Mirror, The (28 page)

"I'm going to have to work on walking backwards," Ginny said as she stood up. "I suspect it might be an important skill to have when I'm around you."

Steve chuckled and pulled her close.

"I could have carried you through the door."

Ginny smiled.

"I like the sound of that."

Ginny threw her arms around his shoulders and lost herself in his embrace. Whatever else one could say about Steven Wayne Carrington, he was an Olympic-class kisser.

From the front door, the clumsy lovers stumbled their way through a short hallway to an unoccupied living room that was nearly as dark as the entry. If a creature was stirring in this house, he probably didn't have a martini in his hand.

"Did you say your folks went away for the weekend?"

"They drove to Portland," Steve said.

"How about Connie?"

"She's staying with a friend."

Ginny stepped back and took a good look at Steve's face. Even in the dark she could see a smile spreading across his face.

"Looks like you covered all your bases, Mr. Carrington."

"I've been looking forward to this, Ginny."

Steve leaned forward and kissed her hard. After another minute of perilous travel through the dark, furniture-filled living room, he grabbed her hand and led her toward the stairs. He got as far as the first step when she pulled back and halted the advance.

This time Ginny took the initiative. She loosened the top three buttons on his Oxford shirt and threw her arms around his shoulders before returning his affection.

"Are you ready?" Steve asked as he caught his breath.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Let me think about it," Ginny said. She smiled playfully. "Right now I want to go in the hot tub. I want to go out there at least once and not have to worry about your parents coming out."

Steve laughed and shook his head.

"You're kidding."

"No. I'm not."

"You're mean," Steve said. "My motor's already running."

Ginny laughed.

"Then you better turn it off and put the car in park."

Steve lifted his head and sighed.

"OK, ma'am. You win."

Ginny kissed him again, this time more softly. She grabbed both of his hands.

"I didn't bring a suit. Does Connie have a suit I can wear?"

"You really want one?"

"Yes. I want one. You have neighbors, Steve."

Steve smiled and shook his head again.

"You're something. You know that?"

Ginny nodded.

"I've known it since kindergarten."

Steve chuckled.

"OK. The hot tub it is. Connie leaves her suit in the sauna. I'll join you in a minute."

He gave her a quick kiss and headed up the stairs alone.

Ginny gave herself another few seconds to get used to the darkness and then walked the rest of the way through the living room to a hallway that led to two French doors and the backyard. When she opened the doors and stepped onto the patio, she couldn't help but notice the beauty of the place. The lawn, the creek, and even the trees, which swayed slightly in a cool breeze, all seemed more appealing in the absence of two hundred catty women and loud-mouthed drunks.

She walked around the pool, left her purse near the edge of the hot tub, and advanced to the sauna, a ten-by-twelve structure that Richard Carrington had added the previous year. When she stepped inside and flipped on a light, she found two suits hanging on hooks. The first, a dark blue one-piece, clearly belonged to Joyce. The second, a polka-dot bikini, clearly did not.

Ginny changed out of her yellow Dacron dress, which had become her favorite in 1964, and donned Connie's bikini. She felt a strange sense of satisfaction wearing the skimpy attire of a snotty young woman who undoubtedly saw herself as Ginny's superior.

When she finally emerged from the sauna, she glanced at the hot tub and found Steve sitting in the water wearing a smile and, surprisingly, a pair of green swim trunks. She had half expected him to come out of the house wearing nothing at all.

Ginny checked two neighboring houses for onlookers and then slowly walked to the edge of the sunken, cement-sided tub. Though it lacked buttons, bubbles, and other amenities of a modern spa, it was no less inviting.

Ginny slipped into the water, opposite Steve, and spread her arms across the tiled rim. A few seconds later, she sighed and wiped perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"I'll bet this is popular in January."

Steve smiled.

"Is it too hot for you?"

"It's OK," Ginny said.

"If it's not, just let me know."

"I will."

Ginny settled in and dipped her head below the surface. When she emerged from the depths, she shook the water from her eyes and stared at her boyfriend.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight. I had a lot of fun."

"It was my pleasure," Steve said.

Ginny knew the good times couldn't last, but she was the first to admit that she was in no hurry to see them end. She enjoyed being wined and dined, particularly when the wining and dining involved a
private
dinner cruise on Elliott Bay and a musical downtown.

"Thanks for being patient too," Ginny said.

"Patient? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your panting in the living room says otherwise."

Steve laughed.

"OK. It's been a challenge, but only because I'm completely smitten with you."

Ginny smiled sadly.

"I'm glad you like me, Steve, but I still don't know why you like me – or at least only me."

"What do you mean?"

Ginny paused a moment before answering.

"I mean you're handsome, considerate, and smart. You're headed to law school. You have all this," Ginny said as she pointed to the house with both hands. "Of all the women you could be dating now, why me?"

Steve extended a hand. When Ginny accepted it, he pulled her gently across the tub, lifted her on his lap, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I've been asked that question a lot. My parents have asked it, Connie has asked it, and some of my fraternity brothers have asked it. Even two ex-girlfriends – and, yes, I have old girlfriends – have asked it. I told them I'm dating you because you're the best."

Ginny studied Steve's face and looked for the sign. She looked for the smirk or the glint that suggested that his comment was nothing more than a line, a way to quickly separate her from her skimpy bikini, but she didn't find it. She instead found a man with the most thoughtful of thoughtful expressions. Maybe there really was more to this fling than met the eye.

"I mean it, Ginny. I've dated a lot of girls in my life, but none like you. None have even come close. You're smart and beautiful and funny – and you don't take guff from anyone. You're as good as they get. I can't imagine being with anyone else."

Ginny looked at Steve for a second but quickly turned away. She wasn't easily rattled, but she was rattled now. His apparent sincerity had knocked her off balance.

"Is something the matter?" Steve asked. "You look bothered."

"No," Ginny said. "It's nothing like that."

"What is it then? You can tell me."

"I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

Ginny sighed and looked again at Steve. This time she was able to hold his gaze. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a tender kiss.

"I was just thinking about what you said. If you really mean all that stuff, then I think it's time I updated my status."

"Updated your what?"

Ginny smiled sweetly.

"What I mean, mister, is that it's time I changed that maybe to a yes."

CHAPTER 48: KATIE

Seattle, Washington – Sunday, June 28, 1964

"You did what?"

"I gave in," Ginny said.

"Say that again."

"I slept with him."

"Ginny! I thought you were smarter than that."

"I know."

"You can't do that here. This is the Stone Age of birth control. You won't have a lot of good options if you slip up."

"I don't need a lecture."

"I think you do," Katie said. "You can't have that kind of relationship with Steve."

Ginny glared at her sister from the safety of her living-room recliner.

"You're one to talk, Katie. You and Mike have been soldered together the last few weeks."

Katie glared from the safety of the other chair.

"At least I'm not sleeping with him. I thought we had an agreement. We weren't going to get serious with anyone. Remember?"

"I remember," Ginny said.

Katie furrowed her brows and stared again but couldn't maintain the heat. Even when she was mad or disappointed with her sister, she couldn't stay mad or disappointed long. It wasn't in her make-up to carry grudges beyond sixty seconds.

"I hope you were responsible."

Ginny stared back with incredulous eyes.

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

Katie smiled grudgingly.

"No. You're a lot of things, but you're not that."

The sisters shared a laugh that ended much too quickly.

"So what did you do?" Katie asked. "Steal a diaphragm from the drug store?"

Ginny looked at her sister sheepishly.

"I went to the gas station on Friday, the one by Greer's. It has machines in the men's room – machines that accept quarters and don't ask a lot of questions."

"Aren't guys supposed to do that?"

"Seriously, Katie?" Ginny asked. "How many guys do you know who walk around with a pocketful of condoms? Does Mike?"

Katie felt her stomach sink as she considered a question that hit too close to home. Given her own circumstances, she had no business grilling her sister.

"I don't know."

"Neither did I with Steve. I knew last night might be the night, so I took precautions. I didn't want my dear sister to stress over my irresponsible behavior."

"OK. OK. You've made your point."

"That's not the part that troubles me though," Ginny said.

"I don't understand. Didn't the condoms work?"

"They did, as far as I know."

Katie took a sip of chamomile tea. When she returned the cup to a saucer on her lap, she addressed her twin matter-of-factly.

"Then what's the problem?"

Ginny blushed.

"Gin, you're blushing. You never blush. What's going on?"

Ginny sat up in her chair.

"Oh, all right, I'll just say it."

"Say what?"

Ginny looked away and then slowly returned to Katie. She sighed.

"Half the time I was with Steve I was thinking of someone else."

Katie took another sip of tea.

"I was thinking of James," Ginny said.

Katie spit out the tea in her mouth and spilled what remained in her cup.

"Ugh! Now look what you made me do."

Katie got out of her chair, stood up, and examined the tea stains on her robe. She put the cup and saucer on a small table, put her hands on her hips, and stared at Ginny.

"Don't joke like that when I'm drinking!"

"I'm not joking."

Katie looked at Ginny closely and saw that she was, in fact, serious. Ginny stared blankly at a dark television screen.

"Oh, Gin. Isn't your life complicated enough?"

Ginny acknowledged Katie with a nod but kept her eyes on the screen.

"I like Steve. I like him more than ever, but he's not the only one I think about. James just keeps bouncing around in my head like a ping-pong ball," Ginny said. She glanced at Katie with sad eyes. "You can call the men in the white coats now."

Katie smiled and looked at Ginny empathetically. She rarely saw her sister struggle with her feelings toward one guy, much less two. Katie walked over to Ginny and put a hand on her arm.

"What a pair we are."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"I'm just thinking about our agreement," Katie said. She laughed. "Neither one of us has done a good job living up to it."

"At least you're not screwing around with Mike."

"No. I'm not," Katie said. "I'm doing something worse. I'm falling in love with him."

Ginny sat up in her chair.

"You're what?" Ginny asked.

"You heard me."

"Have you told him?"

"Are you crazy? That's the last thing I should do," Katie said. "When we leave in September, I want to leave with a clean conscience. I can't break his heart, Gin. I won't. I just don't know what to do with him between now and then."

"You'll figure it out. Just like I'll figure out two guys."

Ginny sank in her chair and resumed staring at the TV screen.

Katie sat down on the ottoman by Ginny's feet. She took a moment to collect her thoughts and then glanced again at her twin, who seemed defeated.

"There's something else besides Mike's feelings I've been thinking about, something that's been bothering me for several days now."

"What's that?"

"When I talked to Mike's sister last Sunday, she told me quite a bit about their dad and their grandfather. The two apparently went in the woodworking business together and made a lot of frames and things like that. The older Mr. Hayes made them even after his son died."

"So?"

"So one of the things Grandpa Hayes did well was make frames for mirrors. He sold the mirrors and their frames to people all over the world."

"So?"

"So don't you think that's an amazing coincidence? We got here by walking through a mirror, Gin. I saw an image of Mike in the same mirror. I know there's a connection, but I can't figure it out," Katie said. She smiled. "It's the ping-pong ball in
my
head."

Ginny laughed.

"You're smiling again," Katie said. "I like that."

"I just thought of something funny."

"What?"

"We have a lot of problems," Ginny said. "We have enough problems between the two of us to keep a team of therapists busy for a year."

"That's funny?"

"No. The solution is funny."

"I don't get it."

"What's the solution to every problem, Katie?"

"I don't know."

Ginny stared at her sister.