get her purse and the plain blue empty plate she had brought. And finally it hit her. The article she read didn’t mean to bring your hostess an empty plate; it meant a dish, like peas or salad! “What an idiot,” she thought to herself, feeling grateful that she hadn’t brought the stupid plate in with her. She rummaged through her glove box to see if she had something that would qualify as a gift for her hostess. Nothing. Well, rule number one had been broken.
Piper walked toward the house and heard the swinging of a screen door as Betty stepped out onto the porch to greet her. Betty’s smile wasn’t a cosmetically pretty one, but the way it spread across her whole face made it striking.
“I’m so glad you found the house. We’re so excited to have you, and I hope you’re hungry. I know you’re not from down South, so I made you some good ol’ fashioned country food for you to try out.” Betty hardly took a breath as she spoke, and Piper only had time to nod and follow her obediently into the house.
“I’ve got some more work to do in the kitchen so you go on into the sitting room, it’s two doors down that hall. I’ll get the rest of the meal all finished up.” She pulled her apron back up over her head and around her neck. Before Piper could ask if there was anything she could help with, Betty was gone.
Piper intended to make some polite conversation with Julie and Scott and do her best to not sound like a fool until Betty came back. As she entered the sitting room she was surprised to see Bobby lounging comfortably on the couch reading a car magazine.
“What are you doing here?” Piper asked without the slightest attempt to cover her disappointment at his presence.
Bobby did a slightly better job at hiding his surprise. He had years of experience at dealing with Betty’s meddling ways. He kept his face unaffected as she spoke. “I come here every Wednesday night for dinner, but I would have made the exception and skipped tonight had I known I’d be in mixed company.” He barely spared her a glance over the top of his magazine before nonchalantly returning to his reading.
At the sight of this man lounging confidently and flinging insults her way, Piper felt her fight or flight mechanism kick in. Running out of the room seemed slightly ruder than engaging him in some hostile banter, so fight would have to do right now. “Do you have some sort of mental disorder or something? Because it seems like you do a lot of the same things at the same time in the same place every week. You might want to have that checked out. I’m going to give Betty a hand in the kitchen.” Piper turned to leave as Bobby stood up. She was still taken aback by his height and the width of his shoulders, but more so by the way he carried his size. He was so much larger than her but not the least bit intimidating.
“No, don’t go into the kitchen. Then Betty will think I was rude to you, and I’ll catch hell for it. Sit down and I promise not to bother you.” He caught her elbow gently and she felt a shock go through her body. Its intensity was unfamiliar and scary. She didn’t think she liked the way Bobby’s touch rocked her. He pointed to the wingback chair across from the couch.
Piper looked closely at the chair, peeking on either side of it and behind it.
“What are you looking for?” Bobby asked, thinking this girl might be crazy.
“I’m trying to make sure your name isn’t on this chair anywhere. I’d hate to take a seat that belongs to you again. I’ve learned my lesson.” Piper kept her face intentionally serious even though she felt like a wry smirk would fit the moment better. Bobby rolled his eyes and flopped back to his seat heavily. He pulled the magazine up in front of his face and she felt slightly victorious as she caught a glimpse of the corners of his mouth rising in a reluctant smile.
The screen door squeaked open and slammed shut as someone else entered the house. A younger version of Betty stood in the doorway of the sitting room. She had all of Betty’s features: the small pointed nose, almond shaped eyes, and feminine jaw line. But they