thing, but, still, she would have had a husband to share it with. And children. Megan shook her head and stared into space, thinking about what might have been.
Linette walked out of the kitchen and could tell immediately by the expression on her sister’s face that something was troubling her greatly.
“What’s wrong? Did Mom and Dad call the cops on you?” Megan came out of her trance and walked past her sister into the kitchen. She threw her purse on the table and collapsed in a chair. She would have preferred the cops to Dylan’s revelation.
“Worse. I went to see Dylan. I found out everything, Linette. Will you grab the yellow pages? Look up Prozac and see if you can get someone who delivers, please?”
Linette rolled her eyes and sat down next to her sister. She patted her back awkwardly, not sure what to do.
“Trust me, they don’t deliver, I’ve tried. But if you want something to cheer you up, dinner is already made and, I’m not much of a judge, but I think it’s going to be pretty good.”
Megan looked at her sister suspiciously and sniffed the air.
Holy cow. Someone had been cooking. Italian!
“You’ve got to be kidding me! You got carry-out for me? I knew there was a reason I liked you so much. Let’s dig in.”
Linette laughed and shrugged her shoulders.
“I didn’t have to. Someone named Cora came by with bags of food. I’ve never seen anything like it. She forgot the Parmesan, so you just missed her, but she said she’ll be back in ten minutes. She’s amazing, Meg. I really like her. Talking to her is like talking to a real person. And she says she’ll hire me to decorate her new house! Can you believe it? I graduate in less than a month and I already have a client.”
Megan and Linette grabbed each other by the arms and jumped up in the air together, laughing and whooping. Megan tilted her head towards heaven and smiled her thanks. Cora was turning out to be one huge blessing.
Cora walked right in, witnessing the sisters very apparent joy without even knowing the reason, she joined in the laughter. She knew it had been a good idea to just invite herself over. And she was never wrong.
“You two girls are a sight. You can’t tell me the thought of lasagna has you this excited.”
Megan walked over to Cora and hugged her silly, causing the older woman to turn red with embarrassment.
“Cora, you are a darling and just the person I needed to see on a day like today.”
Megan leaned in closer, so Linette couldn’t hear and added, “Thank you for making my sister so happy. You’re an angel.”
Cora winked at Megan and walked over to the stove to finish up. “Why don’t you girls set the table and I’ll get this masterpiece out of the oven.”
Megan and Linette exchanged glances of glee and rushed to grab the plates and forks, not even bothering to look for napkins. The smells coming from the oven were too divine. Cora proceeded to load up everyone’s plates as much as she could without having food spill out onto the table. Linette looked a little alarmed by so much food, but Megan knew it was good for her to be in a normal eating situation where people weren’t counting all of your calories for you. She needed to realize that eating was good. And when Cora cooked, it was even fun.
“Linette, would you mind saying the prayer?” Megan asked innocently.
When they were younger, Linette had always copied everything her older sister had done. She had even decided to take the missionary discussions along with her older sister and get baptized. Megan had a suspicion that’s where her sister’s religious education had ended.
Linette seemed startled by the request and looked down nervously. She didn’t want Megan to know that since she had moved out, not one prayer had been said at home. Linette was a little rusty when it came to heavenly communication. She stole a glance at Cora and winced, noticing that her eyes were already closed, waiting for the blessing to begin.
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
John O'Riley
Brenda Sinclair
Christopher George
Stephen Lloyd Jones
Karl Iagnemma
Celya Bowers
Jill Gregory
Aria Cunningham