It felt good to be happy. It felt even better to be excited about who was coming to dinner.
***
Katie jumped into the shower to freshen up before changing into turquoise capri pants and a white knit top with turquoise stripes. After slipping into a pair of sandals, she paused in front of the mirror.
Except for moisturizer, she wasn’t wearing makeup, and her face was pink from working out in the yard. Added to that were the strands of hair that had come down around her face from the ponytail she’d put it in earlier.
“I can’t believe he even offered the invitation with me looking like this,” she mumbled, and pulled out the elastic band, brushed her hair out, and left it loose.
With eyebrows naturally arching like wings and lashes as dark as her eyes, she opted for lip gloss only and went to get her phone and house keys.
Walking out of the house was like opening a door into a new dimension. Life had rejected her so many times that her trust had turned to rust. Thank God the offer had been hot dogs, or she would not have had the guts to walk across the street.
Her heart was pounding as she went up the steps and rang the doorbell. But her nervousness disappeared when she heard little girl squeals and running footsteps.
“I’ll get it! I’ll get it!” they shouted.
And then the door opened, and they were both hanging onto the knob, water droplets still visible on the fronts of their clothes, wearing smiles brighter than the polish on their toenails.
“Hello, girls,” Katie said.
“Hello, Miss Katie,” Beth said.
“Please come in,” Evie added.
Katie stepped over the threshold and shut the door behind her, and as she did, the twins both turned around and ran toward the kitchen, shouting, “Daddy, she’s here!” and left her standing.
Suddenly Sam appeared with a pair of tongs in one hand and a kitchen towel in the other. He was grinning.
“Well, at least they got you inside before they abandoned you. Feel free to approach,” he said, then waved the tongs. “Follow me.”
Katie’s laugh welled up behind him as he went back into the kitchen, and all he could think was how pretty she was, and that she was in his house.
The scent of hot dogs on the grill made Katie’s mouth water.
“Everything smells so good,” Katie said, and then looked at the girls standing sentinel at the table. “Oh my! How pretty this table looks.”
“We did it!” the girls said.
Katie clapped her hands. “Way to go! Everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be, even the napkins. I am so impressed!”
They beamed, then high-fived each other.
“You get to sit here,” Evie said, patting the back of a chair. “Daddy sits at the other end because it’s the rule. Beth and I have to look at each other when we eat and remind each other not to talk with our mouths full.”
Katie nodded, listening to them rattle. She’d learned a long time ago that the easiest way to communicate with children was let them do the talking and comment only when necessary. And this was one of those times.
And then Sam interrupted both of them.
“Thank you, girls. Now Katie is going to come outside with me while I finish grilling. You can come with us, or you can go play until I call you.”
“We’ll come with you,” Evie said.
“With you,” Beth echoed.
“There are cold drinks in the refrigerator,” Sam said. “Would someone grab a Pepsi for me, and help yourself,” he said, and hurried out to the grill.
Smoke billowed as he opened the lid.
The girls were at the fridge.
“Miss Katie, what do you want to drink?” Beth asked.
“I’ll take a Pepsi, too,” she said.
Evie grabbed one for Katie, and then handed her another one. “This one is for Daddy.”
“Got it,” Katie said, and walked out behind the girls, who were carrying their juice boxes.
She sidled up close to Sam to hand him his drink, and when he turned around to take it, they almost bumped heads.
“Sorry. I’m as bad as the girls. No filter. No sense of personal space,” he said.
“No harm done,” Katie said, and settled into a folding chair near where he was standing.
Sam unscrewed the lid on the pop, took a quick drink, set it aside, and pointed his tongs at Katie.
“How do you like your dogs? Faint grill marks? Definite grill marks? Or black on at least one side?”
“Um, black on one side, for sure,” she said.
Sam smiled. “You just keep getting better and better,” he said, and then was so shocked that he’d said that out loud that he turned around and began turning over the wieners as if his life depended on it.
“Daddy, we don’t want any black,” Evie said.
“No black dogs,” Beth added.
“I’m on it,” he said, and pulled a couple of wieners away from direct heat.
The girls moved to where Katie was sitting and began eyeing everything about her.
“I like your pants,” Evie said.
“You have pretty knees,” Beth added.
“And your shirt matches, doesn’t it?” Evie asked.
“Do you polish your toes?” Beth asked.
Katie leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and their conversation began.
“Thank you for the compliments, girls.”
“What are compaments?” Evie asked.
“Yeah, that,” Beth echoed.
“It’s when you say something nice to someone. Like when I said what a good job you two did setting the table? That was a compliment.”
“I knew that,” Evie said.
“I knew it, too,” Beth echoed.
Katie grinned, then glanced up at Sam and caught him watching them. And then Evie was in Katie’s personal space, leaning against one side of her chair and Beth was leaning on the other. They were so close, she could see her reflection in their eyes. They were so endearing, it was all she could do not to reach down and hug the both of them.
Then they spoke in unison.
“Miss Katie, can you tell us apart?”
Katie had already nailed their differences the day she met them. Evie was the boss, and Beth was the one who gave in. Evie had a tiny mole on the right side of her mouth. Beth had one on the left side.
“I sure can.” She pointed her finger. “You’re Evie, and you’re Beth!”