The rest of the trip was uneventful. Piper enjoyed her lake view alone, watched the game from the stands with thousands of strangers, and traveled back solo. She welcomed the balm of returning home to people who loved her. Piper dragged her bag over the threshold and paused to embrace the familiarity of home. Noises came from the kitchen, and she headed in that direction. Homecooked brownies, popcorn popping for movie night, a tub of cold ice cream from the freezer. All sounded good…
Dirty dishes.
Not simply a full sink but covered sideboards, including a casserole dish with baked-on lasagna and three cereal bowls with dried shredded wheat stuck to the sides. Annoyance shoved aside her need for a hug, and Piper crossed her arms over her chest.
Her sister kneeled on the kitchen tile in front of the dishwasher with her upper body inside the machine. The back half of her jersey, her jean-covered rear end, and bare feet were visible. Why did Calista never pick up? “How many days of used dishes are there?” From the smell, all the days.
Calista answered without removing herself from the dishwasher cavity. “You’ve been gone two days, so two.”
Ugh, she hated when Calista did simple math for her, like she needed help with that level calculation.
True, dishes were Piper’s chore, but to be so hardcore about leaving them for her even when she was out of town? Why hadn’t Mom and Dad done them? Stop whining, it was small enough rent to pay in an expensive city.
Calista tossed out a maintenance manual. A loose hose, dishwasher parts, and her toolkit sat beside her knee. “I’m making the machine more efficient.”
More efficient than the clean dishes they’d once had? Clearly not. Sometimes geniuses overlooked the obvious.
Piper removed the filthy dishes from one side of the sink, cleaned the surface, and filled the basin with hot sudsy water. “You put the soap on the fresh sponge.” Piper squeezed out the orange-scented liquid and scrubbed a small plate. “Apply to any dirty surface, rinse.” She held up the newly clean saucer like a mirror. “Magic, no screwdriver involved.” She placed the dish on a clean cup towel and waved her soapy hand at the pieces of appliance at their feet. “Call a repair person.”
The clank of tools and parts echoed into the room. The sounds of her childhood. “I can do it. I’m almost done.”
Piper shook her head and grabbed a glass. She cleaned the glass and stuck the rim under the faucet to rinse. Crystal sparkled back to shininess. The water flow filtered to a trickle and stopped.
Calista had turned off the water.
The pressure built inside Piper as if she were the hose holding back the water. Piper stepped back and flicked bubbles from her soapy hands. “Really?” I’ll be moving out soon enough. She repeated the chant in her head until she calmed down.
Her brilliant sister was next level, but she hadn’t inconvenienced her on purpose. She didn’t want her relationship with her sister to be like Mikah’s was with Zee. Piper dried her hands and knelt in a catcher’s squat. “How’s it going?” She softened her voice.
“Just got it.” Her sister went on about “torque” and “inadequate design.” Calista made her mechanical adjustments, reconnected a hose, backed out, and pushed the dishwasher into place. “Meant to have that finished before you got home. You won’t have to clean the dishes before they go on the racks now, like the high-end machines.” Calista stretched to her feet and grinned with mussed hair and a smudge of grease on her cheek.
“Thanks. Wait here, I brought you a souvenir.” Piper went to her bag. She dug out the jersey with the team Captain’s number twenty-two on the front and returned to the kitchen. The shirt was the same as the one she had bought Calista previously, but this one was autographed. “Signed.”
“No way?” Calista hugged her with the treasure clutched to her heart. “I’ll go put it on.” She left the dirty kitchen.
Piper filled the dishwasher. She had a load chugging when her sister came back down. Calista curled up on the window seat in her new jersey and grabbed her laptop.
Piper took her spot on the other side of the cushion and nudged Calista’s shoe. They’d worked out the system so long ago she couldn’t remember when they’d made it. Probably Piper had kicked Calista’s foot until she’d agreed to listen to her.
Calista lowered her laptop lid. “How was your trip?”
“Seems like Mikah and I will only be friends.” Piper pouted. “Too bad.”
Calista arched her brows and shook her head. “He doesn’t look at you like a friend.”
Correct. He looked at her like he wanted her in his bed, which he did. “His family is weird.”
Calista shrugged one shoulder. “All families are weird, except ours.”
Insightful. “True.” Piper wanted to talk about the weirdness she couldn’t share with anyone else. No one was as discreet as Calista. “The older brother, Zee, the Geels’ player, he’s engaged to Francesca, she’s a big B. She’s going to be a doctor and let us know this multiple times.”
Calista wrinkled her nose. Piper had known Calista would agree with her. Calista never advertised all her degrees. The knowledge put people on the defensive or made them look at her differently. The fact that Francesca didn’t care how people felt or needed the praise made her more difficult to relate to. Or maybe she was jealous of Francesca’s achievement. Throwing down her history degree had never impressed anyone. Should she push Calista to tout her achievements louder? Stuff to think about. She still had Calista’s attention, so she went into the rest of the trip’s weirdness.
“Yeah, and the parents wouldn’t let them sleep in the same room. What’s your opinion on that?”
Calista tilted her head, her lighter green eyes processing the information. “What’s your opinion?”
“Let the parents keep their illusions, just wait until they go to bed and place your pillow where you want. Everyone’s happy.”