"Welcome back," I said. "Rest well?" He nodded and grinned sheepishly. I saw him lick a stray drop of milk from his lip. A curious expression flashed across his face and he turned away smacking his lips.
Jim had located Neeka's dress and was helping her into it. He seemed much more at ease with her now. Before, he had spoken of her so highly that I had been afraid he would be standoffish in her presence. That was gone now. In fact, he seemed to be looking at her with genuine affection. As a bonding exercise, this nursing thing was a raving great success. I was certainly looking forward to doing it again soon.
We all took turns in the bathroom under the stairs. I remembered being surprised the first time I had been in there that it was a full bath with a shower/whirlpool tub and a closet full of towels. At the time, I thought that that might be because of all the exercise equipment at one end of the family room, the weight benches, stair climber, and treadmill next to the window. If you worked up a sweat, the shower was close by. Now I believed that it was just a case of the Reynolds' being thorough. The whole place had obviously been built to order for them. The sundeck on the roof was just one example of their creative ideas.
When the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of Lori and Sara, we all went upstairs to welcome them. I only knew Lori and Sara from school, so I was impressed by how good they looked when they were dressed-up. Their oval faces, framed by their dark, shoulder-length hair, looked remarkably similar, even for sisters. They could have passed for twins, expect for a two-inch difference in height and Lori's slightly leaner face and more mature demeanor. They both had small breasts and slim figures, which they accentuated by wearing low-cut stretch jeans and platform sandals. Both also wore similar knit tops with thin straps. Their tops were short, and left a wide bare midriff, which showed off their well-defined stomach muscles. The embroidery on their jeans and the color of their tops were the only differences in their outfits. The similarity of dress made them look even more like twins. For them to do that, they must have been very close. Most of the girls I knew who had sisters often spoke of them more as a handicap, if not an outright nuisance. When I saw how they had dressed alike, I knew my guess about their relationship had been right and I decided to exercise my bad habit of pushing my luck.
I looked out the door past the two girls and saw their mother sitting in her car at the curb. I waved to her and she waved back. Before the superfluous introductions could begin, I asked Lori and Sara, "Quick! What time is she going to pick you up?"
Lori was startled at the urgent question, but said, "10:30" and looked at me for further explanation.
I asked, "Want to stay all night? No thinking, no debate, yes or no?"
Lori blinked once and said, "Yes." I looked at Sara, who glanced at Lori before echoing, "Yes!"
"Everybody come with me." I said. "Jim, Bud - I want to hear some 'yes, ma'am's. Lori, Sara - Smile and nod. Neeka — counter duty." I took Neeka and Lori by the hand and we ran out to talk to Mrs. Henderson.
Seeing the six of us come out to greet her put her in an unfamiliar situation. Like many mothers of teenaged girls she had got used to being treated as an embarrassing necessity when it came to her daughter's social lives. I was sure that most of the time when she dropped her daughters off somewhere, she never got so much as a wave, much less a visit so she could meet the friends. My brief, but very intense and highly enlightening relationship with Mrs. Reynolds had given me new insight into older women. The insight was mainly that thinking of them as 'older women' was absurd and insulting. Age did not change people very much. If you treated people as your equal they would relate to you as such. If you treated them as your friend, they would accept you almost unconditionally.
Mrs. Henderson stepped out of the car as we came up, something I was grateful for, since it made eye contact much easier.
"Hi," I said, deliberately not calling her 'Mrs. Henderson'. "I'm Samantha Kramer. I haven't seen you for a while. How have you been?"
"Fine, thank you." She responded. "Yes, the last time I saw you was at the county fair a couple of years ago. You have certainly grown." I could see she was referring to horizontal, rather than vertical development. She seemed impressed, but not quite sure how to relate to me. I closed the gap and took her hand, companionably. People find it very hard not to like you if you are touching them.
"Thank you." I said in a confidential tone that indicated that I understood her meaning. "I went through a growth spurt a short while ago and this was the result. I'm still trying to get used to them. Listen, would you like to come in for a minute?"
The invitation put her more at ease than anything. "Oh I really can't," she said, "Bill's waiting for me at home. We're going out to dinner."
"Well, I just wanted to say hi and see if you knew everyone. I think you know Jim and Bud over there. And this is..."
Neeka took her cue perfectly. "Monique Morgan." She said, extending a hand. I transferred the one I was holding so contact would be maintained. "We have only met professionally. You were in my coffee shop last week. I wanted to tell you that we got in some more of that French Roast blend that you liked." Businesswoman Monique impressed even me. She came off as quite mature.
"Thank you, Monique. I'll stop by early in the week for a pound of that. It was delicious."