Sammy tipped his head back, turned it away for a moment, to the side--and saw Rowena.
They stared at each other. Sammy moved his head again, beckoning this time, and Rowena came forward. She put the towels on the counter along the way. Sammy turned the sobbing Maralynne towards her and Maralynne dropped her hands from him and allowed him to transfer her into Rowena's arms. "I'm going to take a walk," he whispered, and left them. Rowena stood with her arms around her sister--her sister who had just tried to kiss her boyfriend--and had no idea what to do or say.
She patted Maralynne's back, and waited.
"You know," Rowena said, setting a cup of tea down in front of her sister, "I kind of hate to mention it, but Chester was perfectly--"
"Chester! I want a real guy."
"Maralynne, look--"
"At least in public. Geez. He could spoil my reputation."
Rowena managed not to comment on this. "It seems like such a shame, though."
"My reputation," Maralynne repeated.
"I don't know," Rowena said, "whether he'd hurt your reputation or not, but I don't see how making passes at your sister's boyfriend would help it." Maralynne stared at her. Rowena sat down a bit heavily in front of her own tea. Madame Zelda poked her head in the doorway, but Rowena glared at her and she retreated.
Maralynne's voice took on a reasoning-with-the-feebleminded tone. "See, if I do anything that makes me look like I'm desperate or something, people might think I'm--not really much of a Siren."
"But, Maralynne--"
"And Madame Zelda always says it's only a matter of time anyway before you realize that a Scorpio is just not going to--"
"Maralynne, even if that's true you're completely out of line. You're not only interfering with my relationship, which God knows is not what we call proper sisterly behavior, you're basically foisting some sort of nutty religion on me, and I am really--"
A knock at the door--the front door--interrupted her, and, listening, she heard Sammy's voice.
She hurried to let him in. He had Chester with him, and each held a pizza box. "Chester remembered a pizza parlor near here," Sammy said. With Maralynne in earshot, Rowena decided to save her questions for later.
"How nice," she said. "Thank you, Chester." She turned in her sister's direction. "Isn't this nice, Maralynne?"
"I'm hungry," said Maralynne unexpectedly. She sniffed. "Smells good," she said, and added, to Rowena's surprise, "Thanks."
Sammy and Chester cleared a space on Maralynne's countertop and set the pizzas down. Tammy had left while Rowena was tending to Pam, who (Rowena went to peek) was still resting comfortably.
"Is that pizza?" Cathy asked. She dashed off in search of her coat.
"Cathy!" Maralynne called. "There are no calories in smells!"
"You say," Cathy retorted. "A smell is molecules, right?" She poked her head into the doorway, holding her nose with one hand and waving briefly with the other, and left.
"Nice to meet you," Rowena called. The door opened and closed.
Two pizza slices later, Rowena, feeling much better, noticed that Madame Zelda, in taking her own pizza to a relatively distant end table, had turned her back. She left her third slice to Sammy's care, wandered casually over and got the psychic cornered. "Now," said Rowena, "stop helping my sister make a fool of herself and get your so-called `influence' the hell out of my life."
Madame Zelda drew herself up. "There are forces, my child, which you cannot--"
"You want force? I'll give you force. You find some way to tell her Sammy's not her Mr. Right or I'll phone up the Skeptics and have them send someone undercover to expose you."
"You cannot think--"
"Can't I? Did Maralynne tell you that Sammy works for a law firm and is almost as annoyed by this point as I am? Or that my company employs a publicist who happens to owe me a favor?" Rowena paused just a moment to let this sink in. "Lay off," she said.
Madame Zelda collected herself. "You do not understand the forces I--"
"Bullshit," Rowena said. "You are going to stop amusing yourself at my sister's expense, and you're going to stop now. As of this moment. NOW."
Madame Zelda managed, after a moment, to gather together a little dignity. "I forgive you your youth and ignorance," she said.
"Just let my sister and me live our own lives," Rowena said, "and I won't take any special pains to ruin yours."
Maralynne was walking towards them, and Rowena gave her a smile. "I'm so glad to see you talking," Maralynne said. She turned to her sister. "Are you learning anything?" she asked.
"I think our little chat has been very informative," Rowena said. Maralynne smiled.
"Good," she said.
"Where is she?" Rowena asked. It was New Year's Day, edging into late afternoon. Her sister was supposed to have arrived almost an hour ago with the book she'd forgotten to make Rowena borrow the night before.
"If she's late we'll just go to the next showing," Sammy said. He looked perfectly tidy and perfectly relaxed.
"It's just--" but there was the knock at the door. Rowena went to let in her sister--and Chester.
She tried not to look surprised. "Hi. Come in."
"Just for a minute," Maralynne said. "We're already a little late." She gave Rowena the book. "Let me show you something," she said. She took Rowena aside and opened the book. "This chapter here. See? All about finding your True Nature, and other people's, too."
Rowena decided to keep an open mind, or at least a closed mouth. "Very nice," she said.
"Yeah," said Maralynne. "You'd be surprised, sometimes. Take Chester, for instance."
"Chester?"
"Madame Zelda says the minute she saw his aura she just knew he was the perfect man for me. Imagine that. And astrologically and everything . . . he's great."
"Glad to hear it," Rowena said. "I mean, I'm happy for you both."
"It goes to show you. I mean, I was so wrong about Sammy; I mean, I wasn't wrong, but apparently he was born just a little too late in the day and just can't support my sensitive nature and--what time was he born?"
Rowena had no idea. "I must have forgotten."
"Well, apparently Madame Zelda found out--and just in time, too. I could have made a terrible mistake."
"Good thing you invited her, then."
"Isn't it? And I'm gonna help Chester stop being a nerd, too--my nurturing, helpful side."
"Sounds great."
Maralynne beamed at her, then looked out across the room. "Chester! Ready to go?"
"Ready," Chester said. Rowena noticed he was wearing a polo shirt this time. He and Maralynne left for wherever they were going, and Rowena and Sammy gathered their coats and left also. Rowena didn't speak until they were safely alone in Sammy's car.
"It worked," she said. "Madame Zelda finally backed off. I mean, I guess she's still meddling, but at least she's off our backs. She actually told Maralynne what a great guy Chester is." She fastened her seat belt with something like a flourish. "I should have threatened her ages ago--told Maralynne I wanted to consult her and got her number and just called her up and--"
"Chester says he did it," Sammy said. He looked as if he was amused by something private.
"Chester? No, I did. I told you about this; I went and--"
"Chester thinks he did it. He offered her fifty bucks to tell Maralynne to go out with him."
Rowena stared. "He gave her money? He gave money to that--that meddling bitch?"
"Apparently."
"That charlatan?"
"He figured it was worth it," Sammy said. He patted Rowena on the thigh. "Maybe he's too timid to threaten people," he said. "Maybe he's not as fierce as you are."
Rowena laughed wryly. "He hasn't been putting up with this nonsense for half his life," she said. "He hasn't had to humor her and rescue her and then have her try and--"
"With luck," Sammy said, "maybe he will get to--for the rest of his life."
Rowena looked at him and laughed. "You're ter
rible," she said. She leaned up against him, very gently and briefly so as not to interfere with his driving. "Terrible," she continued. "Almost as bad as Madame Zelda said." She kissed him on the shoulder, then turned to her window and smiled out at the world.
S.D. Youngren - Rowena 4 - Rowena Tries To Help Her Sister.txt Page 10
