Page 32 of Pages of Amber
The woman laughed, the delightful sound filling the warm kitchen. “I love feeding you kids. It’s my pleasure.”
“Then I guess you’ll love this. Mom, meet Amber.”
His mother’s eyes fell on her. For a second, they took on the same dazed expression her son’s eyes had at the theatre. She rounded the counter to meet them and Amber’s eyes widened at the sky high heels on her feet. How did she move so fast in those?
Her eyes were a bright green highlighted by kohl and smoky eyeshadow. Despite her makeup, Amber recognized the features she shared with her son. Their eyes were deep-set, bridged with long lashes and their nose had the same upturned curve. Amber noticed the dark grey slacks and white button up his mother had on under her apron. Had she gotten off work and entered into the kitchen to bake cookies for her son and his friends? That was insanely sweet.
“Hi, Mrs. Rhodes. It’s nice to meet you. You have a lovely home.”
Mrs. Rhodes beamed. A certain light radiated from her that almost made her tan skin glow. She took Amber’s outstretched hand and enveloped it between hers. “Thank you. It’s lovely to meet you too. I mean, you’re Amber. The Amber. I can’t believe I finally get to meet you after hearing Noah talk about you all these years.”
A record scratch went off in her head. Noah did what?
“Mom!” he interrupted, his voice stern. Amber stared at the flush that creeped up his neck. He was embarrassed. Because his mom said Noah had talked about her? He had mentioned her enough times that his mother had recognized Amber by name alone. Her.
She blinked, her mind sputtering over that little piece of information. She was probably dreaming all this up. Maybe Evelyn and Noah hadn’t actually met her at the class then invited her back to his house. Maybe she was back at her own house, snuggled up in bed and lost in dreamland. All of this could be a product of her imagination, an incredibly realistic one.
Mrs. Rhodes waved off her son’s protest. “Where are my manners? Come in. You must be hungry. Evelyn always works up an appetite after her ballet practice. She mentioned you recently placed second at a regional competition. How was the experience? I would love to hear all about it.”
It was a mild surprise hearing Mrs. Rhodes say so much so fast when her son barely liked to communicate at all. A slight accent peaked at her pronunciation of certain words. She had never heard it from Noah.
Amber took a seat at the counter beside Evelyn. “It was a grand experience. There was so much excitement in the air. The crew we had working with us was amazing. They helped all the contestants get settled, gave us our schedules and helped with any costume or technical issues as best they could.” Her nerves slowly eased as she spoke. Mrs. Rhodes listened closely, her smile in place.
“It must have been unforgettable too. I remember the only competition I ever went for. It was the Valle de Santiago Miss Teen Pageant my mama signed me in. I was prepared to hate it until we got to see the other girls. The moment I saw them in their crowns and sparkly dresses, I was a goner.”
Mrs. Rhodes plated three cookies and placed it before Amber, so immersed in her story that she missed Amber’s hesitation. She was hungry and the cookies looked delicious but her mother’s words came unbidden to her mind.
The seat on the other side of Amber scraped lightly against the tile. Noah took a glance at the plate and slowly pulled it to their middle. With his eyes focused on his mom, he picked a cookie and bit into it. Amber found herself staring at his profile and only jerked away when he met her gaze. His mom was now instructing Evelyn to grab ingredients from the pantry, but she was moaning about how she couldn’t leave or all the cookies would disappear.
Sitting there, in the house of the boy she’d been convinced she detested for years, eating cookies and talking with his mom, it felt like the world had slowed down for a minute. Like the feeling she had when it was only her and the music.
It felt… nice.
Until a loud crash sounded at the front door.
“Emmett, those better not be my spices!” Mrs. Rhodes’ roared from the pantry.
The brunet Amber recognized as Evelyn’s brother barely registered the scolding. The door fell shut behind him as he blinked intermittently, looking around like he was unsure where he was.
“Is that Amber Coleman? Here? Sitting in Noah’s kitchen? How did this even- Am I in the wrong house?” he paused to sniff the air. “Wait, no. It can’t be, I smell cookies.”
Amber laughed. There was no denying he and Evelyn were twins. They shared the same features, except Emmett’s cheeks were a little more defined and his hair a slight shade lighter than Evelyn’s. His jaw unhinged at the sound.
“You’re real. She’s real,” he muttered in disbelief. Amber sent him a wave to aid his clarity.
“Don’t break your tiny brain trying to figure it out. We invited her over.” Evelyn stepped out of the pantry after Mrs. Rhodes, her arms full with ingredients. Emmett quickly packed up the brown bags that had fallen at his feet at Mrs. Rhodes’ narrowed eyes. It was a struggle with his other hand holding up pizza so Noah went to the rescue.
“You mean you forced her to come,” he said as he dropped the bags on the counter.
“She wanted to come. Didn’t you, Amber?”
She nodded helplessly, seeing no other answer. Also, she was too amused for words. Emmett stepped further in the room, keeping the large pizza boxes in his hands.
“Hi, Amber. Nice to officially meet you. I’m Emmett, the twin who unfortunately got stuck with Eve.”
“I’m the unfortunate one,” Evelyn muttered as she added more cookies onto her plate.
“Nope. Pretty sure it’s the other way around,” he retorted, deepening his sister’s scowl. He ignored her and leaned closer. “Also, I’m way more charming. You might think she is because you got to meet her first but I came out first so technically, I still win.”
