plan. With a quick glance at the kids—they’d be okay, she never had to go out of sight—Mae got out, ready to call to her sister. But something made her stop and watch, as Andy came out and greeted Amanda with more pleasure than Mae would have expected, given the quality of her own earlier welcome. A lot more pleasure. He came all the way out of the kitchen, and the screen door banged behind him. She could hear his “Hey,” but not Amanda’s response, although she heard her laugh, then laugh again. She looked different somehow, too. She couldn’t be taller, but there was something slender and sleek about her silhouette—her hair. She had cut her hair. And as Mae watched, Amanda put a hand up to the back of her neck, and then Andy reached out to touch her sister’s head.
Wait a minute. Amanda was flirting! That was totally flirting. Now she could hear her sister: “The day was great—filming was fun. How did it go for you guys?” And then, Mae swore, a giggle. A giggle like a twelve-year-old. Jeez. Mae hesitated. She had plans, and she wanted Amanda’s help, but her sister wouldn’t be happy if Mae walked in on her now, and Mae had things to say that were best not said in front of Andy. This was ridiculous. Could Amanda seriously not find any guys not already within the Merinac fried chicken web? In spite of everything, Mae had been somehow expecting to get the old, pre-Frannie’s version of Amanda back. But if Amanda would just walk up and start flirting with this dude, then she really had changed, and not just with a haircut.
Shit. Jay. She looked at her phone, where his suggestion that they talk still dangled. No. She really couldn’t talk to Jay tonight.
Sorry, had to settle Ryder. Sharing a room, don’t want to wake them, am wiped.
Tomorrow?
She tucked the phone in her pocket, not waiting for a response, then headed toward the house, which was set farther back from the street than Mimi’s. Amanda could wait. All night, in the back of her mind, Mae had been stewing over her mother. How could Barbara leave before she got there? Her mother wasn’t one to leave anything to do with Mimi’s up to anyone else, and Barbara had been skeptical about Food Wars when they spoke, so Mae doubted she’d just let them film without her without a good reason. It must have made sense to her mother somehow, but Mae was damned if she could see how. Not that she always got what Barbara thought was important. But this was weird—and not in the usual way.
Curious, but not exactly worried, Mae stepped up to the door. The lights were off, and the house quiet, but Barbara always kept the front of the house dark when the restaurant was open, to discourage people from heading this way, so that meant nothing. Mae lifted her hand and, mindful that Amanda and Andy could possibly hear her, gave a soft but sharp rap on the door. Mae waited, but there was no answer. She knocked again, still cautiously. She wanted to see her mom tonight, especially given her unexpected disappearance from Mimi’s. But her great-aunt Aida, who lived with Barbara, was almost certainly asleep by now, and Mae didn’t want to wake her. There would be plenty of time tomorrow for Aunt Aida. Suddenly from within, she heard a low, growling bark.
Patches. Her mother’s dog. She’d never met the mutt and wondered now—did Patches’ presence suggest that Barbara was home, or not? Mae had no clue, but the low bark settled one thing: she wasn’t opening the door. Mae didn’t know much about dogs, and she didn’t want to. Patches, she knew from pictures, was not a small dog and didn’t look friendly. Mae had no desire to find out if she would instinctively recognize family.
She wasn’t setting foot in the house anyway. If Barbara was home, they’d talk in the garden, or walk out behind the house. Mae had decided a long time ago that Mimi’s was fine, but she was never going in her mother’s house again.
There was no reason Mae could imagine that her mother wouldn’t open the door to her. Either she hadn’t heard the knock or she wasn’t home. But where would she go? It was nearly ten o’clock. The only thing open was the Dillons, and even that would close in half an hour. More likely