Page 23 of Falling for Mindy

“It’s good wine,” I said, reconsidering. “Now go get changed before I eat all the dumplings. You’re way overdressed for this pajama party.”

“It’s not a pajama party. It’s sisters’ night,” she declared. “We’ll paint our nails and watch some movies. There’s a couple I’ve been wanting to catch on Netflix. If you haven’t actually watched all of Netflix yet, as many nights as you stay home,” she teased me.

“Keep up the attitude and I’ll eat every dumpling in this box just for spite,” I laughed.

She ran off to get into her pajamas while I spread out the food and wine on our coffee table and opened up the chopsticks. I took a bite of kung pao chicken and sighed with contentment. It was exactly what I needed. A quiet evening with delicious, garlicky food and my sister by my side. When she came back in the room, she was wearing a one-piece pajama suit with a hood pulled up to show her silver unicorn horn. I laughed.

“Where on earth did you get that?”

“It was on sale! Isn’t it the best? I’m going to wear it all winter and be cozy.”

“You look insane. Like a giant toddler,” I said.

“Yeah, you’re just jealous. I have a sparkly horn, and you’re just plain horny,” she said and laughed.

I rolled my eyes at her terrible joke and passed her the carton of chicken.

We ate and drank our wine and scrolled through the Netflix offerings until we picked out a few we wanted to watch. We started with a thriller that Katie chose. It had a hot guy in it. I was pretty sure he was a Hemsworth, but I knew if I asked, she’d give me hell for never knowing actors’ names. I just watched and shoveled delicious rice in my mouth.

After about half an hour, we were totally absorbed in the movie, sharing a blanket and whispering about what we thought was going to happen next, where the killer would strike. There was a scene at a restaurant, everything pretty and calm. I was cringing, bracing myself for the lead detective hot guy to get a call that there was another dead body. Instead, the detective’s wife ended up curled up on the ladies room floor having a miscarriage. I took a big drink of wine and couldn’t bring myself to look at the screen, not even when she was shown in a hospital bed, perfectly healthy and talking. Katie said something, some wisecrack about the guy’s hair, and I looked at her. She paused the movie.

“What’s wrong?” she said, concerned, “your eyes are huge.”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Must be the suspense.”

“This isn’t a suspenseful part. This is the get-invested-in-the-cop’s-personal-life subplot. I can tell something’s bugging you. Out with it, sis,” Katie insisted.

“Okay, I can’t really talk about it. There’s a woman at the job center where I’m interning, and the movie just reminded me of her.”

“You know I think you’re awesome, right? Like, I really admire you for how you want to help people. I’m art history—let’s travel, look at pretty stuff, talk about it to show how smart you are, that kind of thing. I’m not exactly Supergirl out here. But you’re out there changing lives and helping people, and that’s great, but you have to take care of yourself. Okay? For me? Because I need my big sister, so don’t go putting yourself in harm’s way.”

I hugged her. “You’re so sweet to worry about me, Kitkat, but I’m literally scrolling through job boards for possibilities and helping fill out applications. The biggest risk I’m taking is carpal tunnel syndrome from typing so much,” I reassured her.

“Good. Keep it that way. Let somebody else ride into battle, okay? I know you. I know you’re pretty fucking fearless when the chips are down.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you not remember when Greg Rambeaux tried to feel me up at after prom? I watched your dress rip down the seam when you yanked him back by the hair to get him off me and then started kicking his ass.”

“He had a hold of my little sister. He was supposed to be a nice guy, his mom worked with Dad, and you’d get to go to my senior prom as a sophomore. So much for that. He thought it was open season on fifteen-year-old girls. He was asking to have his ass kicked.”

“And my big sister ripped the dress she’d been paying on at Niemen Marcus for four months just to stand up for me,” she said fondly. “You’ve always been my hero.”

“And you’re mine. You live like it’s going out of style. Like you better make the most of everything. I’m pretty cautious. I mean, look how I’m spending Friday night,” I said.

“Hey, I’m spending Friday night right here beside you in a unicorn onesie, so watch what you say about your weekend plans. I’m the wild child and I’m right here on the couch, too,” she said, “so do you want to keep watching the movie or not?”

“Sure. Want some ice cream?”

“Definitely, but let’s wait a minute. I have sheet masks from the drug store. You want purifying or firming? You’re older. You get firming,” she teased and jumped up to get the masks so we could do at home facials.

“Thanks for staying in with me tonight. I love some sister time,” I told her.

“That’s ‘cause I’m fabulous,” she laughed lightly. But she was fabulous, and I wanted her to know I thought so, too. I let her play it off and make a joke, but I gave her a squeeze so she’d know I was serious about how special she was.

We flipped the movie back on, and I tried to put the shelter and my worries about the women out of my mind for the night.

CHAPTER 12

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