The Ties That Bind (10 page)

I sat on the futon. "Two years at least for chef school. I hope he comes back and opens a restaurant."

"Same here. But who knows? Maybe he'll meet Mr. Right out there and things will change."

"Maybe Mr. Right will know that Albuquerque is where he needs to be with John, and he'll go in on the restaurant with him."

"I'd like to think so."

I lapsed into silence, trying to decide whether I should tell Chris about what happened last night. It seemed stupid, in the light of day.

"Kase? Hello?"

"Something kind of strange happened last night," I started, staring at the floor between my feet.

"What?" she asked, tension in her voice.

"It seems lame, now, but last night..." I ran a hand through my hair and told her what had happened the night before and where my thoughts had led me.

"Skinwalkers? Jesus, K.C.," she said when I finished. I visualized Chris rubbing her forehead, perplexed, wondering how the hell her best friend had managed to get from anal academic to freaked out paranormal researcher.

"I know. It's nuts. But I've never seen Sage like this and I guess I ran with it."

"Good thing we're coming over tomorrow night. Nothing pizza won't fix. And Kara might help settle things down, too."

"Maybe. But you know she and I don't get along all that well," I said with a sigh.

"Still, she's a distraction. It'll help. And stop researching shit like skinwalkers. Once Sage's dad turns up, things'll settle."

"Thanks,
mujer
. I needed your no-nonsense cop view on this."

"
De nada
. Say hi to Sage and tell Kara we'll see her tomorrow.
Hasta.
"

"Will do. Bye." I hung up and scratched my head before I stood and slid my phone into the left-hand cargo pocket of my shorts. I finished making Kara's bed and returned to the linen closet for a clean set of towels and two pillows. I placed all those items on the bed as well. I checked my watch. Almost three. If Kara had been normal, she'd arrive around six. Because Kara wasn't quite like other people with regard to time, I figured she'd arrive around nine. Sage, on the other hand, would get in around five. I set to work cleaning the house, which involved scrubbing the bathroom, sweeping the hardwood floors and the linoleum in the kitchen, then vacuuming the rugs. On a roll, I also mopped the floors and put a load of laundry in. I was in the process of sweeping off the back porch when Sage yelled from the front door.

"Honey, I'm home!"

I leaned the broom against the house and went into the kitchen just as she entered from the living room. "Hey, awesome girlfriend." I pulled her into a hug. "How are all those old guys?"

She giggled. "Did I hook up with a boring academic or a surfer dude?"

"Both. Keeps things interesting." I released her and studied her face. I didn't see the night before in her eyes, and a surge of relief swept through my torso.

"Did you get your syllabi done?" She kissed my neck, sending chills down my arms.

"I have one more to tweak. Do you think reading
Mein Kampf
is a bad idea for my intro class?" I asked with a "golly" tone.

"The whole thing? Or the intro?" Sage raised an eyebrow and it took me a second to realize she was teasing me right back.

I grinned at her. "So when you were shopping in the cosmic lesbian store, did you specifically
ask
for someone who does what I do? Or were you maybe a little too vague with your request for a girlfriend?"

Sage smiled and kissed me again. "I got exactly what I wanted. And thanks for cleaning the house. Have you heard from Kara?" She moved away and opened the fridge. She took the pitcher of herb tea out and poured herself a glass.

"No. But she's on Kara time, so we'll be asleep when she gets here. Oh, Chris and Dayna are coming over tomorrow night at seven for pizza."

"Good. Do you want to do Il Vicino or--"

"I'm kind of over upscale pizza. I want big, yummy, basic pie."

"Ooo! Giovanni's!"

"And that's why I love you," I said.

"I'll stop by on my way home tomorrow. I have that damn meeting at five. Do we have beer?" Sage set her glass on the counter. "Well, wait. If Chris is working on Friday, she won't be drinking. Dayna'll drink wine. What does Kara drink?"

I thought about that and realized I had no idea. "I'll ask her when she gets here."

"Hellooo," came a voice from the front porch.

"Speaking of which--" Sage said and smiled.

"Hey, Kara," I yelled back as I headed toward the front, surprised that she was here at a reasonable hour. "What the hell do you drink?"

"Whatever the hell I want," she retorted, laughter in her voice. She opened the door and met me halfway, hugging me so hard I lost my breath. "Hey, big sis. You look great. Albuquerque's been good to you this time." She looked past me. "Hi, Sage. It's your influence, I know."

Sage laughed and hugged her. "Hi. How was the drive?"

"Nice. Mellow."

"You cut your hair," I said, running my hand over her head. "Damn. Shorter than mine." Kara had generally worn her hair past her shoulders. Like me, she'd gotten our father's thick, dark brown wavy hair.

"It looks cute," Sage interrupted, saving me from further older sibling inanities.

"It does. You look great, Kare." I gave her another hug. "It's good to see you." I meant it. "Okay, time for the grand tour, since you haven't been here."

"Cool. Lead on."

After Sage and I showed Kara around, she and I went to her car--a newer model Mazda sport sedan--and retrieved her luggage. I hefted her duffle bag to my shoulder and took her laptop case in my other hand.

"You're so butch," she teased as she closed the trunk of her car.

"Like you'd know what that is," I snapped back good-naturedly.

She didn't respond right away and instead gathered a few more things from the back seat. "I might," she said, flashing me an odd little smile.

I stared at her, wondering if my jaw fell off my face. "Shut up," I finally managed. "You're--"

"Geez, Kase. You look like a guppy." Kara reached over and pinched me on the cheek. "Yes, I've been with women. Why are you so surprised?"

"I--shit, I don't know. I guess I never even thought about it. I don't even ask Joely about
her
preferences."

Kara snorted. "Joely is so straight that if a woman asked her out, she'd think it was for a doubles match at a tennis tournament."

I stared at her again and then started laughing.

"She's like Mom. Completely het. Zero on the Kinsey Scale. Whereas you are a six. And I'm about a two or three." She locked the car and started toward the steps.

"You think I'm a six?" I followed her.

"Duh. You're so gay you make Melissa Etheridge look bi. You've been that gay since you came into the world. Oh, I mean, came
out
into the world." She flashed me a smile and opened the security door for me.

I preceded her into the house, rattled.
My sister is bi. And I had no clue.
I took her stuff into the office and set the duffle on the floor and the laptop on the bed. "Okay," I said, for lack of anything else to say in the wake of her revelation.

"Do you mind if I put some of my stuff on your desk?" she asked.

"No, go ahead. And use the closet, too. There's some extra shelving in there."

"Right on." She started doing just that, methodically emptying her duffle bag. I realized I didn't know how long she was planning on staying. She'd said "a few days" but with Kara, that could mean anything. On the other hand, she had arrived here around five-thirty and not ten.
What's up with her?

"There's room in the bathroom for your shampoo and whatever else," I offered. "We've got shelf and shower space."

"Thanks." She continued unpacking. I watched her and it dawned on me that of my sisters, she looked most like me in facial features, though she'd gotten the dark Italian eyes while I'd gotten the hazel blend. I'd gotten the height, though five-six wasn't all that. Kara stood about three inches shorter and where I was more angular and boyish she had softer edges and curves.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at me quizzically. "Are you still freaked?"

"Um..."

She started laughing. "You are
so
easy to read."

I opened my mouth to retort but stopped myself, deciding that I wanted to work on not repeating old patterns with her. "Okay, yeah. I
am
a little freaked. I had no idea. And I guess I feel kind of badly about it because I never asked. I just assumed you were exclusively interested in guys."

"I've never been. And don't feel bad. It's not like I ever volunteered much information about my personal life."

I stared at her, knowing I probably looked like a guppy again.
Who the hell
is
this? Where's Kara?

She grinned. "Get Sage. Let's go eat." She hustled me into the front room. "And I'm buying."

"YOU KNOW WHY you have issues with her," Sage said after we'd gotten back from dinner.

I looked over at her, knowing she'd tell me whether I wanted to hear it or not.

"You two are a lot alike." Sage took a sip of her coffee and continued gazing into the fire that burned in the chiminea out on our back patio. She sat in a plastic lawn chair to my left, elbows braced on the armrests. Kara was inside checking her e-mail and getting ready for bed.

I took a sip of wine and stared into the flames. My mom had said the same thing. "Maybe you're right," I admitted.

Sage didn't respond right away. After a long moment, she said, "Interesting that she told you she's bi."

"Interesting?" I glanced over at her. "Downright nutso. I never saw that coming."

Sage quirked an eyebrow at me and her expression said "how could you not have known?"

"Oh, c'mon," I muttered. "She always had boyfriends when we were growing up."

"Clearly, not all of them were boys," Sage said. "I wondered about her when I first met her."

"Well, why didn't you clue me in?" I asked with a touch of irritation.

Sage giggled. "You're so cute when you're frustrated."

I clenched my jaw muscles.

"Honey, would you listen to yourself? Kara's personal life is her business. If you want to know about it, you need to ask her."

"I know." I lapsed into silence, trying to figure out who my younger sibling really was.

"You're feeling guilty because you didn't know that about her and you feel that maybe you screwed up as a sister." Sage took another sip from her cup.

"I don't even know why we have these conversations," I groused. "Do you know how it can suck sometimes to be in love with a psychic?"

She sighed with long-suffering patience. "There's no mystery to paying attention."

I took her right hand in my left. "I'm sorry. It's just--shit. I don't know who Kara really is. And I guess it's bothering me."

"Well, here's your chance," she said, pulling my hand to her lips and kissing the back of it.

We sat like that in comfortable silence for a while, until the fire collapsed into coals and the coals began to disintegrate into ash. At that point, we stirred and I set my wine glass on the flagstone and poured water over the remnants of the coals from the bucket I kept handy. Sage waited for me and when I was sure the fire was out, I picked up my glass and followed her into the house. Once inside, I locked the back doors and turned the outside light on. We set our cup and glass down next to the sink and then we both went into the front room where Sage checked the locks on the security door and the inner door. She drew the curtains over the windows and checked the front porch light then turned and slid her arms around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder. I held her close, sinking into the warmth emanating from her body and the comfort I found within her arms.

"Bedtime," she said.

I released her and followed her toward our bedroom, checking on Kara's door. It stood partially open and her room was dark. I smiled. She'd always left her bedroom door open when she slept, ever since we were kids. She told me once when she was in high school that it helped energy flow. I figured it was because in the Flagstaff winters, it helped with heating. Energy. Heat. Same thing, in some ways. I did my pre-bed ministrations and waited under the covers for Sage. She turned out the light on her bedside table and slid in next to me. I snuggled against her.

"I love you," she said before she kissed me and wrapped herself around me.

"I love you, too. Good night." I stroked her hair, thinking about the day. Sage relaxed and her breathing deepened. I listened to her for a few minutes, hoping this whole weird situation with her dad would blow over like Chris said, and that whatever unfolded did so without any wrinkles. I pulled Sage a little closer and allowed myself to sink into sleep as well.

Chapter Six

I SPENT THURSDAY morning finishing up my syllabi and answering e-mails. The editor at the University of California Press told me to start rounding up contributors for the volume they wanted me to edit on extremists. Good news there. I finished up and stretched. The clock on my computer read 12:34. Time for lunch. I went into the kitchen and made myself a chicken sandwich.

Kara had been up already and she'd made coffee
and
breakfast for us. She was freaking me out. I chewed and swallowed.
Maybe I'll just sit down with her and talk.
There's a new one. Me talking to Kara. Really talking. I retrieved a half-full bottle of Tazo iced tea from the fridge and shook it up before opening it for a drink. Then, as if cooking for us wasn't messed up enough, she cleaned up. After she showered, she said she was going exploring and she'd be back in time for dinner with Chris and Dayna. She left before Sage did, before I remembered to give her the spare key to the house, which I set on the table in the front room so I wouldn't forget again.

My cell phone rang from the office. I swallowed the bite I had taken and jogged into the other room. I didn't recognize the number, though it was preceded by the New Mexico area code.