“If you can spare the time,” Jack said in sarcasm.
—
Minutes later, when Casey ran down the stairs in a panic, she was confronted by what looked to be an army of people in her kitchen, all of them busy with food preparation. She wasn’t sure whether she was glad or horrified. As far as she knew, none of them knew how to cook, so what were they doing to her food?
Tate put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “You’re not alone now,” he said softly. “You have a family.”
Casey started to smile up at him, but just then Nina dropped a container of chopped onions into a bowl of cake icing. “Oops,” she said. “Now I’ll have to pick them out.”
Tate leaned down to Casey. “On the other hand, you’re not alone now. You have a family.”
Laughing, Casey hurried forward to sort out the mess.
Later, Nina was chopping peppers—far away from anything sweet—and she asked Josh how he was related to Casey.
“Well,” Josh said as he moved to stand closer to Nina. Considering tha
t he hadn’t been more than ten inches from her side since he arrived, that wasn’t easy. “My parents had me, so of course they wanted more kids.” He smiled at Nina, who nodded in agreement at his joke.
“But Dad had some physical problems, so Dr. Everett suggested they use a donor. What no one knew was that the donor was his son Kyle, who had funded his many adventures around the world with his…uh, donations.” Josh was grinning in a naughty way. “So anyway, my half sister Stacy was born. We have the same mother but different fathers.”
Everyone looked at Casey in question. “My mother couldn’t find a man who lived up to her very high standards, so she chose a donor out of a catalog. Dr. Kyle.”
Gizzy was next. “No babies came to my parents, so they asked Dr. Everett’s advice. He recommended a donor.”
Tate laughed. “His son?”
“Yes,” Gizzy said. “Of course, no one knew that at the time.”
Nina looked at Casey. “So let me see if I get this straight. You and Stacy and Gizzy all have the same father. But if you and Josh don’t share a father or a mother, then you aren’t related. He could have played Darcy.”
Casey’s face was serious. “I think the scientific term is called the Ewwww Factor. Yes, that’s it. Definitely a yuck.”
Josh nodded in agreement. “I think—” He broke off at a sound from the door.
“Hello. I came to help, if you need me.”
It was Dr. Kyle, and they couldn’t contain their laughter.
Good-naturedly, he opened the screen door. “I take it there’s been talk of my dad’s obsessive desire to have grandchildren.”
They all nodded.
Dr. Kyle looked at Emmie. “I was told that you know all about Letty and Ace. Want to hear how they fooled the grown-ups by faking stomachaches from eating little green apples?”
“Yes!” she said, took his hand, and they left together.
Smiling, Casey glanced at the clock. When she saw that it was almost ten, sheer panic ran through her. “We’re going to be late! Kit is going to—” She didn’t finish because the thought of Kit’s wrath was enough to turn all of them into jet engines.
As they scurried about, Jack gave a quick kiss to Gizzy, and Tate kissed Casey. When Josh passed Nina, it seemed natural that he should kiss her too. The only problem was that the kiss continued. They stopped in the middle of the kitchen, arms about each other, lips locked. If Tate and Jack hadn’t caught the dishes falling out of their hands, they would have broken.
Gizzy and Casey moved the kissing couple to the side, out of the way, as they rushed around to clean and pack. At four minutes to ten, the two couples ran out the door. Josh and Nina were backed up to the refrigerator, still kissing. Since neither of them was in the play, the others left them there.
“You Summer Hill people are a lusty lot,” Jack said as they ran, and they all laughed together.
Much to Kit’s displeasure, it took the cast an hour and a half to get into their costumes. He bellowed that hair and makeup were to be skipped. His words were directed to the two couples playing the leads. “When I said be here by ten, I meant to be ready to act. Clothes on.”
“But you said—” Casey began, but the looks Jack and Tate gave her made her stop. Right. The director’s word was the law.