chair toward the counter, watching Ruby like she was a TV in a sports bar. She did her best to ignore him.

  She put on some noisier music and turned it up—her usual tactic when she wanted lingering customers to leave. The ones who came to read the paper were the first to clear out. Jewel and Luxe stayed put—Jewel was in a rock band, so she probably enjoyed the change. The students, desperate for the steady stream of caffeine from free refills, hunched over and focused harder on every page.

  Ruby was tempted to drop by the kitchen. She told herself it was because she wanted to see how Pearl and Theo were getting along, but the truth was that she didn’t want to be left out. She’d never felt awkward about inserting herself into Pearl’s life before; it was their life, and anyone who befriended them was drawn into their world.

&nbs
p; Now she worried Pearl and Theo might form a new world—one she could only visit.

  “Do you think it’s worse being Rose Red in the curse or the prince’s brother?” Thurston asked.

  “Theo’s the one who had to live as a bear for ten years. We didn’t suffer. Do you think you suffered?”

  She didn’t ask like she cared—more like she was smacking down his pity party. He shifted in his seat, restless. He was one of those guys who treated every piece of furniture like it was too small, when really he just needed to take up more space. It was ironic, she thought, that he was sitting a few feet away from a cursed Goldilocks. This chair is too big, this chair is too small.

  “Just so you know,” Thurston said, “I don’t date girls who work in coffee shops. Or girls with sisters.”

  “When did I give you the impression I was interested in your life?”

  Luxe twisted around in her chair. “Can you two take your romance somewhere else? It’s embarrassing.”

  Thurston laughed. Ruby thought to herself, The customer is always right. Whoever had said that had never dealt with a Goldilocks.

  Jewel flipped her notebook closed. “Change of scenery?”

  “Please,” Luxe said.

  Now the customers were down to Thurston and a few stalwart students. But they were buried so deeply in their textbooks and laptops that it was almost like she and Thurston were alone.

  “What kind of a name is Thurston?” Ruby asked. Rude, rude, rude. She was never rude at work. It was kind of nice to have an excuse.

  “A regal one. How’d your mom decide on Ruby and Pearl? She own a jewelry store before this?”

  “She renamed us once we were cursed. Pearl was marked with white roses; mine are red. We started out as Ava and Zora. Now those are our middle names.”

  “Which one of you was Zora?”

  “Does it matter?” She was tired of answering his questions. She wasn’t sure why she’d answered him at all.

  “I guess I’ll find out when they print the wedding invitations. Pearl Ava-or-Zora Ramble and Theodore ‘Grizzly’ Trevathan invite you to join them for their happily-ever-after kickoff party. We’ll probably walk down the aisle together. As maid of honor and best man. That’ll be the only time, though.”

  She was saved from getting into it with him by a pair of customers who wanted smoothies. Throwing ice and fruit into a blender and listening to the growl of it being pulverized was about as therapeutic as it got around here. Aside from eating half a row of cupcakes and then chasing the sugar high with espresso.

  Through the open door to the kitchen, she could see Pearl and Theo, their hands covered in flour, adorable smiles on their faces. Adorable. Pearl was a happy person, generally, but she rarely shined like she was doing now.

  Pearl deserved so much happiness—all the happiness in the world. Ruby wanted that for her, and she wanted to share it—even if it meant being happy for her instead of alongside her.

  Why was that so hard? Why did she see Pearl and Theo together and feel sad?

  The well-trained smile was back by the time she rang up the smoothies. No broken hearts at this counter.

  Thurston was still watching her—quietly. She went about her business. Nabbed a cupcake from the pastry case. Started in on round one of her sugar high. Laughter wafted out of the kitchen—sweeter than the smell of cookies baking.

  She wanted to be happy for her sister. She did.

  “I missed hot food,” Theo said as he slid the tray of cookies into the oven. “And I don’t mean hot like old cheeseburgers roasting in a garbage can.”

  Pearl laughed. “I didn’t think that was what you meant. Also, that’s disgusting.”

  “I know. Yesterday my parents tried to take me to a steakhouse for dinner, but all I wanted was macaroni and cheese. I ate five boxes. I used to like the ones with noodles shaped like dinosaurs, so my mom bought some that were teddy bear–shaped, but I had to leave those in the pantry.”

  “Too soon?”

  “Too soon. I don’t want to see any bears for a while. Not even in pasta form.”

  Pearl pulled Theo toward the air conditioner at the back of the kitchen. “It’s cooler over here. The kitchen gets so hot in the summer.”

  “It’s nice here with you,” he said.

  “Thanks.” She paused to take it in, to wallow in that niceness. Being with Theo gave her a feeling like she was smiling with her whole body. “I wish I could go wherever you’re going today. But Mom needs us at the café. I have to bake a zillion more cupcakes and make some brownies or something. I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Do you need an assistant?”

  She smiled. “Why? Are you interested in assisting?”

  “I’d like to help. To learn how to do it. That is, if you don’t think I’ll slow you down.”

  “Doesn’t your family want to see you?”

  “They do, but—it’s awkward. My parents act like they’re afraid I’ll disappear again. When I’m home they watch me nonstop. If I leave the room and don’t come back in five minutes, one of them comes looking for me. And then there’s Thurston.”

  “Your brother’s acting weird, too?”

  “Yeah … like he doesn’t know me. It’s hard to talk to him. I keep feeling like I must be doing something wrong, or not acting human enough.”

  “You’re one hundred percent human, Theo. You’re not doing anything wrong.”

  “I don’t know what it is, then. We were really good friends before the curse. He used to beat me up occasionally, but that was normal brother stuff. I really missed him. As much as I missed you and Ruby. Maybe more. He’d known me when I was my real self, so all my memories of being human were tied up with him. Playing video games, betting who could get across the monkey bars faster. Pretending to drive my dad’s boat—like we were spies or pirates. I used to love being with you and Ruby because the way you were together reminded me of me and my brother. Except you guys never punched each other. You beat up on bears instead.”

  Pearl flushed. “I think that was because we liked you. Well—I can only speak for myself. But I think I liked you so much that … it scared me a little. In my diary I used to write about ‘my love’ for the prince—”

  “You did?”

  She laughed, then winced. It was so embarrassing. “When you weren’t around it was easy to think like that. It all seemed clear, and obvious, and romantic. But when you were actually in the room—when you were real—it was scarier. The possibility of being loved back was almost too exciting. I had to push that away. Or kick it away, as the case may be.”

  “Or beat its fat, furry ass with a broom.”

  Pearl laughed. “I did that to get the leaves off your coat!”

  “So you said.” But Theo was smiling. She leaned her head against his shoulder and wondered if that was okay. If she should ask Ruby if it was okay. She wondered—

  “It makes me happy, knowing that,” Theo said quietly. “That you—that I was important to you. You and your sister were so important to me.… When I left, it was because—well, I guess I was scared, too. The way you described. Liking you so much, and wanting you to like me, but being afraid to want it, too. Because I wasn’t human. And I didn’t know then if I ever would be. It wasn’t like the fairy who cursed me sat me down and explained everything.

  “All I knew was that that guy with the beard told a fairy I’d stolen from her. I was on my way home when I saw him. He’d gotten his foot caught in a hole and tripped, and there was a sack in front of him. It’d spilled open and all these jewels and coins were in the grass. I couldn’t stop staring. My mom had a lot of jewelry, but I’d never seen gold coins and giant diamonds and stuff. You probably know what happens next.”

  “The fairy.”

  “I didn’t know she was a fairy at first. I just knew she was angry. She ran up to us, screaming about her treasure, how dare we steal from her—and I started denying it. But I was a kid and I was pretty afraid of her. I guess I didn’t sound convi
ncing. When the bearded guy told her I was a liar, that he’d seen me running away with a bag of treasure and had tried to stop me and I’d tripped him, she didn’t even think about it. She pointed her wand at me and changed me into a bear.

  “I knew the ‘Snow White and Rose Red’ tale, but I didn’t realize that was my curse until later. I hadn’t been marked until that moment. And my märchen mark was hidden by fur. So I knew the bear prince killed the ungrateful dwarf in the story, but I didn’t know I was that bear. I didn’t know what curse I was in. East of the Sun, or Goldilocks, or …

  “When I met you and your sister, everything clicked. Though I still didn’t know how I was supposed to free myself. Yesterday, when I saw you two again … something drew me to that place. I can’t explain it. Just an instinct to go there. To be there. Right then.”

  “Fate,” Pearl murmured.

  Theo slid his flour-dusty fingers between hers. It felt … both more innocent and more intense than any hand-holding she’d done before. Pearl had never been in a serious relationship. All her dates had been double dates with Ruby—almost like going out with her sister and allowing two boys to tag along. Prom, dinners, movies. There had never been someone who’d made her feel short of breath or shy. Before Theo, the boys she’d dated had been like Cinderella’s ball gown—good until midnight. By the next day, they’d lost their magic.

  “I should probably get started on those cupcakes,” Pearl said.

  “We should.”

  “You really want to help?”

  Theo nodded. “As long as you’re not making any bear-shaped desserts.”

  “No. Not today.”

  Pearl opened her hand. His touch was gone, but in a way she still felt it. The memory of the sensation clung to her fingers—like sticky dough, like fragrance.

  “Let’s get to work,” she said.

  Thurston ended up staying until the end of Ruby’s shift. He was in and out of the café all day—at his table, messing with his phone; then on the sidewalk out front; then back again, watching Ruby, taking her picture and probably uploading it somewhere with a caption like I am never dating this girl.