My eyes fell on the woman standing at the far corner, in front of what appeared to be an oven and stove unit.
So, some peopledohave proper kitchen equipment here,my mind couldn’t help but note. Maybe we were just givenautomatic “smart pots” in our houses because they were supposed to save us time and were more economical.
Mrs. Springs was a large woman with ivy green eyes, and I could instantly see Anna in her. She was at least a couple inches shorter, and her hair was blonde, but judging from the dark grayish-brown roots that showed at the crown of her head, it was dyed.
There was also an overall frostiness to her appearance that did not exist in Anna. Her nose was sharp, her lips pinched, and though she wore makeup, her age showed.
When her eyes lighted on me, she gave a small, polite smile. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Lockwood,” she said, setting her gloves down and approaching to shake my hand.
I noted her platinum ring as I took it in a brief shake and then withdrew, nodding. “And you, Mrs. Springs,” I replied.
Anna scoffed. “Look at you two, all formal. You can call her Tani, Mom. And Tani, Mom’s first name is Susanna.”
“Hi, Susanna,” I added tentatively.
Susanna nodded, though didn’t respond in kind as her eyes traveled to her daughter. “Dad’s expecting you now, right?” she said.
“Yup.” Anna nodded, and then the sound of a chair scraping to my right distracted my attention.
I turned to see an area of the kitchen that I hadn’t even noticed yet—a small side area with a table large enough to seat six people. Currently, it was occupied by only one: Gerard. He had changed into a casual outfit like Anna, a pair of baggy pants and a T-shirt, and he clutched some kind of binder in his hands. He leaned back in his chair to glance curiously at me. He hadn’t noticed me earlier today, so I wasn’t sure if he had ever seen me before. I definitely didn’t remember seeing him beforethis morning.
“Oh, and that’s my little brother Gerard,” Anna added, apparently noticing him in the room for the first time, too.
So, he was her younger brother. Hedidlook younger, though not by a lot. Late twenties, I guessed, now that I had him in clear view, unobstructed by a windowpane.
“Hey,” he said, giving me a broad smile that was uncannily similar to Anna’s. His voice was also very much like Anna’s in cadence, just deeper.
“Hi,” I murmured.
Anna returned her focus to her mother. “Do you think there’ll be some apple pie ready before Tani leaves?”
“And when do you think that might be?” her mother replied, eyeing me with a cool curiosity.
“Oh, probably not much more than fifteen minutes or so.”
“Hmmm,” she said softly, glancing up at the clock hanging on the wall. “It should be.”
“Oh, you don’t need to—” I started to say.
But then Anna was putting her arm around my shoulder and pulling me toward the door. “We know we don’t need to,” she said, “but you can’t leave here without a piece of Mom’s pie! See you in a bit, Mom,” she added, then shepherded me out of the room.
As we continued up another staircase, she added, “Mom’s always cooking something at this time of day. It’s her hobby and how she winds down after work.”
“What does your mom do for work?” I asked.
“She’s Head Meteorologist up at the observatory. She has a pretty sweet commute, as you can imagine. There’s an elevator that runs through that big column that supports the observatory center, and she only has to walk like ten minutes to and from work every day.”
“Yeah, that must be convenient,” I said absently, while wondering how Susanna had gotten to platinum. It could havebeen on her own strength, through her work, but I highly doubted it. My guess was that she came from a wealthy family, just like I guessed Anna’s father did.
“And you only have one sibling?” I asked, remembering all the shoes downstairs.
“Yup,” Anna replied.
“I mean siblings as in, biological and adopted.”
“I know,” she said, flicking her wrist. “We don’t do adoptions, we’re far too busy.”
“I see,” I murmured.
