Page 22 of His Loving Wife

I was hoping he’d be back a half hour ago. The vegetables are roasting in the oven and the noodles are being kept warm on the stove, but we’ll have to wait for Andrew to cook the fish when he arrives.

There’s a noise outside. I walk to the front door but hear nothing. From behind, the sound returns, coming from the patio. Willow pulls back the sliding glass door and walks inside. She’s wearing a bikini top and unbuttoned denim shorts.

“What are you doing?”

“Just came in from the pool.”

“I thought you were already getting ready.”

“Chill, Mom. It’s just Aunt Aster.”

Looking at Willow, I don’t see anything wrong with the way she’s dressed, but I’m familiar with Aster’s standards. And anything unsatisfactory she sees in Willow won’t be aimed at her, but at me.

“Will you just wash up and put on something nice? Dinner should be ready soon.”

“Where are Dad and Noah?”

“Still getting the fish.”

“ButI’mthe one that better hurry,” she says, skulking down the hallway.

Before I can answer, there’s a knock at the front door. Aster is here, and the meal isn’t even close to being ready. I look back at Willow, no longer trying to disguise the frustration on my face.

“Please, just get dressed and help me set the table.”

“Fine,” she says bitterly.

I take a deep breath to compose myself and iron out my apron with my palms. I walk to the front door and open it.

“Katelyn!” Aster says, her arms already spread wide to give me a hug. She’s wearing a turquoise blazer and white linen pants. Behind her stands David, dressed in khaki shorts and a navy windbreaker. He makes a hmm sound and nods his head.

“Welcome,” I say, waving them in like this is my home, when we both know it’s not.

Aster charges forward, her head tilting upward to get a better look of the shiplap ceiling and massive fan.

“It’s nice. Not quite what I was expecting based on our conversation, but cute.”

I knew I was too brazen on the phone, although this is a dream rental by my standards. Aster is impossible to please.

“Two weeks here feels like a little slice of heaven,” I say.

“I’m sure. I’ve been teasing David the whole way over. What’s the point of owning a place if we only visit it a few days at a time?”

“Because the rental fee we charge covers the mortgage and then some,” David says. His voice has always reminded me of a dried-up slug, if I even knew what one of those sounded like.

“I guess that’s what we get for working nonstop,” Aster says. “It’s difficult to pull ourselves away.”

Unlike our jobs, where it’s so easy to drop what we’re doing, I think. Not important. I have to stop reading into everything she says, reacting as though it’s a dig. I should think better of her, but it’s hard. After all, I know my sister.

The front door swings open. Noah skips inside, stopping in front of Aster and David. He initiates a hug. Andrew walks in behind him carrying a Styrofoam cooler.

“Sorry we’re late,” Andrew says.

“We’ve just now arrived.” Aster nods at his hands. “What’s that?”

“This is our dinner for tonight.”

“Dinner?”