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give of themselves, Lacey’s were lame, crippled, knocked and locked at the knees.
    “I can’t wait,” Alan said.
    “What?” Lacey said.
    “Dinner. Big fat spaghetti. Big glass wine.” He mimed sucking a strand of spaghetti into his mouth, making her laugh. She put her hand out and touched his face. This is home base, she thought, stroking his cheek. Never lose sight of home base. She pulled her hand back. Alan reached out and held it again. The worry line visited his forehead again, looking like it was here for a long stay this time.
    “What?” she asked.
    “You’re shaking like a leaf,” he said. He pointed out the window to the large oak that graced their backyard. He gyrated his hand in a shaking motion. English idioms weren’t part of Deaf Culture just like Deaf idioms were lost on a hearing person who didn’t sign. Alan said he used to act them out for his mother, in their kitchen after school. He carried on the same tradition with Lacey, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him she already knew most of them. It was amusing to watch him exaggerate the whole bit, act them out like mini plays. The tree, the leaf, the wind, how the leaf fluttered. He looked like an idiot, but he was her idiot. But this time it didn’t look like he was joking. Lacey stared at her hand. He was right: She was shaking.
    Twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin twin sister sister sister sister sister sister sister sister sister
    “Too much coffee,” Lacey said. She didn’t tell him about the parking ticket either. Or Sheila Sherman calling a tow truck. Or visiting Kelly. At dinner, she convinced herself. I’ll tell him at dinner .
    “Deaf coffee,” Alan said. Deaf coffee was a Deaf idiom. It meant decaf.
    “Deaf coffee next time,” she assured him. Rookie raced into the room, wedged himself between them, and began to spin in circles.
    “Genius,” Alan said, looking at him. “Our dog is a pure genius.”
    “When good pogo sticks go bad,” Lacey added, quoting Alan. Then she looked at Rookie and signed, “Outside.” Rookie stopped spinning and started jumping. He knew a half dozen signs: walk, sit, work, bathroom, outside, and cookie. In other words, the important stuff, and the good stuff.
    “You’re taking Rookie?” Alan asked. “Why?”
    “He loves to ride in the jeep,” Lacey said. She made eye contact with Rookie. You have a twin, she conveyed telepathically. Her name is Snookie. Rookie sneezed, shook his head violently, and lowered the front half of his body so that his butt was sticking in the air. Then, he bared his teeth and growled. Exactly, Lacey thought. That’s exactly how I feel.

Chapter 4
    L acey stood in front of the closet in the guest bedroom with the simple black dress she planned on wearing slung in the crook of her arm. Technically, it was Alan’s closet. She had the reign of the big one in the master bedroom, but a couple of months ago she’d snuck a few pairs of high heels into his closet, and she was going to need a pair of them tonight to go along with her dress. She slid Alan’s suits over to get a better look at the floor where her heels were hiding. But just as she moved the last suit out of the way, her hand brushed a pocket, and her fingertips danced across a hard surface. Before she could talk herself out of it, she reached into the pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box.
    Don’t open it, she told herself. She opened it. It was a diamond ring. One carat. Princess cut. Platinum band. Lacey shut the box and put it back in the suit pocket. She took it out again and opened it. Shut it. Put it back. Took it out. Put it back. Took it out. Opened it. Shut it. Put it back in the opposite pocket. Took it out. Tried to shove it in her pocket. Her jeans were too tight. Put it back. Shut the closet door and leaned against it.
    Oh God. Didn’t he know her at all? Hadn’t he been listening? Didn’t she make her views on holy matrimony oh so