Chapter 3
My sister stared blankly at me, looking concerned, considering what I had told her about Salem and my new piece of furniture.
"Picking out stuff? Like paint colors? I didn't know you two were that close. You just told me Kirkpatrick Construction was making your work cabinet."
"They are."
"It sounds like Salem is," she said.
"Salem is Kirkpatrick Construction. That's his last name. It's his company."
"You don't have to be rude," she said.
"I'm not."
I didn't start my car because I could tell that something was wrong with my sister. I sat in the driver's seat, looking at her, waiting for us to get this settled.
"Do you have some kind of problem with me going over to Salem's to help him with his house?" I spoke bluntly and wore a confused expression because I didn't owe her an explanation, and we both knew it.
"No, I'm just… I guess I was… I'm blown away. I'm sitting here thinking, and I don't even know what to say. I know you met him at Mom's house, Molly. I was there with you when you met him." She was upse t. Sara was normally the most laid-back one of us all—always smiling. I didn't like seeing her look upset.
"Sara, are you freaking out right now because I met Salem at Camp Eden?"
"Yes, I am a little, Molly."
She was mad, and it hit me to wonder if my sister could possibly be in love with Salem Kirkpatrick. I had never felt competitive in that way with my sisters. We steered clear of any guys the other one liked.
"Do you like Salem?" I asked her.
"No. Do you ?" she said.
"No," I answered certainly. "He's helping me with my cabinet, Sara. What's your deal about it?"
"Because, Molly. If you meet someone at Camp Eden, that means I have to, too. Actually, I don't know what it means if you meet someone before me. You're younger. It has gone in order until this point, first it was John-Michael, then Jenny. You can't meet someone at Camp Eden and go before me. If those two things happen…" She paused and stuttered. "It-it m-means… it probably means that I'm not getting married at all, honestly, Molly. An actual, real-life spinster."
I stared at her from across my console.
I expected her to bust out laughing, but she didn't. I almost did. I had to hold it back.
"Are you being serious right now?" I asked after she stared seriously at me .
"Yes, Molly. You ca-can't fall in love with Salem."
"I'm not, Sara. I’m actually not. Salem sees me as too young for him, and he's in love with someone." I hated thinking of myself as too young for Salem, so I went off on the second idea. "He's, like, really in love," I added, since it was the truth.
"I thought Salem was single," she said, looking confused.
"He is, technically, but he's waiting for someone. Love. That girl… Isabel Love. You know her. The pastor's daughter. They have some kind of… understanding."
Sara knew the woman I was talking about. Isabel Love's dad was the pastor of the largest church in the Raleigh-Durham area. It was a mega church, and Isabel and her sisters were local celebrities because of it. Isabel was the oldest, and she was like Mother Theresa. She had given her life to God and had been off in Africa, working at orphanages. She had written a few books, and a time or two, she had come to speak at our church to promote her books and her charity efforts. I knew my sister had heard of her because we had talked about her family before.
"Salem has a relationship with that woman?"
"Yes. They used to be together. She was his only girlfriend and vice-versa. He's basically waiting for her while she's off doing God's work. That's why he's building this whole house. He's the settling- down kind. I'm helping him with it. He said he likes my style, and that probably means she would like it."
I spoke in a sarcastic tone like I could never in a million years wind up with Salem. I truly felt that way. He had been forthcoming with me all along about waiting for Isabel. I had been the one who talked him into the meaningless kisses. They weren't committed to each other, and I reminded him of that the first time it happened. There was no way I was going to tell my sister that, though. That would only confuse her even more. She would be devastated. I held my mouth closed, reminding myself not to ever mention the kissing part to my sister.
"I think I remember him saying something about Isabel," she said.
"Yeah, they were close."
"How are you paying for him to make you a cabinet? Aren't they expensive?"
"He's cutting me a deal because of helping him with his house. That's what I'm telling you. I'm going over there this afternoon to help him pick out floors for his bathroom."
"Why doesn't he just get that girl to pick them if he's making the house for her?"
"I don't know, I guess he wants to make it a surprise."
I took a deep breath and started my car. We had been sitting there for a few minutes because she was that affected by all of this. I was caught off guard and a little upset with her as I started backing out of my parking spot.
"You freaked me out with all that," I said. "You were so serious. I thought you were joking."
"No, it would actually give me anxiety if you ended up with Salem. That would definitely mean that I am not going to find anyone, don't you think?"
"How Sara? This isn't one of your books. Do you think if you write in your book about us marrying brothers, that's how it's going to have to happen?"
"They're twins."
"Okay. That doesn't mean we have to marry twins in real life. That probably won't happen. If you're going to need it to happen like the book, you shouldn't write it. We can't put ourselves in a box like that."
"Molly, think about it. If you started dating Salem, that means that the thing about meeting at Camp Eden is true. And if it's true, then the whole thing will have skipped me."
"You're making that up, Sara," I said, laughing as I drove and trying to make light of it. "I don't like Salem, and I'm not going to end up with him, but it wouldn't mean anything bad for you if I did. You can't be like that."
"See? You just saying that scares me."
"I am not going to end up with Salem. He's with that girl. I'm telling you. He mentioned her the last time I talked to him."
"How often do you talk to him? "
"More lately, since he's making that thing for me."
She sighed and looked straight ahead.
"You seem like you're still having a panic attack about it."
"I am having a panic attack about it."
"Sara, we do not have to meet our spouses at Camp Eden. Mom and Dad met there, and so did a couple of our siblings. That doesn't mean it has to happen with us."
"Doesn't it?" she said. "Don't you think the coincidence is too much? I mean, it's an amazing story with Mom, but then John-Michael and Jenny? I'm writing a whole book about it, Molly."
"I know, and in your book, you and I meet twin brothers."
"Yes…"
"I'm just making sure you know it's okay if it doesn't really happen that way. When you told me your idea for the book, I knew that, and I assumed you knew it too."
"Are you saying all this because you like Salem?"
"No, I'm not. I don't like him."
"Then we might still meet the twins. You never know."
"You're right, you never know," I said smiling at her and feeling stunned. "What's my twin's name?" I asked .
"Sebastian," she said. "Zack and Sebastian Thomas."
I shrugged and shook my head. "I've never met anyone named Sebastian."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"If you want the story to come true, you may as well name them something common, like William, Jacob, or Michael. You need to raise our chances."
"Zack is common," she said.
"Maybe, but Sebastian isn't. If you want any chance of this coming true, you better try to put the odds in our favor."
"I didn't say that I think their names have to be the same as the ones in my book."
I laughed at my sister. "You just wanted to make sure it was twins?"
"No. Just not Salem. You sounded all excited and happy to talk to him. His brother is already married, and they're not twins, anyway. And all three of us can't marry people from one family. Three people in the same family marrying three siblings from another family? Does that even happen?"
"I'm sure it does," I said. "You tell me, you're the one writing a romance novel."
"It doesn't matter because Phillip's married."
"And Salem is pretty much married too. He might as well be." I felt bad for saying that because I wouldn't have tried to kiss him if he was seriously committed to someone else. He had told me that he and Isabel were not committed to each other .
"I feel a lot better now that you told me about that Love girl. They would be a good couple. Salem always seems so fancy to me. I could see him with that woman."
"Yeah, me too," I said, smiling. It was a fake smile. I didn't have any sort of feeling that I would ultimately end up with Salem, but it rubbed me the wrong way that my sister was so against it. She even bothered to say that Salem was too fancy for me. Had she said that? I thought so.
Sara was older than me, so I could understand that she wanted to find someone and get married before me, and I also got it that me meeting Salem at the camp put extra pressure on her. But I didn't like it. Was she saying I wasn't good enough for him? Her disapproval was only going to make me think about Salem more.
"Are you good?" I said to her, pushing my feelings aside.
"Yes, and I'm sorry," she said, sighing. "You can obviously date whoever you want. But it's true that if you and Salem would end up together, you know what that implies. You know that implies that I'm never going to find someone."
"No, it doesn't, Sara. That's what I'm saying. That's where you have to distinguish fiction from reality. I don't like Salem, and I'm not going to end up with him, but you have to be okay with the possibility that I could get married before you. "
"I know that," she said. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to come across that I would be unhappy if you find someone. It's just that now that Jenny is married, I'm next. I feel a little bit of pressure with that. I would feel scared if the whole pattern skipped me."
"So what if it skipped you? You're putting too much importance on the fact that our parents and siblings met at the same place. That's not a thing you and I have to live by. We don't have to fit into that box. I could move to New York City and find someone to marry there, and I would be fine with it."
"Not me. I don't know. I don't think I'm like that. I'd like to stick with tradition."
"We don't have control over it, though. I mean what are the chances that we are going to meet our soulmates at Mom and Dad's house?"
She shrugged. "I would say, based on how it's going, our chances are pretty good."
"I know, Sara, but my heart is definitely not set on that. Yours shouldn't be, either. I would be fine meeting someone anywhere."
"Yeah but it would be way cooler to meet them at the camp, don't you think?"