***

“I’m here!” Kit said with a grin, stepping into Bette’s house with two armfuls of groceries. Bette took one bag from her sister and shut the door.

“I’m so glad you made it!” Bette cast a worried glance at the clock. “It’s after 5. Do we have enough time to get everything finished?”

Kit show her sister a look. “Of course we will. I said I would help, didn’t I? I got you. Just relax and help me unpack this stuff.”

Kit hustled into the kitchen and began to take the groceries out of the bags, and Bette followed suit. Bette looked at the ingredients for the meal and was satisfied. It looked like the fixings for some kind of chicken dish. Chicken was safe… wasn’t it?

Kit washed her hands, washed off some vegetables, and began expertly cutting them up for a salad. Bette stole an olive and chewed thoughtfully, wondering about what she should wear. She hadn’t decided yet. Something casual, but not too casual…

“Are you going to help at all or am I going to do all of this myself?”

“What? Oh. Sorry, Kit. What was it you wanted me to do?”

Kit shook her head, laughing. “I haven’t seen you like this in a long time. All distracted and daydreaming. Shoot, girl, you must have it bad.”

“I do not,” Bette said, feeling herself get offended. “I just want things to go smoothly, that’s all.”

“Right,” Kit said, her voice heavy with irony. “Get a casserole dish and put the stove on so I can cook this chicken.”

Bette turned the oven on to pre-heat and dug in a cupboard for a casserole dish, coming up with one that, like most of her other pots, had never been used. It was slightly dusty inside, so she went to the sink and was quickly washing it out when she heard an insistent knock at the door. She froze and looked at the clock, stricken. Surely Tina hadn’t come over so early?

“Relax,” Kit cautioned. “I think I know who it is, and it’s not your new friend.”

“Well, who is it?” Bette hissed. For some reason she couldn’t make herself move toward the door, she stayed rooted to the spot with hands in a soapy dish, clutching a sponge.