The Greyhound bus rolled steadily toward the sunrise. In the seventh seat, left hand side, the Davenport twins dug through their picnic lunch. Heather's stuffed bunny, which she could not give up even though she was now a teenager, perched between them.
"Oooooh, chocolate. I wonder if Mom packed jelly beans?"
"I hope so." Heather grinned, ignoring the jealousy that always cropped up lately every time she looked at Renee. Each wore her hair long, with a fringe of bangs, but they couldn't look less like twins. Renee's hair was a glossy black and her eyes were such a beautiful, pale blue that sometimes it hurt Heather to look at her. Heather was a dark strawberry blonde, with eyes that couldn't decide if they were green or blue. It didn't help matters that Renee was already losing her baby fat. "How much further to Grandma's?"
"About an hour." Renee propped her feet on the back of the seat before her, oblivious to her yellow skirt riding up already shapely thighs as she gobbled the little bag of kisses. Her white shoes were already scuffed. "We better eat some of the ham before we get there."
"You mean I should eat some of it." Heather wasn't fooled for a second. Despite her objection, she unwrapped a sandwich and nibbled at it. "It isn't going to be the same without Grandpa."
"I'm going to have to go to church with you instead of hunting. That'll suck."
"Grandma says you need to get over being such a tomboy, anyway." Heather paused, wrinkling her nose at a teenage boy across the aisle. "If you take a picture, it'll last longer."
"My name's Jon." He never took his eyes off Renee's long, tan legs.
Heather moved the picnic basket forward, blocking Renee's intimates from his gaze. "We're not quite fourteen." She grinned when he abruptly turned his eyes forward, picked at the embroidered tulips on the skirt of her new dress, and returned to her lunch.
"I hate getting eggs from the hen house." Renee gave no indication she had noticed the exchange, but Heather knew she had. "I'm always scared I'm going to stomp some chicks by accident."
"It's much more fun than the chores we do at home."
"Whatever." Renee went back to her brooding. Grandma's without Grandpa was like... Well, like spring without lilies. He had never tried to dress her up in ruffles and bows.
The bus stopped outside an ancient brick building and the girls were the only passengers to disembark in Aegean Sea, Louisiana. Renee stepped up to help the driver unload their brown leather bags, but Heather grabbed her arm in a tight grip. "Please tell me she did that with food coloring."
Grandma was crossing the little park. "Oh, my lambs! You look so grown-up and lovely!"
Renee muttered only loud enough for Heather to hear. "Did she do that with food coloring or did someone make her a wig out of Easter grass?"