food, Monsieur Miln-air?”
“Very good, Jacques. Thank you.”
“Do not thank me, thank the pretty mademoiselle Lilly. She should be our new chef, then the name la petite coquette really fits.” He throws his head back and laughs at his own joke, his oversized stomach quivering. Then, with a quick wink to Lilly, he rushes off again, back into the kitchen.
I notice Lilly looking at me blankly, an uncertain smile playing at her lips.
“Do you speak French?” I ask.
“No and now I feel kind of silly that I never even thought what the restaurant name might mean.”
“It means the little flirt.”
“Oh,” she looks startled.
“It’s not bad,” I assure her. “Jacques clearly likes you…and seems impressed with your cooking to boot. Thank you for doing this,” I give Lilly a nod and watch as she picks up the wine glass and takes a sip. As she did with the champagne flute on the first night I saw her, she grabs the glass in her whole hand instead of taking it by the stem.
“You know, it’s best to hold it by the stem.” I pick my glass and show her. “That way the wine stays cool. Same goes for champagne.”
“Oh.” She looks down, embarrassed, and changes the position of her hand. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s not a big deal. Just might taste better when it’s kept cool.” I give her a friendly smile, noticing how the dusting of freckles across her face has gotten more intense since she got here and saw some sun.
“So,” she clears her throat, “again, I do apologize for the hassle Deanna caused today. I hope this makes up for it a bit.”
“Absolutely. And you don’t need to apologize on your sister’s behalf you know.” I give her a sharp look. I’m sure it’s not the first time Lilly has felt the need to do so.
“I know.” She brings her hand to the neckline of her dress and then down to the ribbon just below her breasts. She’s thinking. Studies show that tactile sensation aids cognition. She plays absentmindedly with the wrap-dress tie, her delicate fingers twisting it in her hands. She’s not looking at me and I let my eyes rove over her, taking in the slight curve of the top of her tits, just visible.
“You can’t control her and you definitely don’t have to answer for her or to her,” I go on, firmly. This is clearly something Lilly hasn’t yet accepted.
“Yeah but…” She pauses, then raises her chin to lock eyes with me. I notice the faintest shimmer of wetness in them. “Do you have any siblings?”
“Nope. Just me.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Is it?” If I had to choose between no siblings and a sibling like Deanna, I think I’d opt to be solo. I don’t say that to her, of course.
“Well, I’d think it might get lonely when you’re a kid.” She bites her lip and looks up at me for a second. “I guess it matters less when you’re grown up.” I can see the emotions on her face as she struggles to contain herself.
“You and Deanna were close as kids, I guess?”
“Yeah. She was my best friend growing up. We did everything together. We even finished each other’s sentences.”
“That twin thing.”
“Absolutely. That connection is hard to shake. It wasn’t until our mid-teens that she started to drift off, away from me, and our family in general. She started to hang out with kids from school that weren’t much good. They’d get into trouble. I mean, nothing major. Just small-town stuff.”
“What kind of small-town trouble? Graffiti on the school building?”
“The sheriff’s office, actually,” Lilly replies with a slight giggle. “But good guess.” I’m relieved to see the pain fade from her face as she recalls the silly memory.
“The sheriff’s office. That’s a pretty bold move.”
“Deanna’s always been bold.”
“You two are alike in that way.”
She looks at me, startled. “I’m not bold.”
“Oh, I think you are.”
She eyes me skeptically.
“Agreeing to this whole thing with me was certainly bold.” I pause as I take another bite of food.
“More like crazy,” she murmurs.
“Your aspirations are bold,” I add. “And you are pursuing them actively. That’s bold. Driving back-and-forth an hour each way to pursue an education is bold.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.” I notice that she’s stopped eating and is looking down at her hands, which are now in her lap.
“Lilly, your only problem is that you don’t believe in yourself. If you could take the confidence you just showed me in the kitchen and extend it to other areas of