uttoned up。
Two seconds later the doorbell rang and Mom called； “Can you get that； Bryce？”
Luckily； Granddad beat me to it。 He greeted them all like they were long…lost family and even
seemed to know which one was Matt and which one
was Mike。 One was wearing a purple shirt and the other was wearing a green one； so it
shouldn't have been that hard to remember which was
which； but they came in and pinched my cheeks and said； “Hey； baby brother！ How's it
goin'？” and I got so mad I mixed them up again。
My mother zoomed in from the kitchen； saying； “e in； e in。 It's so nice you all could
make it。” She called； “Lyn…et…ta！ Rick！ We've got pa…
ny！” but then stopped short when she saw Juli and Mrs。 Baker。 “Well； what's this？” she asked。
“Homemade pies？”
Mrs。 Baker said； “Blackberry cheesecake and pecan。”
“They look wonderful！ Absolutely wonderful！” My mother was acting so hyper I couldn't
believe it。 She took Juli's pie； then whooshed a path to the
kitchen with Mrs。 Baker。
Lyta appeared from around the corner； which made Matt and Mike grin and say； “Hey；
Lyn。 Lookin' good。”
Black skirt； black nails； black eyes — for a nocturnal rodent； yeah； I suppose she was looking
good。
They disappeared down to Lyta's room； and when I turned around； my granddad was
taking Mr。 Baker into the front room； which left me in the
entry hall with Juli。 Al