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Chapter Forty-Five
Point of View: Narrator

Zoe opened the door of the house and tried to move faster than Nick into it. "Kayla?" she called as she moved through the mudroom into the living room, where the stairs went up into the upstairs hallway. Nick followed along behind her, closing the door and looking around. He had only gotten to the mudroom last time he'd been here. He stood in the living room behind the sofa and his eyes roamed. "Kayla!?" called Zoe up the stairs.

Nick was happy with the comfortable atmosphere in Zoe's house. She'd decorated in a country-homey style that only someone Zoe's age could possibly have done. Blankets thrown over an old beat up couch, plain round bottomed lamps, book shelves, a china cabinet with little glass mouse figurines. He bent down to look at a table running along the back of the sofa, where Zoe had put a bowl of plastic fruit and a picture of Kayla in high school cap and gown, her arms around a woman who looked exactly like her, only twenty years older. He picked that up and looked at it, gnawing on his lower lip.

"Kayla!" called Zoe again.

A thundering on the stairs made Nick turn around just in time to see Kayla come down the steps, her hair covered in a towel that had been twisted around itself to form a turban, her body wrapped in a pink terry cloth bathrobe, and her face covered in green goopy crap. "Aunt Zoe, do you know where the tampons are because I can't find them in the cabinet and I --" she froze on the bottom step, spotting Nick. "Oh my fucking God!" she screamed, and she ran back up the stairs, faster than she'd run down, "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME HE WAS HERE!" she wailed as she disappeared.

Nick cracked up and Zoe turned around, "Kayla will be right down," she said. Then she noticed Nick holding the photograph. She made her way over to him and took it, replacing it on the table.

Nick looked at it and then at Zoe, "She looked pretty when she graduated," he said. He pointed to the other woman, "Is that her momma?" he asked.

Zoe nodded curtly. "Yes. Come on, the kitchen's this way."

He looked fleetingly back at the photo before following Zoe out to the kitchen. The kitchen, too, was country-homey and comfortable. She had red cupboards and a blue-flecked-with-gold counter that looked like something from the 40s. She pulled opened the fridge, "Here since Kayla's not down yet, you can help me do this. Grab the hamburg, the eggs, milk and the bacon."

Nick bent down and pulled the ingredients she requested out of the fridge while Zoe went to a large pantry at the far end of the kitchen and came back with a box of Ritz crackers. "The ketchup, too, actually," she added, waving her hand at him just before he closed the door. He dropped the ingredients on her table and grabbed the ketchup.

"So where's Kayla's mom?" Nick asked.

Zoe sighed. She opened another cupboard door, "Grab that big red bowl down there," she said. She reached for an apron off a hook by the door, where there was a calendar and a phone. "Do you want an apron?" she asked.

"Nawh," Nick smirked, "I like it dirty." He winked.

And that, thought Zoe, is why Kayla is going no where near this schmuck.

Nick was staring at her expectantly, though, and Zoe knew she'd have to answer his question eventually. She sighed. "Zara was my twin sister," she said slowly, "Non-identical." She paused speaking as she ripped the hamburger packing open and dropped the lump of meat into the red bowl Nick had pulled out of the cupboard for her. "Zara was killed," she said slowly, "In a car accident. With a drunk driver."

Nick was looking at his fingers, the words drunk driver echoing in his head.

"...The night that picture was taken," Zoe added.

Nick looked up. "On Kayla's graduation?"

"Yes," Zoe replied. "That night. It was one of the other kids from Kayla's school, on their way back from a party." She took a deep breath, "Zara and I were on our way home, and the kid ran a stop light because he was too smashed to see it. He T-boned our car with his truck. He walked away with some scratches," she opened the box of Ritz as she spoke, "I, well, just barely walked away." She looked down at her crutches as she began breaking up the crackers into the bowl, "And Zara, she didn't walk away."

Nick felt like his heart could stop right then.

Zoe held out the eggs to him, "We need three," she said quietly.

Nick opened the carton and picked out three eggs, which he cracked on the side of the bowl and dropped in with the meat and Ritz crackers Zoe had broken up. He watched Zoe, as she watched his hands cracking the eggs. "Is that why you became a driver's education teacher?" he asked.

"I don't want to see anyone else die like Zara did," Zoe replied.

"I'm sorry," Nick whispered.

Zoe looked up at him. "The past is in the past, and it stays there," she said flatly, "You can only change the future."

Kayla suddenly inched into the room, her hair down and messy, her face goop-free, and fully dressed. Zoe turned to look at her, and Nick followed suit when Zoe did. A smile spread across his face when he saw her, wearing a baby doll T and a pair of shorts with mismated socks. She was blushing bright red. Kayla's eyes were trained to him.

You are so not hitting on him, thought Zoe. "Find those tampons, honey?" asked Zoe, smirking.

Kayla turned deeper red, "Yeah. Thanks for that." She sank into a seat at the table and covered her face.

"Nick's helping to cook," Zoe said, pushing the bowl to him, "You like it dirty... you get to do the dirty part." She sank down at the table, too, opposite Kayla, and smiled up at Nick, who rolled up his sleeves and went to the sink to wash his hands.