“I can’t tell if you’re praying or falling asleep standing up.” His voice came from the fence line, and Sadie snapped her eyes open. His hair was damp, and she could smell him from there. Cedarwood soap and a hint of pepper. He had a bottle of wine in each hand and wore a smile that wedged between Sadie’s rib cage like a tickle. “We need to talk about something,” he added.
“About the fact that you’re spying on me?”
“You know, in the city, I lived in an apartment with paper-thin walls. I could hear the families on both sides. All the drama. When the kid would come home past curfew. When the husband would stay out too late drinking. It was like my own personal soap opera I couldn’t turn off. Made me think of you.”
“Are you calling me dramatic?” she demanded, her eyebrows shooting up.
“Not if I value my life,” he said with mock seriousness. “But I remember you always eavesdropping on people and whispering their secrets to me.”
“I forgot about that.” She smiled. “I never was good with boundaries. I wanted to know too much. What was it like? Living in the city?”
“You’d hate it,” he said, grinning, and then proceeded to regale her with stories before asking questions about what had changed since he left. As they talked, Sadie felt her guard slipping. He was so much more than the boy she’d fallen in love with so long ago. He was a constellation of memories and fresh revelations. A man who held her gaze when she spoke, and didn’t just hear her, but actually listened. And she found herself wanting to talk more because of it. He was laughing at her story of the old ladies in neon joggers who always tried to set Sadie up with their grandsons, when there was a shriek from inside the house.
“What the hell?” he asked, alarmed.
“I think another one of my aunts is here,” Sadie said. “We’re definitely going to need those,” she said, her eyes tracking to the wine in his hands. “And maybe a few more.”
Jake followed her back inside, and she could feel the centimeters between them, the tension rising as he got closer. And it was only once they were inside that she remembered he’d said they needed to talk about something. But the thought was interrupted by another scream.
“Annie, Annie, Anne!” Kay shrieked.
And there she was, Aunt Anne, being smothered by Kay. Sadie could feel the house welcoming her. The doors seemed to glow, as though begging her to walk through them. And over the smell of garlic from the kitchen, Sadie could detect a light undertone of gardenia that seemed to follow Anne wherever she went. The cupboards in the kitchen rattled, asking Anne to make use of them, knowing she was the only one of them, besides Gigi and Sadie, that would do them justice.
“You know what those heels make you look like?” were the first words out of Anne’s mouth.
“Shut up!” Kay cried as Tava laughed and the sisters all hugged each other.
Anne was exactly halfway in height between Tava and Kay, with stick-straight hair that refused to curl, no matter what, and a series of expressions on her narrow face that all meant business. She was short and slight to Kay’s tall and slender, and both were beautiful in the way of their sharp cheekbones and thin noses, like paintings of old.
“Well, really! Who let the milkman’s daughter in here, anyway?” Anne teased Kay, hugging Seth next. “We all know it’s true. Mother just won’t admit it. But she doesn’t look like the rest of us, and she’s a freaking Amazon. I mean, look how tall she is!”
“Anne!” Kay screeched in outrage while they all knew she secretly loved it.
“I’ll order you a DNA kit for Christmas, and we’ll just see, won’t we?” Anne said, barely able to keep a straight face as she pulled Sadie into a strong hug.
“Mommy!” Kay screamed this time, stomping into the kitchen. “Anne is making fun of me again!”
“It’s just too easy.” Anne smiled at Sadie, holding her at arm’s length. “You look beautiful, as always.”
“Where’s Uncle Steven?” Sadie asked.
“In South Africa, opening another branch. He should be back in a few weeks. And the kids wanted to be here, but Emily has her new baby and John’s kids are in school. She hugged Seth and Raquel, was reintroduced to Jake, and proceeded to talk his ear off for the next ten minutes about his parents and Rock Creek House, asking him eight thousand questions but only letting him answer half. Anne’s magic was as straightforward as she was. If something needed to get done, Anne was the general who not only issued orders that people were compelled to follow, but she was also on the front line, getting her hands dirty and making sure the campaign was executed flawlessly. However, that meant her brain was always going a hundred miles an hour, jumping to the next thing she needed to know or get done.