Cassandra's Song. Carole Gift Page

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СКАЧАТЬ sense of humor you have!”

      While her father kept their two guests entertained, Cassandra excused herself and headed for the kitchen. “Is the salad ready, Bree? Let’s get this dinner over with before everything blows up in our faces.”

      Bree tossed the salad greens. “Let’s not panic. Maybe Daddy won’t mind having two dates.”

      “Are you kidding?” countered Frannie as she drained the pasta. “Until a few minutes ago he didn’t even know he was having one date! If you two keep up your matchmaking schemes, Daddy will banish the three of us from this house.”

      Cassandra stared skeptically at her youngest sister. “Why on earth would he do that? He loves having us here. We’re all he has.”

      “And all he needs,” Frannie said. “Daddy’s perfectly happy with things just the way they are, so why shouldn’t we be, too?”

      Brianna placed silver tongs in the salad bowl. “But we’ve got to be realistic, Frannie. Someday the three of us will want lives of our own. We’ll get married and move away. Then who will take care of Daddy?”

      “Move away? Speak for yourself,” Frannie said. “I have no plans to leave home. I like it here. I like taking care of Daddy.”

      “We all do,” conceded Cassie. “We have a wonderful family. I don’t know of any family as close as we are. But, still, someday one of us might meet someone and decide to…to get married.”

      “Bite your tongue,” said Frannie with a grudging little smile. “I’m only twenty-two and I’ve still got to establish my reputation as a serious artist.”

      Bree nodded. “I know, but I’m already twenty-four and wouldn’t mind meeting the right man. And with Cassie twenty-six, she’ll need to start thinking about her biological clock one of these days.”

      “My biological clock?” Cassie exclaimed with mock indignation. “We’re talking about Daddy here, not me. And my biological clock is doing just fine, thank you.”

      “I didn’t mean anything negative,” Bree assured her. “It’s just that you might want to start thinking about having a home and family of your own.”

      Cassie put her hands on her hips and stared hard at her sister. “So what is it, Bree? Now I’m an old maid needing a man to make me feel fulfilled? That concept went out in the last century!”

      Bree stared right back. “For heaven’s sake, Cassie, I’m just trying to make Frannie understand why we’re trying to find the right woman for Dad. Then any one of us can feel free to get married or travel or whatever. We won’t have to feel guilty about leaving Daddy to shift for himself.”

      “Well, you two can go if you want to,” Frannie said with a determined little pout, “but I’m staying right here. Nothing could make me leave.”

      “I’m not planning to leave either,” Cassie agreed. “I have my music, and I’m not about to let any man distract me from becoming a concert pianist. So there.”

      “Well, I’m not leaving, either,” Bree said. “Besides, where would we find a woman who deserved our dad?”

      “Fine,” Frannie huffed. “So let’s serve dinner and send our guests on their way.”

      For the first few minutes, dinner went well. Brianna served the salad, Cassie the garlic bread and Frannie the spaghetti. The conversation around the table was polite, if a bit reserved. Then their father asked the question Cassie was dreading.

      “Where are our bibs, Bree?”

      “Bibs?” repeated Lydia Dibbles, mystified.

      “Bibs?” echoed Emma Sorenson, her penciled brows rising.

      “Yes, bibs,” Andrew stated as if his meaning were obvious. “We can’t eat spaghetti without bibs.” He smiled patiently at Emma and Lydia. “Brianna made us these gargantuan bibs that keep the tomato sauce off our clothes. She started with one for me.” He speared a meatball and held it up, red sauce dripping from the fork’s tines. “As you can see, I’m clumsy as they come.”

      “A bib for adults! What a clever idea,” Lydia said.

      Andrew nodded. “Exactly! And soon we were all using them. They free you up to slurp your spaghetti strands, if that happens to be your thing. I never could get the hang of twirling spaghetti on my fork.”

      “Daddy,” Cassandra interrupted sharply, “I’m sure our guests don’t want to wear bibs. Bibs are for babies, toddlers…”

      “Nonsense! Why wouldn’t they want to protect those lovely outfits?” With a twinkle in his eyes Andrew jumped up from the table, strode to the buffet and removed what appeared to be a stack of white terry cloth towels.

      Cassie lowered her gaze and shook her head as her father tied a bib first around Emma’s neck and then Lydia’s. He went on to fasten a bib around each daughter’s neck, planting a kiss on the tops of their heads, and finally he tied a bib around his own neck and sat down, looking quite pleased with himself.

      The women seemed dumbstruck at first as they gazed down at their enormous bibs, but then they began to giggle, and soon everyone in the room was laughing uproariously and making outrageous jokes.

      “If we were wearing black, we’d look like penguins,” Emma said with a chuckle.

      “I could wear this to the beauty shop when I have my hair done. It’s certainly large enough,” Lydia observed.

      “Have you thought of going into business, Andrew?” suggested Emma. “Marketing bibs for adults. I’m sure it’s a fad many of us would welcome. You could personalize them. Oh, there’s no end to what you could do. Cover them with pictures, make them in bright colors…”

      “What a wonderful idea, Emma,” said Lydia. “I may try my hand at a few myself. I know several little craft stores that might welcome them.”

      “I wouldn’t mind working with you, Lydia. I have a sewing machine and have been known to be quite a seamstress in my time.”

      “Oh, that might be fun, dear. What do you think, Andrew? Would you mind us taking your idea and running with it?”

      “No, of course not, although maybe you should check with Bree. It was her idea in the first place.”

      “No, that’s fine,” Brianna said quickly. “I’d love to see what the two of you come up with.”

      When everyone had finished their spaghetti, Cassie served coffee and Frannie brought out her special strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was obviously a favorite of everyone’s.

      When at last dinner was finished, Cassie breathed a little sigh of relief. Considering the catastrophe she had expected this evening to be, everything had gone amazingly well. Lydia and Emma were already behaving like long-lost friends, and her father seemed to be genuinely enjoying the company of his two dates. But now that dinner was over she wanted to send them on their way before she pushed her good fortune too far.

      “Well, it’s been wonderful having you both here,” she told her two guests as she collected the dessert plates. СКАЧАТЬ