Bette was surprised that evening after she was clearing up the dishes from the leftover takeout she had microwaved, when her cell phone buzzed on the counter.

She had a text message. From Tina.

Hey. Want to do something tomorrow night?

Bette considered. Of course she wanted to see Tina again. Was it too soon to introduce her to Alice and some of her other friends? She didn’t want to scare Tina off, but she did want to shut Alice up. Bette knew that Alice wouldn’t rest until she’d met Tina. She wouldn’t put it past her friend to start “dropping by” unexpectedly to try to force the meeting sooner. After another minute’s thought, Bette dismissed the idea. If all went well, Alice could always meet Tina later. For now, she wanted Tina all to herself.

She texted back.

I’d love to. Come over for dinner at 8?

Tina replied in the affirmative and Bette texted back her address and set her phone down before the reality of what she had just done set in.

She’d invited a woman she really liked over for dinner. That was all well and good, except for the small detail that she couldn’t cook.

What was I thinking? Bette clapped a hand over her forehead.

She hadn’t been thinking. She couldn’t invite someone to dinner and then give them Chinese takeout, could she? No, that wouldn’t do at all. She did know how to make spaghetti, but all those carbs? That was no good either. What would Tina think? Ugh. Maybe she could get something catered in. But that was kind of dishonest, wasn’t it? The invitation implied a home-cooked meal.

An idea struck and Bette picked up the phone, ringing her sister, Kit. If anyone could whip up a nice home-cooked meal, Kit could. Bette would help her get everything ready, and then shoo her out of the house before Tina came over. That way, she could feed Tina a nice meal without being forced to admit that she’d extended that dinner invitation with anything but food on her mind.

“Kit? It’s me. What are you doing tomorrow evening? Nothing? Good. I need to ask you a favor…”