Page 42 of Twin Jeopardy

He sat up. “I’ll make coffee,” he said. “And breakfast. But then I have to leave. I promised my dad I’d play golf with him today, and he likes to get an early tee time.”

“My mom is making Sunday dinner for my brother and his girlfriend,” Tammy said. “I need to be there too.”

Vince pulled on his jeans, then looked over his shoulder at her. “I’d rather be with you.”

That look—a little possessive, a lot lustful—sent a tremor through her. “I’d rather be with you too,” she said. “But family is important.”

“Of course it is.” He opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a shirt. She began dressing also. Even if he had never put it into words, she figured he felt the same obligation she did. It wasn’t enough that they be their parents’ children. They had to try to make up for their missing sibling, impossible as that might be.

They parted at his front door with a passionate kiss. “See you later?” he asked.

“For sure.”

She had texted her mother the night before to let her know she was spending the night “with a friend” and expected a full interrogation, and maybe a lecture, when she walked in. Instead, the only thing her mother said was, “I need you to set the table while I finish the rolls. Use the wedding china.”

Tammy set down her bag and followed her mother into the kitchen. “This is just a casual dinner,” she said. “You don’t need to use the wedding china.” The service for twelve had been a wedding gift from Tammy’s great-grandmother, and was only used on holidays and special occasions. The rest of the time, it was displayed in a large buffet on one side of the dining room, dutifully removed and hand-washed each quarter to prevent a buildup of dust.

“This is the first time Mitchell has brought anyone home for dinner.” Her mother began shaping dough into rolls and arranging them in a buttered pan. “I want everything to be special.”

“You don’t have to worry about impressing her, Mom,” Tammy said. “She should be worried about impressing you.”

“Just looking at Elisabeth, you can tell she comes from money.” Mom plopped another roll in the pan. “She’s used to fancy things.”

“Did Mitch tell you that—that she comes from money?”

She paused in the act of shaping another roll. “No, but it’s obvious. Those clothes she wears didn’t come from the discount store, and I’m sure her haircut cost at least a hundred dollars.”

“If Elisabeth likes Mitch, it’s not because he has money,” Tammy said, trying to quell her annoyance. “It shouldn’t matter what kind of plates we serve dinner on.”

“Still, I want to make a good impression.”

Tammy went to the buffet and began removing four plates. “If I’d known this was going to be such a big deal, I would have invited a friend,” she called back to her mother.

“You can invite your friend some other time,” her mother said. “Today, I think the focus should be on Mitch and Elisabeth.”

The excitement in her mother’s voice set off alarm bells. Tammy returned to the kitchen. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Is something happening I should know about?”

Her mother smiled—something she did so seldom the transformation of her features shocked Tammy. “I don’t know for sure, but Mitch hinted around that he’s serious about this young woman. I think he might propose soon. She could be part of our family before long, and I want her to feel welcomed.”

“He’s only known her a couple of weeks,” Tammy said. “She hasn’t even said if she’s going to stay in town.”

“If they marry, of course she’ll stay in Eagle Mountain,” her mother said.

Tammy returned to the dining room and tried to process this turn of events as she set the table. Her mother could be wrong. She might be reading more into the relationship than was there.

Then again, Elisabeth’s eagerness to have lunch with Tammy last week could have been a way of reaching out to someone she saw as a future sister-in-law. A shudder went through her at the thought; then she immediately felt terrible. If her brother loved Elisabeth, Tammy would learn to love her too.

By the time Mitch and Elisabeth arrived, the table was set with the wedding china and fresh flowers, and the aromas of the Sunday roast and fresh-baked rolls perfumed the air. Elisabeth wore a sleeveless summer sheath in cherry-pink linen, with matching high-heeled sandals. Tammy, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt advertising a defunct local band, reminded herself she had nothing to be defensive about. “It’s good to see you,” she said.

“Everything looks lovely, Mrs. Patterson,” Elisabeth said.

“Not as lovely as you, dear,” Mrs. Patterson said. She had changed into slacks and a gauzy top Tammy had never seen before.

“Elisabeth always looks great,” Mitch said, and pulled her closer. She smiled up at him, a pleased-with-herself look. Though maybe that was Tammy projecting. She was beginning to realize this wasn’t going to be their usual laid-back Sunday meal.

For the next hour, Tammy’s mother and brother remained focused on Elisabeth, showering her with compliments and asking her about herself. But while she revealed the same details Tammy already knew—she was from Nebraska and her family had all died—that was all they got. “What kind of work do you do?” Mrs. Patterson asked.

“Oh, I’ve done a lot of different things,” Elisabeth said. “I helped my father manage his investments.”

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