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“You’ll always be my little bro,” I said, reaching up to pat him on the head.
* * *
The twins spentthe next several days with their heads together, whispering.
“What are you doing?” I asked, when they were quiet for a particularly long time.
“Nothing,” they chorused, which sent up all the red flags. Whenever kids were quiet, and they said they were up to nothing, that meant they were probably setting their pillows on fire or trading bitcoins online.
By Thursday, I knew something was definitely afoot, and I didn’t think I was going to like it.
They had barely made eye contact with me all day, so I ambushed them during lunch.
“So, what are you plotting,” I said as I held out their plates. They shared a look.
“Nothing,” they said.
“No way, not buying it. Try that on someone younger who doesn’t know you. Hit me with it.”
“We’re not doing anything,” Riley said. “We’re just um…”
“We want to buy a horse!” Zoey blurted out. “We loved riding one at camp, so we’ve been thinking about how we can ask our parents and how we could earn money to take care of it.”
I narrowed my eyes and stared at both of them, waiting for either one to blink. The twins gave me identical wide-eyed looks.
“And what are you going to name this horse?” I asked.
“Lightning!” they said at the same time.
“Impressive performance,” I said, handing over the plates. “But I’m not buying it. If you’re going to go after Honor again, I’m going to have to object.”
“We’re not,” Riley said, and that I did believe. At least for now.
They shared another look and finally, Zoey’s shoulders slumped.
“We want to take Mom and Dad on a date,” she said.
“You mean like a family date?” I asked. They both nodded.
“That’s actually really sweet. Like all of you go out to dinner?”
They shook their heads. “We want to pretend that we’re all going out together, but then we’ll leave and they’ll have to eat alone together,” Riley said, a devious smile forming on her face.
“And how are you going to do that?” I asked. “When you leave, they could just bail.”
“That’s why we’re going to put them on a boat,” Riley said. “We’ll all get on and then the two of us will jump off at the last second! It will totally work.”
I didn’t know about that.
“You want to take your father’s boat?” I asked. He had a beautiful schooner (because of course he did).
“No, we want them to be totally focused on one another. So we’re going to book a sunset cruise for four, and then it will just be for two!”
I could see all kinds of potential problems with this plan. I had to do something.
“I’m not saying this is a bad idea. I’m just saying that I think you need some adult supervision. And if you tell either of your parents that I helped you, I will fill your underwear drawer with spiders,” I said.
That wasn’t much of a threat because they knew I’d never follow through. Still, I hoped the visual would get my point across.
