The Secret Sisters Club

Chapter 9: THE MALL

Dad and Toran made a path through the crowded mall toward the food court with Ginnie and Tillie following close on their heels. They found an open table with six chairs.

A few minutes later, Miss Amanda showed up, breathless. “Sorry, I got caught in traffic.”

Tillie hugged her. “No problem, Mom.”

“What are you hungry for?” Dad pulled out a chair for her. “We can’t decide. Chinese, Mexican, chicken, or Italian?”

Miss Amanda set her purse on the table. “Chinese sounds good to me. I love cheese wontons.”

“Why don’t you two get Chinese and we’ll wander around making up our minds?” Tillie suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at Ginnie. “We don’t all have to have the same thing.”

“Good idea, huh Daddy?” Ginnie held out her hand for money. “You guys catch up while we figure out what we want.”

He gave her a twenty. “As long as you don’t buy just junk.”

“We won’t. Thanks.” She turned to Toran. “Come on.”

When they got out of sight of Dad and Miss Amanda, Tillie giggled. “That wasn’t so hard.”

Ginnie high-fived her. “Let’s get brownies and calzones.”

“And king-sized cheese fries to share,” Tillie added.

“What’s so funny?” Toran pointed to Jose’s. “I want a chimichanga.”

“Nothing,” Ginnie and Tillie chimed together.

When he threw them a disbelieving look and turned, Tillie and Ginnie followed him, fist bumping, and then wiggling their fingers before separating their hands. They took their time ordering in different lines, managing to eat all of their brownie and cheese fries before they got to the calzone counter.

Toran’s gaze rested on the table by the fountain. “Dad’s looking for us. We gotta hurry.”

Ginnie frowned. Dad should be talking to Miss Amanda, not worrying about us. Get with the plan, Daddy. She followed Toran’s stare and confirmed her brother’s suspicion. She met Dad’s eyes and smiled, pointing to the display case of calzones.

Dad nodded pleasantly, but she knew he expected them to hurry. Ginnie leaned toward Tillie and whispered. “He’s like crazy overprotective. Are you sure you still want to be sisters?”

Tillie stared at her like she had three heads and whispered back. “Jasper hurt me and then left. At least your dad cares what happens to you.”

Ginnie wanted to protest, but everything she thought of made her sound like a spoiled brat. How could she complain about a dad who cared too much, when Tillie’s didn’t care at all?

If they do get married, Daddy can worry about Tillie more than me. She grinned. This might work out better than I thought.

Once Dad saw them coming, he sat back in his chair and chatted easily with Miss Amanda.

Dad pulled two gift cards out of his wallet. He handed one to Toran and the other to Ginnie.

Ginnie held hers out for Tillie to see. “Cool. What for?”

Toran slipped his in his wallet. “Oma and Opa gave them to us for our birthday, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Sugar beets.” Ginnie wrinkled her nose, recalling her great-grandparents making a huge deal out of their twelfth birthday the week before. Oma wanted her to pick out at least two dresses for church and Toran had been instructed to buy a new suit. Ginnie had pasted a pleasant smile on her face and thanked them even though she really wanted to groan.

“Virginia Maie.” Ginnie hated it when her dad used her formal name. The quiet warning in Dad’s voice didn’t go unnoticed.

Ginnie resisted the urge to stomp her foot, but couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice. “I hate wearing dresses and you know it. Can’t we shop for dresses another time? I just want to have fun today.” You’re ruining all of our plans.

His eyes narrowed. “We were having fun. Stop being rude.”

Ginnie whirled away from him, knowing better than to blurt the truth. Even if I wanted a new dress—which I don’t—girls need to go dress shopping with their moms. And mine’s not here. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and caught Tillie miming a smile and making a twirling motion with her finger.

You don’t understand either. YOU have a mom.

Hey, wait a minute…

“Daddy.” Ginnie smiled the most apologetic smile she could muster and offered him her hand. He narrowed his eyes and stood, letting Ginnie pull him out of earshot of the table. He nodded to Miss Amanda as they left and waited for Ginnie to speak, an amused smile lighting his lips.

“I want to go shopping with Miss Amanda. She’s fun.”

A strange look crossed his face. He blinked and then nodded slowly, as if understanding her dilemma. “Sure, honey.”

Sweet! Tillie will be happy I saved the day.

“Thanks.” Ginnie rubbed her chin and grinned. “If there’s any money left over after two dresses, can I buy something I will want to wear?”

“Are dresses that bad?” He offered her an amused smile. “You are a girl.”

Ginnie grimaced. “I’m a tomboy.”

“Saying you’re a tomboy is just another way of saying you’re a tough and courageous girl.” He offered her a friendly wink. “Your mama was the most courageous person I’ve ever met. And she looked amazing in a dress.”

Ginnie locked her eyes on his. He never talks about Mama. She searched for the emotion to describe his tone, but couldn’t decide which nailed it best, so she followed him quietly back to their table.

Tillie offered Ginnie what was left of the calzone. Ginnie ate half and gave the rest to Dad.

He finished it as they walked to the store. Tillie elbowed Ginnie happily when Dad slowed his pace and whispered something to Miss Amanda.

Miss Amanda nodded and darted a quick look at Ginnie and Tillie. “Sure, Todd. No problem.”

Dad said something Ginnie didn’t hear. Miss Amanda giggled.

Wow, Daddy. Sorry I doubted you. Maybe you’re not so lame after all. Ginnie exchanged grins and a “thumbs up” with Tillie. “He’s asking your mom to come shopping with us because I told him it would be more fun dress shopping with your mom than just him. She can back us up when he picks out something I hate.”

“Cool. We’ll look like a real family.” Tillie’s words wrapped around her like a comfortable quilt and then made her sad. Ginnie didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about what her family looked like. With her uncles, and Dad and Toran, Oma and Opa, Vi and Buzz, her family didn’t look the same at any given minute, but always felt the same. Right … Complete …

Except lately. She was starting to miss Mama more and more. When they reached the Juniors section, Dad smiled at Ginnie.

Cool, he’s gonna let Miss Amanda take things from here. Maybe he’ll just offer to hold our bags and pretend to like what we pick out, like TV dads do.

Ginnie gave him an approving nod.

His smile grew bigger. “Toran and I’ll go look at suits and leave you ladies to your shopping. Have fun.” He placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder, turned, and walked off with her twin before Ginnie realized her plan to feel like a family for a minute had failed miserably.