Page 2 of Who We Think We Are

W hen Kate pulls up to her house, the driveway is empty.

Thank God Jake’s not home yet. I need some alone time.

In her bedroom, Kate looks down at the grass stains on the knees of her capris with disgust, tears them off, and throws them in the trash.

She pulls on some yoga pants and a hoodie, brushes her teeth, and heads to the kitchen.

She mixes a stiff gin and tonic with lots of lime and ice, goes outside, and sits in the gazebo in GG’s garden.

She takes a sip and grimaces. The G hi, Chun. Good to see you here at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday of the Labor Day weekend. I’m going golfing. ”

“Whatever,” says Kate, and she turns back to her assistants, doubly annoyed because even when he’s being a jerk, he is tall and handsome, tanned with blue eyes and dark wavy hair.

A little later, Suze drops by with her dog, Max, Coco’s blonde twin.

Coco is yelping, wagging her tail, and jumping all over Max.

They’re from the same litter and are best friends, kind of like her and Suze, except she and Suze aren’t exactly from the same litter.

Suze is Jewish, from the Kantor side of their interfaith “family.” Kate is a Hathaway and from the Christian side of their “family.”

“Good morning, everyone. What’s happening?” Suze helps herself to a cup of tea and one of the pastries Kate has set out on GG’s table.

For the first time in her life, Kate has trouble looking Suze in the eye.

Oma was a Nazi , she keeps thinking. But Suze’s familiarity and friendliness put her a little at ease enough to pretend things are still normal, that her world and their relationship will always be the same. Oh, stop being melodramatic!

“Good morning, Susie,” says Liling.

“Her name is not Susie, Liling. It’s Suze, as in booze or shoes, both of which Suze is fond of,” says Kate.

Suze laughs. “Never gets old, does it, Kate?”

“Nope, never. These are GG’s Holocaust letters. I’ve decided to start going through them, and Liling and Chun are scanning and sorting them with me.”

“Of course they are.” Suze laughs.

“I’m looking for some letters that will give historical background on Grandma’s Table for our presentation to the board. GG said there are letters in here about that, among other things.”

“Grandma’s Table is your nonprofit organization, right?” asks Chun.

“Yup,” says Suze. “Grandma’s Table was created in 1946 by Kate’s great-grandmother, Flo, and my grandmother, Rachel, to help Jewish refugees who moved to Vancouver after World War II. But since refugee crises never stop, here we are seventy years later, still going strong.”

Kate adds, “Suze is the executive director, and I’m a volunteer.”

“A volunteer.” Suze laughs. “Kate’s the president and chairperson of the board. She is never just a volunteer. If Kate’s involved in anything, she’s the one in charge.”

“Like at work,” says Liling. “Chief control officer. I never even heard of such a thing before I started at Canamine.”

“Bingo! A position tailor-made for Kate Hathaway.” Suze is still laughing.

“We love her for it, right? She’s so good at it!

She gets to control a bunch of stuff for a huge corporation.

And look at her. She’s the picture of professionalism.

Always put together, even on a weekend morning.

She’s that person you love to hate. Tall, slender, big hazel eyes. She’d look good in a potato sack.”

“Stop it, Suze, you’re lovely. Just ask your wife! And you’re brilliant at leading the nonprofit,” says Kate.

“Good thing Anne likes short women with long, frizzy hair!”

“When we were young, the boys always liked Suze more than they liked me.”

“Too bad I liked girls. But yeah, the boys did like me. Because I made them laugh. They were just intimidated by you.”