Two Holts: Sisters of Steele
Laura, Kate and Frances sprawled on Laura’s bed in her loft. Frances wore both of her sisters’ new
rings, trying to decide which one suited her better. Kate and Laura were sampling from a box of
chocolate Murphy had so thoughtfully provided them. Remington had contributed a bottle of
champagne and the girls were getting rather silly.
Grateful for the fact that her mother offered to put her kids to bed and stay with them for the night,
Frances sipped from her glass and rolled over, still wearing a ring on each hand. “How did you get
Remington to agree to put up with Murphy and Donald for the evening?” she wanted to know. “I
thought he and Murphy hated each other.”
“I told him to make nice with his future brother-in-law. Besides, Donald is there to referee.”
“Like that’s going to work,” Kate said wryly. “Those two get along like oil and water. Donald is
going to have to break up at least one fistfight tonight.” She had listened to her fiancé complain
again and again about Steele over the years.
“Well, I also threatened to make him sleep on the sofa if he didn’t play nice.”
“Laura! First you make the poor guy wait four years, then you indulge him for three solid weeks,
and now you suggest cutting him off again?” Frances' voice rose. “That’s awful.”
“Entirely uncalled for!” Kate seconded.
“No--just trying to give myself a night to recover.” Both of her sisters shrieked with laughter and
Laura flushed with a smile on her face.
“So tell me, Laura, how is it?” Kate had to know.
“Uh uh. Not telling.” She giggled as both her sisters began tickling her mercilessly.
“One thing, Laura--at least give us one thing!” Kate insisted as she twisted Laura’s arm behind her
back.
“Nope.”
Frances reached over and snatched the box of chocolates away. “No more for you until you 'fess
up.”
Laura tried to give her sister the slip and grab for the box. “Give me those.”
“Uh uh.” She held the box out of Laura’s reach while Kate continued to tickle her.
“Okay, okay, okay--one thing!”
Frances held the box under her nose as Kate rolled off her. Laura fished out an almond nougat and
stuck it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully in silence.
“Laura,” Kate warned.
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking. There’s so much to choose from--“ She tried to duck, but Kate hit her
square in the face with a pillow. Frances giggled as she drank from her champagne glass again.
“Okay, here goes.” Laura took a deep breath. “The first time? And it was absolutely perfect. The
candles, the moonlight, the fire in the fireplace--he completely swept me off my feet.”
“Nice setting, but you’re evading the question.” Kate wasn’t letting her twin off with a dreamy
description.
“I’m getting there.” She worked up her nerve and blurted out, “You know how most guys think a
couple of swipes with the tongue are fair repayment for a blow job?”
Kate giggled. “Yes--but I’ll go ahead and defend my fiancé in this category.”
“Oh, God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” Laura moaned in embarrassment.
“Whom else are you going to tell?” Frances asked matter-of-factly. “You have to share with
someone.”
“Okay, okay--let’s just say that I’m convinced I’m an all-night buffet.”
“Laura!!!” Frances and Kate gasped in unison.
Dreamily, she sucked on another piece of candy. “Mmm--it was absolutely decadent. And that
night wasn’t the only time he did it either. I rather get the feeling that he thinks I’m a perfectly
acceptable substitute for dessert.”
Frances crawled in between the twins and brought the box of chocolate with her. “Mmm, Donald’s
pretty good in that field too.
“I gotta say Murphy is rather talented in that area himself.”
“Oh, I didn’t need to know that, Kate! I worked with the man for years.” Laura rubbed her eyes
as if to scrub away that image from her head.
Frances fanned herself while Kate laughed outright. “You know, there’s bound to be a way we can
get some one-upmanship going on amongst our men in this arena, but I can’t for the life of me
figure out how to get it started,” Kate mused.
“Kate!” Now Laura and Frances shrieked in disbelief at her comment.
Laura stuffed a pillow over her face to hide her blush. “Oh, my God. I canNOT believe we are
having this conversation!”
“You started it,” said Kate.
“You ASKED me about ONE thing!”
“Okay, I’ll ask you another. How many times?” Kate asked.
“For me or for him?”
“Both,” Frances said as she dug for another chocolate.
“Me? I lost count before midnight,” Laura said to her sisters’ shrieks of laughter.
“And him?” Kate couldn’t resist.
Laura rolled over and buried her face in the bedspread, shaking her head. Frances pulled off
Laura’s wedding ring and held it up. “Either you tell us how many times or you have to explain
why ‘Fan Dance’ is engraved on your wedding ring.”
“Fan Dance? Oh, Laura, not again!” Kate moaned.
“Again? Wait--what’d I miss the first time?” Frances complained and bopped her middle sister on
the back of the head. “You never tell me anything.”
“She never told you about Acapulco? And Wilson?”
“No!” She snatched the box of chocolates away again and set them on the floor.
“Well, apparently our sister got very inebriated during one of Wilson’s banker conventions and did
her rendition of a very exotic dance on the bar. With very small fans.” Kate leaned over the bed
and dug a piece of chocolate out of the box. Lying on her back then, she continued, “Wilson
couldn’t handle it. She was too outrageous for him.”
Now she eyed Laura, who still had her face buried in the bedcovers. “If I were to guess, Remington
found out about it somehow and obviously didn’t have the same reaction. So tell us, Laura, what
did he think of your dancing skills?”
She rolled over and propped her head on her hand. “I haven’t danced for him at all.”
“Then why the engraving?” Frances asked again.
“Because he said it's to remind me of who I am and that he loves me for all of it. He likes the
passionate, impulsive, silly girl I used to be just as much as he does the straight-laced, logical and
serious Laura.”
Frances downed the rest of her champagne. “God, that’s romantic. I don’t think Donald would
ever think of something like that.”
“No? What about the time he rented a boat for the weekend and sent the kids to Mom’s? You
were sunburned in places I don’t want to even think about,” Laura retorted with a grin.
Frances flushed beat red in memory and cocked her head with her own dreamy smile. “Oh, yeah.
Mmm, that was a fabulous weekend. I think the only time we had clothes on was while we were
tacking in and out of the marina. He did this thing with his tongue--oh my!” Laura and Kate giggled
hysterically at their sister’s expression.
Now Laura turned the tables on her twin. “Okay--your turn. Murphy. One thing about Murphy.”
“Might I remind you that last night I was drunk and slept virtuously on your sofa? It’s been nearly a
year! I assure you, when the boys come back, I want both of you out of this loft in less than thirty
seconds or you are going to get much more of an education from your little sister than either of you
want!”
“Itchy are we?” Laura bit her lip with a smile.
“Some of us haven’t been getting regular lube jobs!”
“Hey--I waited for over four years and had to look at Mr. Steele nearly every day! Talk about
getting itchy!”
“And whose fault was that?”
“Who knows? Who cares? That part is sooo over!” Laura moaned dramatically and wiggled in
memory. Kate caught her square in the face with another pillow. Shoving it off, Laura scrambled
over Frances and pinned her twin to the bed. “Katy! One thing!”
Kate flushed, making every spot on her face pop. “Well, he seems to have a thing about freckles.
One night, he played connect-the-dots with a paint brush and a glass of wine. He found a few I
didn’t know I had. And then what he did with that brush afterwards, well, let’s just say that I have
a new appreciation for art.” She smiled in memory.
Laura snorted. “So if I give him a complete set of watercolor brushes for Christmas, he’ll know
what to do with them?”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I might!”
Kate wacked her sister with a pillow again and Laura retaliated with her own. While they pummeled
each other on the bed, Frances leaned over and picked up the sketchbook lying on the side table.
She admired Remington’s sketch of her twin sisters and flipped over to the next page to see the
other drawing he had made of the three sisters, her two daughters and her mother. She wondered
how she could get Laura to give it to her.
Idly, she paged through the rest of the book. Remington had covered most of them with portraits of
Laura, some finished, some not. And then she turned to the last page.
“Laura Elizabeth Holt!”
“What?” She and Kate stopped in mid-swing.
Frances turned the sketchbook to her. “I thought you said you didn’t dance for him?”
Laura’s jaw dropped. There on the paper was an image of her doing a fan dance, with two not-so-
well-placed fans. They were beautifully decorated in pearls, sequins and feathers, and Laura had a
daring smile on her face.
Kate peered over her shoulder. “You know, I think he even got your freckles in the right places.”
“I didn’t know he drew this! Or when.”
Frances looked carefully and found the date on the bottom of the page. “When did you guys get
back from London last year?”
“In September, why?’
“This is dated in October.” Laura took the sketchbook from her and looked closely at the portrait.
Kate was correct; he did have her freckles in the right places. How did he know?
She noticed something else and flipped through the other pages just to make sure. Several of the
early sketches were obviously finished and had a date hidden somewhere in the margin. But starting
with the one of the fan dance, all the others completed since then had an addition. He had signed
the first exotic portrait “Steele 6-Oct-85.” With a secret smile, she knew then that her husband
really did think of himself as “Remington Steele.”
“Who knows? Maybe I got drunk and danced it for him. It certainly wouldn’t be the oddest thing
we’ve done in our relationship,” she quipped. Rising from the bed, she folded up the sketchbook
and descended the stairs to drop it by her purse.
* * * * *
Remington, Murphy and Donald were holed up in a little bar not too far from Laura’s loft. Steele
was banished from playing another round of pool after beating the other two handily and was stuck
propping up the wall while they battled it out for the title of second-best. The conversation had
been stilted as the former co-workers slung insults at each other. Donald finally had had enough
when he sank his last shot to win the game, and Steele made a pithy comment about Murphy’s lack
of balls.
“You two--at the table--opposite corners.” He suddenly felt as if he was dealing with Mindy and
Daniel, his two pre-teen kids that drove him batty half the time with their constant sniping. Murphy
and Steele reluctantly took their seats. “Now what in the blue blazes is going on between you two?
Murphy, in case you haven’t noticed, Steele has stuck around for more than four years and married
Laura three weeks ago. She’s happy, in case you haven’t noticed that either. Happier than I’ve
ever seen her.” Laura’s former partner ducked his head and swallowed some more beer.
“Remington, Murphy is Laura’s friend and helped her at a time when she needed it. Murphy is
absolutely silly about Kate. You have absolutely no reason to be jealous.” Steele scratched the
back of his neck and tried to look nonchalant.
But Donald wasn’t finished. “Now the three of us are going to be stuck with each other for a very
long time, and you two can either get whatever it is out of your system and learn to be friends, or
this is going to be a very miserable family before long. You can’t ask those girls to choose between
their relationship with each other and the ones they have with you.”
Both of the men fidgeted, drank beer and fidgeted some more. Slowly, the two men reached out
their hands and shook. “Truce?” Murphy asked.
“Truce,” echoed Steele.
“Now, since neither of you can be trusted, we’re going to lay some ground rules.” Remington
raised an eyebrow at Donald. His past dealings with Laura’s brother-in-law had revealed that he
was a good man, but he’d not suspected that he had a serious backbone. Then again, the man was
used to dealing with Frances and Abigail.
“One, deal with the fact that you two are married--or will be married--to twins. As close as they are
to Frances, anything that comes between them will rip their heart out. You two had better accept
that fact. Remington, Kate has been gone for a great deal of the past five years and buried so deep
in the deserts of Mongolia and the jungles of Thailand doing graduate work that she and Laura
haven’t been able to keep in touch very well. I suspect that half the problems you two have had can
be traced back to Laura’s instability without her sister. As strong as your wife is, Kate’s the
dominant twin. Had Kate been around, she might have knocked some sense into Laura’s head a lot
sooner.”
“Two, I don’t care what kind of insults you sling or punches you throw as long as you realize that
the other man isn’t going to go away. And if you say anything that pisses off the other twin, you’re
going to have to be the one to deal with both of them.”
“Three, Abigail is now officially your problem, not mine. I’ve been dealing with her for a decade
and I get the next two off. Capice?”
Surprised and a little flabbergasted at his tirade, both men nodded at Donald.
“Good, now I’m tired of being the Dad, and I’m ready to enjoy the fact I have a couple of brothers
to help me deal with the Holt women. So get your heads on straight and buy me another round of
beer.”
* * * * *
Kate and Laura had pried their rings away from Frances, and the three girls had made it to the
kitchen to rummage for food and something else to drink. Kate commented, “I think I’m done with
the alcoholic portion of this evening. A buzz is nice, but after last night, I really want to be awake
when Murphy comes back.”
“Yes, you are the one with big plans for the night,” Frances grumbled.
“I don’t think she’s the only one,” Laura commented. “I heard Donald say something to Mom
about a hotel for the two of you.”
“You did?” She sat straight up. “Oh, crap! I didn’t bring anything sexy to wear.”
“Who said you needed to wear anything at all?” Laura asked.
“Says the woman whose new husband just bought her an entire wardrobe of lingerie,” Kate said
drolly. Laura hid her face again and turned back to the refrigerator. She found a bowl of fruit that
Remington must have stuck in there and came out with it.
“Really? What can I borrow?” Frances wanted to know.
“Ooooh, me too.”
Laura just stood in her kitchen with her mouth open. Who knew her sisters were so uninhibited?
She waved in the vague direction of her closet, and both sisters scrambled to see who got there
first. In seconds, lace and silk were scattered across her bed. Kate pounced on a delicious little red
outfit that accentuated her tan. Frances uncovered a sweet number in black that would barely cover
her fanny. Kate went back to digging in the closet and came up with a scrap of ivory lace. “Oh, my
God, this is gorgeous.”
Reaching over her shoulder, Laura slipped it out of her hands. “Nope, mine. I wore that on our
wedding night. Our real wedding night. You don’t get that one.”
“Put it on. I want to see,” Kate insisted. Laura shrugged and stripped out of her clothes. She had
to wiggle and her sisters laughed while she pulled the form fitting outfit over her hips. She dug in
her drawer and added the thigh-high stockings. She twirled to Kate’s wolf-whistle, then picked up
the red lace and shoved it at her sister.
“Your turn.” Handing the black babydoll top to Frances, Laura said, “You too. If I’m showing off,
then so are you.” With much giggling, the other two sisters stripped as well and slipped on their
own lingerie. While they were dressing, Laura dug through her music collection. She stuck in a
tape and turned up ABBA’s “Honey, Honey.”
Honey, honey, how you thrill me, uh huh … honey, honey.
* * * * *
The three men good-naturedly complained about the stairs in Laura’s building as they climbed the
three flights. “No question as to why you two are staying at your place, Steele,” Donald said as he
huffed up the steps.
“No kidding. I’ve never been able to figure out why she took to this one. There was even a
perfectly reasonable flat available in my building, and she wouldn’t even look at it. Had to have this
place instead.”
“What’s that?” Murphy cocked his head as they reached the third floor. They could hear music
coming from the loft.
“Sounds like ABBA.” Remington snorted, “I caught Laura singing ‘Mamma Mia’ the day--“ He
cut himself off.
But Murphy wasn’t about to let it slide. “The day what?”
“Ah, nothing, nothing at all.”
The blond stepped in front of Laura’s door and blocked it. “Nope. I gotta know this one.”
Remington scratched his neck and looked to Donald for support and found none as his brother-in-
law leaned against the door as well.
“Ah, well. Hmm. It was the day we, ahh, well, you know.” He shrugged and stuffed his hands in
his pockets. “She was in the shower getting ready. I snuck in and put a glass of wine in the
bathroom. She was singing.”
Murphy thought about that one for a minute. “That must have driven her nuts, knowing you caught
her.” He caught Remington’s half-smile. “Not bad, Steele. Not bad at all.” He pushed off the
door and stepped aside so Steele could unlock it with his key.
But before he could open it, Murphy stopped them both. “Um, exactly what do I have to do to get
both of you to take your wives out of here in the next three minutes?”
Donald grinned and Remington matched it. “You know, mate, I think we’ll both give you a free
pass on this one. We’ll just hold it for a future favor on down the line.”
“Piss off, Steele.”
“Gladly. Do you want my key?”
Murphy nodded and Donald ventured to say, “Can I borrow the Rabbit? Abigail took our car. I
saw you have the Auburn here and it would save us having to get a taxi.”
Remington slid open the door just then. And for the second night in a row, he--along with his two
brothers this time--took in the scene in shock.
I'd heard about you before--I wanted to know some more--And now I know what they mean--you're
a love machine--Oh, you make me dizzy!
Frances, Laura and Kate were singing at the top of their lungs and dancing on Laura’s bed wearing
only little scraps of lace that hardly covered anything at all. The three men looked at each other
with identical expressions. Silently, Remington pulled the key to the loft off his keychain and
handed it to Murphy. He pulled the one for the Rabbit off and handed it to Donald. Then the trio
began edging toward the bedroom. They nearly made it to the stairs before Frances noticed them
and screamed.
It was comical to watch the girls freeze in embarrassment. But then they all noticed the identical
expressions of lust on their men’s faces and they strutted to the railing in challenge.
Remington was the first to move. He dashed up the stairs and scooped Laura up in his arms, barely
pausing long enough to let her grab a blanket off the sofa as he walked out the door.
Donald silently handed Frances her coat and purse and drew her down the stairs and out of the loft.
Murphy closed in on Kate, pulling her to him and capturing her mouth for a scorching hot kiss.
* * * * *
At Sunday brunch, the three couples arrived, some later than others. Abigail and her grandchildren
were already at the restaurant, and the kids were bouncing up and down to see their aunts and
uncles. The three men managed to sit across from one another at one end of the long table.
Frances abandoned her husband with a smile to sit between her sisters and the kids at the other end.
Kate and Laura had remembered to bring the gifts they had each acquired on their travels and
several minutes were taken up with a flurry of wrapping paper and ooh’s and aah’s for the small
trinkets and bits of artwork from Thailand and Ireland.
Donald leaned over to Remington and nodded to Murphy in the process. Very quietly he said,
“Must say, Steele, you’ve got excellent taste in women’s clothing.”
Murphy nearly choked on his water as he remembered the little scrap of nothing Kate had worn.
“You picked that out?” Steele scratched his nose and nodded once. “Son of a bitch. I’m going to
owe you another one for that.”
Remington straightened his coat sleeve and sat up straight. He flashed Murphy that arrogant grin,
making the other man grit his teeth. “Well now, I must say I’m beginning to like this brotherhood
thing. Two up and the games have hardly begun.”
2 March 2009
edited 17 May 2009
Laura, Kate and Frances sprawled on Laura’s bed in her loft. Frances wore both of her sisters’ new
rings, trying to decide which one suited her better. Kate and Laura were sampling from a box of
chocolate Murphy had so thoughtfully provided them. Remington had contributed a bottle of
champagne and the girls were getting rather silly.
Grateful for the fact that her mother offered to put her kids to bed and stay with them for the night,
Frances sipped from her glass and rolled over, still wearing a ring on each hand. “How did you get
Remington to agree to put up with Murphy and Donald for the evening?” she wanted to know. “I
thought he and Murphy hated each other.”
“I told him to make nice with his future brother-in-law. Besides, Donald is there to referee.”
“Like that’s going to work,” Kate said wryly. “Those two get along like oil and water. Donald is
going to have to break up at least one fistfight tonight.” She had listened to her fiancé complain
again and again about Steele over the years.
“Well, I also threatened to make him sleep on the sofa if he didn’t play nice.”
“Laura! First you make the poor guy wait four years, then you indulge him for three solid weeks,
and now you suggest cutting him off again?” Frances' voice rose. “That’s awful.”
“Entirely uncalled for!” Kate seconded.
“No--just trying to give myself a night to recover.” Both of her sisters shrieked with laughter and
Laura flushed with a smile on her face.
“So tell me, Laura, how is it?” Kate had to know.
“Uh uh. Not telling.” She giggled as both her sisters began tickling her mercilessly.
“One thing, Laura--at least give us one thing!” Kate insisted as she twisted Laura’s arm behind her
back.
“Nope.”
Frances reached over and snatched the box of chocolates away. “No more for you until you 'fess
up.”
Laura tried to give her sister the slip and grab for the box. “Give me those.”
“Uh uh.” She held the box out of Laura’s reach while Kate continued to tickle her.
“Okay, okay, okay--one thing!”
Frances held the box under her nose as Kate rolled off her. Laura fished out an almond nougat and
stuck it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully in silence.
“Laura,” Kate warned.
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking. There’s so much to choose from--“ She tried to duck, but Kate hit her
square in the face with a pillow. Frances giggled as she drank from her champagne glass again.
“Okay, here goes.” Laura took a deep breath. “The first time? And it was absolutely perfect. The
candles, the moonlight, the fire in the fireplace--he completely swept me off my feet.”
“Nice setting, but you’re evading the question.” Kate wasn’t letting her twin off with a dreamy
description.
“I’m getting there.” She worked up her nerve and blurted out, “You know how most guys think a
couple of swipes with the tongue are fair repayment for a blow job?”
Kate giggled. “Yes--but I’ll go ahead and defend my fiancé in this category.”
“Oh, God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” Laura moaned in embarrassment.
“Whom else are you going to tell?” Frances asked matter-of-factly. “You have to share with
someone.”
“Okay, okay--let’s just say that I’m convinced I’m an all-night buffet.”
“Laura!!!” Frances and Kate gasped in unison.
Dreamily, she sucked on another piece of candy. “Mmm--it was absolutely decadent. And that
night wasn’t the only time he did it either. I rather get the feeling that he thinks I’m a perfectly
acceptable substitute for dessert.”
Frances crawled in between the twins and brought the box of chocolate with her. “Mmm, Donald’s
pretty good in that field too.
“I gotta say Murphy is rather talented in that area himself.”
“Oh, I didn’t need to know that, Kate! I worked with the man for years.” Laura rubbed her eyes
as if to scrub away that image from her head.
Frances fanned herself while Kate laughed outright. “You know, there’s bound to be a way we can
get some one-upmanship going on amongst our men in this arena, but I can’t for the life of me
figure out how to get it started,” Kate mused.
“Kate!” Now Laura and Frances shrieked in disbelief at her comment.
Laura stuffed a pillow over her face to hide her blush. “Oh, my God. I canNOT believe we are
having this conversation!”
“You started it,” said Kate.
“You ASKED me about ONE thing!”
“Okay, I’ll ask you another. How many times?” Kate asked.
“For me or for him?”
“Both,” Frances said as she dug for another chocolate.
“Me? I lost count before midnight,” Laura said to her sisters’ shrieks of laughter.
“And him?” Kate couldn’t resist.
Laura rolled over and buried her face in the bedspread, shaking her head. Frances pulled off
Laura’s wedding ring and held it up. “Either you tell us how many times or you have to explain
why ‘Fan Dance’ is engraved on your wedding ring.”
“Fan Dance? Oh, Laura, not again!” Kate moaned.
“Again? Wait--what’d I miss the first time?” Frances complained and bopped her middle sister on
the back of the head. “You never tell me anything.”
“She never told you about Acapulco? And Wilson?”
“No!” She snatched the box of chocolates away again and set them on the floor.
“Well, apparently our sister got very inebriated during one of Wilson’s banker conventions and did
her rendition of a very exotic dance on the bar. With very small fans.” Kate leaned over the bed
and dug a piece of chocolate out of the box. Lying on her back then, she continued, “Wilson
couldn’t handle it. She was too outrageous for him.”
Now she eyed Laura, who still had her face buried in the bedcovers. “If I were to guess, Remington
found out about it somehow and obviously didn’t have the same reaction. So tell us, Laura, what
did he think of your dancing skills?”
She rolled over and propped her head on her hand. “I haven’t danced for him at all.”
“Then why the engraving?” Frances asked again.
“Because he said it's to remind me of who I am and that he loves me for all of it. He likes the
passionate, impulsive, silly girl I used to be just as much as he does the straight-laced, logical and
serious Laura.”
Frances downed the rest of her champagne. “God, that’s romantic. I don’t think Donald would
ever think of something like that.”
“No? What about the time he rented a boat for the weekend and sent the kids to Mom’s? You
were sunburned in places I don’t want to even think about,” Laura retorted with a grin.
Frances flushed beat red in memory and cocked her head with her own dreamy smile. “Oh, yeah.
Mmm, that was a fabulous weekend. I think the only time we had clothes on was while we were
tacking in and out of the marina. He did this thing with his tongue--oh my!” Laura and Kate giggled
hysterically at their sister’s expression.
Now Laura turned the tables on her twin. “Okay--your turn. Murphy. One thing about Murphy.”
“Might I remind you that last night I was drunk and slept virtuously on your sofa? It’s been nearly a
year! I assure you, when the boys come back, I want both of you out of this loft in less than thirty
seconds or you are going to get much more of an education from your little sister than either of you
want!”
“Itchy are we?” Laura bit her lip with a smile.
“Some of us haven’t been getting regular lube jobs!”
“Hey--I waited for over four years and had to look at Mr. Steele nearly every day! Talk about
getting itchy!”
“And whose fault was that?”
“Who knows? Who cares? That part is sooo over!” Laura moaned dramatically and wiggled in
memory. Kate caught her square in the face with another pillow. Shoving it off, Laura scrambled
over Frances and pinned her twin to the bed. “Katy! One thing!”
Kate flushed, making every spot on her face pop. “Well, he seems to have a thing about freckles.
One night, he played connect-the-dots with a paint brush and a glass of wine. He found a few I
didn’t know I had. And then what he did with that brush afterwards, well, let’s just say that I have
a new appreciation for art.” She smiled in memory.
Laura snorted. “So if I give him a complete set of watercolor brushes for Christmas, he’ll know
what to do with them?”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I might!”
Kate wacked her sister with a pillow again and Laura retaliated with her own. While they pummeled
each other on the bed, Frances leaned over and picked up the sketchbook lying on the side table.
She admired Remington’s sketch of her twin sisters and flipped over to the next page to see the
other drawing he had made of the three sisters, her two daughters and her mother. She wondered
how she could get Laura to give it to her.
Idly, she paged through the rest of the book. Remington had covered most of them with portraits of
Laura, some finished, some not. And then she turned to the last page.
“Laura Elizabeth Holt!”
“What?” She and Kate stopped in mid-swing.
Frances turned the sketchbook to her. “I thought you said you didn’t dance for him?”
Laura’s jaw dropped. There on the paper was an image of her doing a fan dance, with two not-so-
well-placed fans. They were beautifully decorated in pearls, sequins and feathers, and Laura had a
daring smile on her face.
Kate peered over her shoulder. “You know, I think he even got your freckles in the right places.”
“I didn’t know he drew this! Or when.”
Frances looked carefully and found the date on the bottom of the page. “When did you guys get
back from London last year?”
“In September, why?’
“This is dated in October.” Laura took the sketchbook from her and looked closely at the portrait.
Kate was correct; he did have her freckles in the right places. How did he know?
She noticed something else and flipped through the other pages just to make sure. Several of the
early sketches were obviously finished and had a date hidden somewhere in the margin. But starting
with the one of the fan dance, all the others completed since then had an addition. He had signed
the first exotic portrait “Steele 6-Oct-85.” With a secret smile, she knew then that her husband
really did think of himself as “Remington Steele.”
“Who knows? Maybe I got drunk and danced it for him. It certainly wouldn’t be the oddest thing
we’ve done in our relationship,” she quipped. Rising from the bed, she folded up the sketchbook
and descended the stairs to drop it by her purse.
* * * * *
Remington, Murphy and Donald were holed up in a little bar not too far from Laura’s loft. Steele
was banished from playing another round of pool after beating the other two handily and was stuck
propping up the wall while they battled it out for the title of second-best. The conversation had
been stilted as the former co-workers slung insults at each other. Donald finally had had enough
when he sank his last shot to win the game, and Steele made a pithy comment about Murphy’s lack
of balls.
“You two--at the table--opposite corners.” He suddenly felt as if he was dealing with Mindy and
Daniel, his two pre-teen kids that drove him batty half the time with their constant sniping. Murphy
and Steele reluctantly took their seats. “Now what in the blue blazes is going on between you two?
Murphy, in case you haven’t noticed, Steele has stuck around for more than four years and married
Laura three weeks ago. She’s happy, in case you haven’t noticed that either. Happier than I’ve
ever seen her.” Laura’s former partner ducked his head and swallowed some more beer.
“Remington, Murphy is Laura’s friend and helped her at a time when she needed it. Murphy is
absolutely silly about Kate. You have absolutely no reason to be jealous.” Steele scratched the
back of his neck and tried to look nonchalant.
But Donald wasn’t finished. “Now the three of us are going to be stuck with each other for a very
long time, and you two can either get whatever it is out of your system and learn to be friends, or
this is going to be a very miserable family before long. You can’t ask those girls to choose between
their relationship with each other and the ones they have with you.”
Both of the men fidgeted, drank beer and fidgeted some more. Slowly, the two men reached out
their hands and shook. “Truce?” Murphy asked.
“Truce,” echoed Steele.
“Now, since neither of you can be trusted, we’re going to lay some ground rules.” Remington
raised an eyebrow at Donald. His past dealings with Laura’s brother-in-law had revealed that he
was a good man, but he’d not suspected that he had a serious backbone. Then again, the man was
used to dealing with Frances and Abigail.
“One, deal with the fact that you two are married--or will be married--to twins. As close as they are
to Frances, anything that comes between them will rip their heart out. You two had better accept
that fact. Remington, Kate has been gone for a great deal of the past five years and buried so deep
in the deserts of Mongolia and the jungles of Thailand doing graduate work that she and Laura
haven’t been able to keep in touch very well. I suspect that half the problems you two have had can
be traced back to Laura’s instability without her sister. As strong as your wife is, Kate’s the
dominant twin. Had Kate been around, she might have knocked some sense into Laura’s head a lot
sooner.”
“Two, I don’t care what kind of insults you sling or punches you throw as long as you realize that
the other man isn’t going to go away. And if you say anything that pisses off the other twin, you’re
going to have to be the one to deal with both of them.”
“Three, Abigail is now officially your problem, not mine. I’ve been dealing with her for a decade
and I get the next two off. Capice?”
Surprised and a little flabbergasted at his tirade, both men nodded at Donald.
“Good, now I’m tired of being the Dad, and I’m ready to enjoy the fact I have a couple of brothers
to help me deal with the Holt women. So get your heads on straight and buy me another round of
beer.”
* * * * *
Kate and Laura had pried their rings away from Frances, and the three girls had made it to the
kitchen to rummage for food and something else to drink. Kate commented, “I think I’m done with
the alcoholic portion of this evening. A buzz is nice, but after last night, I really want to be awake
when Murphy comes back.”
“Yes, you are the one with big plans for the night,” Frances grumbled.
“I don’t think she’s the only one,” Laura commented. “I heard Donald say something to Mom
about a hotel for the two of you.”
“You did?” She sat straight up. “Oh, crap! I didn’t bring anything sexy to wear.”
“Who said you needed to wear anything at all?” Laura asked.
“Says the woman whose new husband just bought her an entire wardrobe of lingerie,” Kate said
drolly. Laura hid her face again and turned back to the refrigerator. She found a bowl of fruit that
Remington must have stuck in there and came out with it.
“Really? What can I borrow?” Frances wanted to know.
“Ooooh, me too.”
Laura just stood in her kitchen with her mouth open. Who knew her sisters were so uninhibited?
She waved in the vague direction of her closet, and both sisters scrambled to see who got there
first. In seconds, lace and silk were scattered across her bed. Kate pounced on a delicious little red
outfit that accentuated her tan. Frances uncovered a sweet number in black that would barely cover
her fanny. Kate went back to digging in the closet and came up with a scrap of ivory lace. “Oh, my
God, this is gorgeous.”
Reaching over her shoulder, Laura slipped it out of her hands. “Nope, mine. I wore that on our
wedding night. Our real wedding night. You don’t get that one.”
“Put it on. I want to see,” Kate insisted. Laura shrugged and stripped out of her clothes. She had
to wiggle and her sisters laughed while she pulled the form fitting outfit over her hips. She dug in
her drawer and added the thigh-high stockings. She twirled to Kate’s wolf-whistle, then picked up
the red lace and shoved it at her sister.
“Your turn.” Handing the black babydoll top to Frances, Laura said, “You too. If I’m showing off,
then so are you.” With much giggling, the other two sisters stripped as well and slipped on their
own lingerie. While they were dressing, Laura dug through her music collection. She stuck in a
tape and turned up ABBA’s “Honey, Honey.”
Honey, honey, how you thrill me, uh huh … honey, honey.
* * * * *
The three men good-naturedly complained about the stairs in Laura’s building as they climbed the
three flights. “No question as to why you two are staying at your place, Steele,” Donald said as he
huffed up the steps.
“No kidding. I’ve never been able to figure out why she took to this one. There was even a
perfectly reasonable flat available in my building, and she wouldn’t even look at it. Had to have this
place instead.”
“What’s that?” Murphy cocked his head as they reached the third floor. They could hear music
coming from the loft.
“Sounds like ABBA.” Remington snorted, “I caught Laura singing ‘Mamma Mia’ the day--“ He
cut himself off.
But Murphy wasn’t about to let it slide. “The day what?”
“Ah, nothing, nothing at all.”
The blond stepped in front of Laura’s door and blocked it. “Nope. I gotta know this one.”
Remington scratched his neck and looked to Donald for support and found none as his brother-in-
law leaned against the door as well.
“Ah, well. Hmm. It was the day we, ahh, well, you know.” He shrugged and stuffed his hands in
his pockets. “She was in the shower getting ready. I snuck in and put a glass of wine in the
bathroom. She was singing.”
Murphy thought about that one for a minute. “That must have driven her nuts, knowing you caught
her.” He caught Remington’s half-smile. “Not bad, Steele. Not bad at all.” He pushed off the
door and stepped aside so Steele could unlock it with his key.
But before he could open it, Murphy stopped them both. “Um, exactly what do I have to do to get
both of you to take your wives out of here in the next three minutes?”
Donald grinned and Remington matched it. “You know, mate, I think we’ll both give you a free
pass on this one. We’ll just hold it for a future favor on down the line.”
“Piss off, Steele.”
“Gladly. Do you want my key?”
Murphy nodded and Donald ventured to say, “Can I borrow the Rabbit? Abigail took our car. I
saw you have the Auburn here and it would save us having to get a taxi.”
Remington slid open the door just then. And for the second night in a row, he--along with his two
brothers this time--took in the scene in shock.
I'd heard about you before--I wanted to know some more--And now I know what they mean--you're
a love machine--Oh, you make me dizzy!
Frances, Laura and Kate were singing at the top of their lungs and dancing on Laura’s bed wearing
only little scraps of lace that hardly covered anything at all. The three men looked at each other
with identical expressions. Silently, Remington pulled the key to the loft off his keychain and
handed it to Murphy. He pulled the one for the Rabbit off and handed it to Donald. Then the trio
began edging toward the bedroom. They nearly made it to the stairs before Frances noticed them
and screamed.
It was comical to watch the girls freeze in embarrassment. But then they all noticed the identical
expressions of lust on their men’s faces and they strutted to the railing in challenge.
Remington was the first to move. He dashed up the stairs and scooped Laura up in his arms, barely
pausing long enough to let her grab a blanket off the sofa as he walked out the door.
Donald silently handed Frances her coat and purse and drew her down the stairs and out of the loft.
Murphy closed in on Kate, pulling her to him and capturing her mouth for a scorching hot kiss.
* * * * *
At Sunday brunch, the three couples arrived, some later than others. Abigail and her grandchildren
were already at the restaurant, and the kids were bouncing up and down to see their aunts and
uncles. The three men managed to sit across from one another at one end of the long table.
Frances abandoned her husband with a smile to sit between her sisters and the kids at the other end.
Kate and Laura had remembered to bring the gifts they had each acquired on their travels and
several minutes were taken up with a flurry of wrapping paper and ooh’s and aah’s for the small
trinkets and bits of artwork from Thailand and Ireland.
Donald leaned over to Remington and nodded to Murphy in the process. Very quietly he said,
“Must say, Steele, you’ve got excellent taste in women’s clothing.”
Murphy nearly choked on his water as he remembered the little scrap of nothing Kate had worn.
“You picked that out?” Steele scratched his nose and nodded once. “Son of a bitch. I’m going to
owe you another one for that.”
Remington straightened his coat sleeve and sat up straight. He flashed Murphy that arrogant grin,
making the other man grit his teeth. “Well now, I must say I’m beginning to like this brotherhood
thing. Two up and the games have hardly begun.”
2 March 2009
edited 17 May 2009
Steele Holting On
Steele Holting On
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