“Hmm. I guess that can’t be any more boring than talking seeds….”

Colin laughed out loud and both women turned to look at him. “Is that so?” he asked, grinning. “Just so you know, Jilly never bores me.”

It was interesting to him that Jilly had referred to Kelly as very beautiful, as though she could be more beautiful than Jilly. They were different enough that if you hadn’t looked at their eyes and smiles you might not think of them as sisters. Jilly was tall and trim with chestnut hair that was smooth; her eyes were large and brown and, as Colin knew only too well, they could become even darker and sultry when she was getting turned on. Kelly, by comparison, was shorter, rounder, had blond hair full with loose curls and blue eyes. But their eyebrows had identical arches. Their teeth—perfect and straight—were the same shape. Their lips were different, but their smiles were alike.

It made sense to him that a gardener would be slim, muscular and tan while a chef would be more curvaceous, fuller, rounder, her skin more ivory. It didn’t take much observation to appreciate how much hard work it must be to create dish after dish in a busy kitchen, yet he thought the gardening was still more physically demanding. Kelly looked like a gorgeous chef while Jilly looked like a heart-stopping athlete.

He realized Jilly looked as if she could ski the Alps, jump out of an airplane, dive in a coral reef…go on a safari. Play with him by day, heat up his sheets by night, pass the quiet time in sweet camaraderie, challenge him with her wit, appreciate those qualities in him that no one else ever took the time to notice…. What was this? A mate? He saw a partner, a friend, a lover impossible to forget or replace.

He shook his head absently. Colin didn’t mate. But then, according to her history and what she told him about herself, neither did Jilly. While he’d had many women and assumed he’d never settle down to one, Jilly had had few men in her life and thought that one day there might be one for the long term, but she didn’t count on it. Neither of them had ever had a romantic partner who’d tempted them to a permanent relationship. He and Jill were so alike…yet so different.

There was one thing tickling the edges of his mind, however. He was falling in love with her. This was a first. He wondered if this might have happened to him long ago if he had just slowed down enough. He searched his memory, but he couldn’t recall a single woman he wanted in the way he wanted Jilly. His Jilly. He had a very real urge to make her his so that no other man would ever touch her, so that she would always belong to him.

“Can you close up shop now, Colin?” Jilly asked him, tapping the laptop. “Kelly has hors d’oeuvres ready and then dinner.”

“Absolutely,” he said. “She’s going to make our cooking look pretty pathetic, isn’t she?”

“Oh, worse than that. She’s a genius.”

For the past couple of months Jill and Colin had joined forces in the kitchen at mealtime, throwing together an evening meal. It was always plenty satisfying, but certainly nothing special.

When Colin reclaimed his seat, a place mat, plate, linen napkin and water glass had appeared before him. He fingered the place mat. “Is this something new?”

“No,” Kelly said. “Something from my trunk. I know Jill doesn’t bother with anything as pedestrian as presentation. I brought what I needed.” She put a platter in the center of the table. It looked like a sampler platter, a few bites each of mini lettuce wraps, meatballs, humongous stuffed mushrooms, little baby pears and—

“Stuffed grape leaves, ground lamb and garlic meatballs, mushrooms stuffed with bread crumbs, tomato, celery and onion, baby yellow tomatoes straight off the porch, soft shell crab and broiled calamari. And—” she put down a small bowl of what looked like salsa and a small basket of sliced bread “—nana’s sweet relish and French baguette, thin sliced and lightly toasted. Mangia! Eat!”

Jill brought Colin an O’Doul’s and a chilled glass, but he waved it away. Kelly was pouring wine that she’d brought to complement the food and he wanted to participate. For a guy who was generally unimpressed with anything fancier than a grilled steak, or a burrito, this was intriguing. He suddenly wanted to experience it all and see if he connected with this whole passion—this transporting of special spices and condiments, this chopping a tomato a certain way, this seasoning and sautéing and then presenting the whole thing on a dish that had to be on a place mat.

He watched Kelly, then put a few items on his plate. He scooped a little of that sweet relish onto a thin slice of bread, bit down and said, “Jesus,” as if in a prayer. “What is this?”

Kelly merely shrugged. “Nana’s sweet relish. She used everything in the garden. Her first mission was to feed us, but her second objective was to pass on very old family recipes—her mother’s from Russia and her father’s from France. Then there were some from her American husband—Chester Matlock. The beauty of Nana’s recipes is that she never had access to the expensive delicacies—she only had what she could grow or buy cheap. She grew her own herbs in the windowsill and I remember she used to buy the cheapest ground meat and bring it home to grind it three more times. We had a meat grinder that was mounted on the counter—a bowl could fit under the spout. She worked hard to make her food delicious, but her first concern was that we be properly nourished.”

“That starts in the garden,” Jillian said. “We were very young when we came to Nana—we were the third generation she would raise. First her only child, her daughter, then her grandson, then us. And we’re the only ones who have had the opportunity to take on her legacy in the kitchen and the garden.”

“Now for the chicken,” Kelly said as she cleared space on the table.

She served a chicken so tender and delicious, Colin had to catch himself before he let his eyes roll back in his head in a swoon. He had no idea how it might’ve been made.

“Marinated in virgin olive oil and saffron, spritzed in lemon, sprinkled with parsley, seared and then steamed with sliced mushrooms. The baby beans are garnished in slivered beets and almonds, the rice cooked with onions, peppers, chopped black olives and topped with paprika, the same lightly toasted baguette, and Nana’s sauce—kind of a salsa made with fresh tomato, tomatillo, peppers—I brought that from home because it takes hours. It’s got a kick. And I apologize—I didn’t have time for dessert.”

Jillian and Colin exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

“What?” Kelly asked.

“Oh, you’re forgiven,” Colin said. “But just this once.”

For the next couple of nights, Colin’s palate was indulged. His routine with his lover changed, but he wasn’t unhappy about it. After a large, satisfying meal he retired to the bedroom on Jilly’s second floor while the sisters stayed up way too late, drank a bottle of wine between them, talked and whispered and laughed wildly. Then they would crawl up the stairs, not quietly, and head to their beds. Jill would clamber in beside him and, even though she brushed her teeth and washed her face, he could taste the pinot on her lips—and it wasn’t at all unpleasant.

By day Colin would paint, Jilly would garden and Kelly would shop, fool around in the kitchen and present them with a five-star meal. Her second night with them was Italian and her bruschetta was the most delectable he’d ever tasted. Then came an Italian chopped salad that left him weak in the knees and he wasn’t even fond of salad. In fact, vegetables didn’t do that much for him. Finally Kelly served an Italian dish made with eggplant, the very sound of which should have repelled him, but it was unbelievably delicious. Finally, a Tiramisu that brought tears to his eyes.

The third night brought one of Nana’s traditional French meals, and again, he was helpless. Again the girls laughed through a bottle of wine while he went to bed to leave them to their reunion.

When Jill came to bed, he pulled her against him and kissed her senseless. Nothing new there. But then he said, “I hate to leave in the morning. Please, freeze the leftovers!”

She laughed at him and promised she would.

He reached down to find her panties were still on. “What’s this? Is this how you plan to send me off?”

“Not exactly. I have something special for you.”

“Ohhh, I like to hear that….”

She reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a box. “It’s an iPhone—the latest.”

“I have a cell phone, Jilly.”

“I know, but you have an ordinary cell phone—this one will allow you to pick up your emails, has a GPS for directions, an iPod for your music. You can even download audio books to listen to while you drive.”

“I have to leave early, baby—how am I going to learn all that?”

“I’m going to show you how to make and answer calls before you go, how to use your GPS, and then you can play with it while you sit in hotel rooms with nothing better to do. I’ve already loaded my numbers and Luke’s number for you—you can do the rest. You can learn how to take pictures and send them from this phone.” She shrugged and looked down. “I was thinking ahead, Colin. Thinking of Africa, but not because I have expectations. But if you wanted to send me pictures from there and you’re not online, maybe this will come in handy.”

He put the box aside and pulled her on top of his long body. He pushed her hair away from her face. “I plan to keep in touch, Jilly, but it might be difficult from Africa. From out in the Serengeti. Even with this.”

“I understand that, but I want you to have all the tools, and it’s small. You can charge it in the Jeep. That way if you feel like sending me an email and the laptop doesn’t work for you, maybe this phone will. Besides, it’s very fun. You’ll like it.”

“You’re fun,” he said. “You and Kelly together are a hoot. Don’t you girls ever fight? Like the Riordan boys?”

“I’m learning that no one fights like the Riordan boys. Kelly and I have had our little spats, but not too often. We had to stick together when we were young. Life wasn’t always that easy.”

“You have a division of labor. She rules the kitchen—you rule the garden.”

“I know, interesting how that happened. And fortuitous, since we’d probably fight like cats if we competed in the same territory.”

“And what are you girls going to do while I’m gone?”

“We’re going to feed Denny one night, feed Preacher and his family one night, go eat at the bar one night and then Kelly’s on her way home.”

“I like her,” Colin said. “She’s cute and a genius in the kitchen, and you’re right, she’s very pretty—but Jilly, she’s not prettier than you.” He slid her panties down over her hips. “You are the woman I wake up wanting, fall asleep wanting, reach for in the night. You. To me, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“Why, Colin,” she said with a smile. “That’s very romantic.”

“What’s strange about it is I’m not really the romantic type. I think you’re doing something witchy to me.”

“Ah, you found me out!”

“I’m going to love you slow tonight,” he said. “Slow and deep and easy, and I’m going to take a long, long time, so no screaming and begging….” He pulled her mouth down to his and kissed her. “This has to last me as long as a week, so let me have my way.”

“Don’t I always?” she asked in a breath. “So far, your way is my way.”

Colin had his Jeep loaded before dawn. Hearing voices in the kitchen, he went inside. Kelly offered to fix a big breakfast for the road, but Colin declined. “I want to move quickly now, get as much driving in today as I can, but I’m sorry to miss your breakfast. It’s my favorite meal.” Then he focused on Jilly. He smiled and touched her face. “I have my new phone plugged in. I have two phones now, two numbers, plus the laptop. Are you happy?”

“I’m happy you’re taking your art on the road. I think the next step is some kind of representation, but I’m going to wait to hear what you learn from these artists and galleries you’re visiting. Oh, Colin, I know this is the right thing for you to do. I know you won’t be disappointed! And I’ll miss you.” She rose on her toes to kiss him. “I’ll miss you so much, and I’m so glad you’re doing this.”

“You and Kelly stay out of trouble.”

“When you get back, I’m going to have buds on some of the most precious fruits,” she said. “You’re going to have to fake excitement.”

“I won’t have to fake it, baby. Just don’t forget about the leftovers!”

She grew suddenly serious. “Please. Be very careful driving. If you get tired or sore or—”

“Jilly, I flew a complicated aircraft in wars. I know my body, my ability, my limitations.”

She smiled. “Of course you do. I can’t wait to hear what you learn.”

“I already can’t wait to get home to you.”

He kissed her goodbye and left quickly. And she stood on the porch, then walked out to the drive and watched until he passed through the trees and disappeared.

It occurred to her that this was a bit like a dress rehearsal for his departure in September. It was such a precarious balance, wanting him to live his dream and yet find a way to never leave her.

Jill kicked off her slippers, rolled up her pant legs and went to her garden in her bare feet. She walked between the rows, the dirt squishing between her toes, and admired the growth. She visited almost every plant and would visit each one again several times through the day. An hour had passed by the time she headed to the back porch with mud on her knees. Kelly was sitting in one of the chairs on the porch holding a coffee mug in both hands. She smiled at Jillian. “Okay, baby?” she asked gently.