“Oh, girls, I’m just so excited you’re finally here. I’ve been looking forward to sharing this exhibit with you for weeks!” Loretta said, opening the door for us. Instantly, I began to rethink the plan. Loretta was just trying to do something fun with us, and she sounded so excited. Her idea of fun pretty much sucked, but still. Her heart was in the right place. Plus the whoosh of warm air from the lobby was welcoming, and the inside of the museum smelled of mulled wine and spices.
Lauren stepped up the hacking. It was like she was auditioning for a role in a cough-drop commercial.
“Lauren, are you all right?” Loretta asked.
“I don’t know.” Lauren shot me a conspiratorial look. “My throat feels tight. I may be coming down with something.”
“No. You’re not. You just need some water.” I grabbed my sister’s arm. “I’ll take her to the bathroom and we’ll be right back.”
I dragged Lauren away toward a sign for the restrooms, where there was also a large, modern, filtered-water fountain one could use for a quick drink or to fill up a water bottle.
“What are you doing?” Lauren asked, wrenching her arm away. “I was this close to getting us out of here.”
“I don’t know. I feel bad for her. She just wants to show us some dishes. How bad could it be? We’ll be here for an hour, tops, and then you can take me to Sweets and whatever.”
“I don’t want to look at dishes!” Lauren protested, sounding very much like the younger sister in this scenario. “I want to go now!”
“Lauren, come on. Let’s just—”
Lauren’s phone beeped, and she checked the screen. “It’s Tarek. He wants me to meet him at Starbucks.”
My heart seized. “Don’t even—”
But Lauren was already staggering back toward Loretta, coughing up a lung. “I’m really sorry, Loretta,” she croaked. “I think I need to go lie down.”
“You do look a bit clammy,” Loretta said, which brought Lauren up short. I could tell she was trying very hard not to check her reflection in a window. “We’ll call the driver to take you home.”
“No! No, that’s okay. I’ll just get an Uber,” Lauren said. “I do it at home all the time. You two have fun looking at dishes, and I’ll see you back at the hotel.”
“Nonsense. I’m not putting you in a car with a stranger. We’ll call Tarek.”
Loretta took out her phone and turned her back to us while she talked to the exact person who wanted to see Lauren and convinced him to come to the museum to pick her up. I scowled at my sister, and Lauren stuck her tongue out in response.
“He’ll be here in five minutes,” Loretta informed Lauren as she ended the call. “You should wait on the benches over by the windows where there’s some sun. That should make you feel better.”
“Thanks, Loretta.”
Our grandmother turned to me. “Come along, Tess. I think we should start at the very beginning, don’t you? Seventeen-sixty-five. Just imagine. The country wasn’t even a country yet!”
“Just imagine!” Lauren said, clasping her hands in front of her.
It was all I could do not to tackle my sister to the ground. Lauren gave another cough for good measure, then slowly walked to the windows to wait for her date. I looked at Loretta. “Maybe we should go back to the hotel, too. Just in case Lauren needs us,” I attempted, trying to both get out of this chore and ruin Lauren’s afternoon all at once. “We can come back here another time.”
Or not.
“Nonsense. Your sister is practically a grown woman, Tess. She’ll be fine.” Loretta offered her arm. “Besides, you should never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
I gritted my teeth. Suddenly Christopher’s suggestion about my new year’s resolution came roaring back to me, filling my ears. He was right. It was about time I started doing things for myself once in a while. About time I stopped being such a people-pleaser. But my grandmother was right, too. There was no point in putting it off until New Year’s Eve. I was going to start changing my life today. Right now.
Or as soon as I finished checking out two hundred fifty years’ worth of famous dishware.
“Daniel, hello!” Loretta greeted the front desk manager as we walked through the lobby of the Evergreen Lodge. “How is Trevor doing? Is he recovering from that flu?”
“He’s doing well,” Daniel replied. “And he loved the flowers you sent.”
“Melissa, don’t let me forget to show you that article about the new chef over at Pandalfo’s,” she called out to another worker. “You’re going to love his story.”
“I’ll stop by your office after my shift,” Melissa answered with a smile.
When Loretta paused to look over some paperwork from one of the decorators, I took the opportunity to slink away unnoticed. Or storm away, really. I had been holding on to pent-up anger and adrenaline for roughly two hours of boring dish viewing, and I was pretty much set to pop. I couldn’t believe Lauren had abandoned me, but I was even more annoyed at myself for not speaking up and telling Loretta I wasn’t interested. She was just such a force, though. It was hard to even imagine standing up to her.
But at the same time, she was somehow also one big softy. It was kind of amazing how she knew every single person who worked here by name, and also seemed to know intimate details of their lives and care about them. Even as irritated as I was about the way I’d spent my afternoon, I couldn’t help feeling proud of that fact.
It wasn’t Loretta’s fault, I reminded myself. She hadn’t done anything other than invite me along for an outing she thought I’d enjoy. I was the one who’d said yes. I was the one who’d pretended to be fascinated by scalloped edges and gold piping and hand-painted roses. I was mad at myself. Which was worse than being mad at someone else. I rounded the corner of the fireplace and found Christopher sitting in his usual spot.
“I just spent half my day listening to my grandmother postulating about the merits of bone china versus porcelain versus ceramic,” I announced. “That’s what I did with my afternoon.”
Christopher’s eyebrows rose, and he pushed himself up straighter. “Did you just use the word postulating in a sentence? Unironically?”
“I think I did!” I said, sitting down on the edge of the chair and putting my head in my hands, my elbows on my knees. My hair was coming loose from my ponytail in straggly chunks and I didn’t care. “I’m even starting to sound like her.”