Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

her shoulders back and lost her look of joy instantly.
    “What are you doing dilly-dallying there, Semantha? I told you to get ready for dinner. Do I have to tell you everything twice?”
    You’re not my mother,
I wanted to say,
so stop acting like it.
    But the words collapsed before they reached the tip of my tongue. I swallowed them back and hurried to my room. I looked through my closet. Almost any choice I started to make didn’t look good enough. It was as if Cassie’s eyes had somehow snuck into my head, and I was seeing everything the way she would see it. Finally, I decided on a dress I had worn to Daddy’s birthday dinner last year. It still fit perfectly, which probably would have made any other girl in my class happy, but to me, it meant I had not grown very much or gained much weight. I was back to thinking about my fragility again. Was it all because I had been born prematurely? Was Cassie right as always?
    I fixed my hair and put on a little lipstick. Daddy liked me to wear a little lipstick, but he didn’t like much more makeup on our faces. Cassie wore lipstick, too, but she put it on so lightly it was often hard to see. I couldn’t help being nervous about my appearance. I stepped out of my bedroom andwalked downstairs gingerly. The moment I entered the kitchen, Cassie turned to inspect me. Incredibly, she was wearing the dress she had worn at Daddy’s birthday, too, but she didn’t think it wonderful that we had both thought to do the same thing. On the contrary, she looked upset.
    “Why did you choose to wear that dress tonight?” she asked in an angry tone of voice.
    “I thought it was my nicest, and you said—”
    “You know Mother bought that for you and bought this for me just for Daddy’s birthday dinner.”
    “Yes,” I said, still confused about to why it would upset her. “And you’re wearing yours.”
    She stared a moment. “Go back upstairs, and change into another dress,” she said sharply.
    “What?”
    “Do you want Daddy to think we’re both so happy Mother’s too ill to be with us that we conspired and wore our nicest dresses? Have some sensitivity. Go on. I’ll do your dinner chores. Go!”
    I turned and hurried out. What was she talking about? How could this make us look insensitive? I was confused, but Cassie was so much smarter than I was and knew so much more. I had to listen to her and go by what she said. I changed into a more ordinary dress and returned to the kitchen. She already had done everything.
    “That’s better,” she said, looking me over. “Now, just go in and sit,” she ordered.
    “But shouldn’t I help you serve?”
    “I have it all well organized, Semantha. Sit,” she commanded, as if I were her pet dog.

    I joined Daddy at the table. He smiled as soon as I sat.
    “Look at how you both have taken charge when it’s needed. It’s a great lifting of the heavy burden from my shoulders to have two daughters like you and Cassie, Semantha. You both have the Heavenstone resourcefulness and sense of responsibility. We’re going to be fine.”
    He turned as Cassie entered with the pot roast.
    “Well, well, now, look at this. I smelled how wonderful it was when you brought it up to your mother.”
    She set it down and brightened with one of her best smiles for Daddy.
    “And look at how beautifully dressed your sister is, Semantha. Isn’t that the dress you wore to my birthday dinner?”
    “Yes, it is, Daddy,” she said, nodding at me.
    “I don’t deserve such a daughter. Thank you, Cassie. Your mother will be quite happy to know you’re filling in so well for her.”
    Cassie looked as if she was simply too happy to speak. Finally, she managed, “It’s not anything, Daddy.”
    “It is to me,” he said. “Well, let’s begin.”
    Cassie served him his pot roast and the vegetables. She poured him his glass of red wine, standing at his side and looking like a professional waitress. She even waited while he smelled it and sipped it, pretending he was in a restaurant.
    “Perfect,” he told her.
    “Very good, Mr. Heavenstone,” she said, andDaddy laughed the way I remembered him laughing when he and Mother were much younger and still behaved like newlyweds.
    Cassie sat in Mother’s place. Daddy didn’t seem to notice or care. He said a prayer that included wishes for Mother’s and the new baby’s health. Finally, we began to eat.
    “So,” Daddy said, nodding at me. “Your sister has been invited to her first