“Oh, wait, stop!” Desiree said when they were a block away from Reese’s apartment building.

“What?”

“That drugstore,” she said, pointing to the large, well-lit store on the corner. “I need hair dye. Like, ASAP.”

Reese rolled his eyes, but turned the jeep into the store’s parking lot and chose a slot out front. “You’re on your own for this.”

Desiree was busy tucking her hair under a worn baseball cap of Reese’s as she said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, there.”

She hopped out of the car and Reese called after her, “Hey, and get me some beef jerky!”

“Fine!” she slammed the door and hurried into the drugstore. Inside it was all fluorescent lighting and overpriced, miniaturized items. She strolled quickly through the establishment, seeking hair dye, and then spent several minutes in the aisle staring at the variety of colors. She finally narrowed it down to a shade of brown that she felt would adequately mask her looks, and took it up to the register along with a packet of beef jerky. She paid and left the store, keeping her face down.

It occurred to her after she’d gotten in the car that she probably ought to have dyed her hair before she’d arrived in Colorado, but everything had been such a blur. The entire drive all she could think of was getting away from her old life and making a clean break. She couldn’t wait to start over as Sarah.

“All set?”

Desiree grunted at her brother, and he headed back onto the street. They pulled up at his apartment complex momentarily and Desiree sprang from the car as a light misting rain began to fall.

“Come on, grab your bag, and hurry,” he said. “Sometimes these little mists turn into downpours in a matter of seconds.”

“Okay.” She grabbed the bag her mother had given her and realized she really didn’t have much of a life now. No clothes, no friends, no job. She followed Reese up the stairs to his second floor apartment and kept right behind him as he unlocked the door and they pressed their way inside. He flicked on a light switch and fluorescents hummed to life.

“Whew!” he said, throwing his things onto the nearest chair. “Man, am I glad to be home!”

Desiree looked around, realizing she’d never seen her brother’s apartment. Had she really never come to visit him in the years he’d been living here? She looked at him again, as if seeing him for the first time, and said earnestly, “Thanks, Reese, for doing all this. I mean that.”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “I mean, I’m your brother, right?”

“Still,” she said humbly, “I appreciate it.”

“Okay,” he said, “well, I think you better shut your pie hole and get onto dyeing your hair if you want it done by the time Jenny gets home.”

“Home?”

“Oh, right,” Reese said, pulling a face. “Kind of didn’t tell you... she and I are living together.”

“Reese!” Desiree shrieked. She grabbed the nearest throw pillow off the couch and threw it at him.

“What? Like I could tell mom I’m living with my girlfriend,” he said, dodging the pillow. “She’d have a fit.”

Desiree shook her head. “You don’t know that. You don’t know Mom. You could tell her anything.”

“Well, I just don’t want to disappoint or worry them, okay?”

“Uh huh,” she answered, her tone skeptical.

“Oh, shut up and go dye your hair.”

She shook her head at him again, but grabbed the box of hair color and set off for the bathroom.

She emerged a half hour later as a cinnamon spice brunette and asked him, “Hey, have you got scissors?”

He jerked his head toward the kitchen. “In the drawer by the sink.”

He went back to sorting through the mail that had accumulated during his absence. He ripped open a card and said, “Oh, shit.”

“What?” she asked, rummaging through the drawer. She withdrew the scissors and crossed back into the living area.

Reese flashed the front of a religious-looking greeting card at her. “Deepest sympathy. Wow. How the hell did this make it here before we did?”

He read through the card and said, “Oh, it’s from the Turners. Must’ve been mailed while you were still in your coma.”

He handed it to her and she asked, “Since when are you such good friends with them?”

“I don’t know,” Reese said absently, looking through the rest of the mail. “My boss buys some hooks and stuff from old man Turner sometimes. I set it up because I didn’t know anyone in the area, and because they let me order ahead. It’s just easier, you know?”

She had no idea, but wasn’t concerned with dissecting his statement. “Whatever. Just so long as they don’t come to visit.”

“Ha!” Reese said. “That would be dorky. So you need help with that hair?”

“Yes, please. Are you any good at cutting hair?”

“Don’t know,” Reese grinned. “I guess we’ll find out.”

“Ugh,” Desiree said. “Fine, but not too short. I’ll want to get it actually cut by someone good later. I just want to look as little as possible like myself before I go anywhere else.”

“All right,” he said. Together they went into the kitchen and Reese began cutting off huge hunks of Desiree’s hair. He made little noises of satisfaction or growls of annoyance from time to time as he worked his way around her head with the scissors. Handful after handful of hair came away, and Reese tossed them into the trash can without a second glance. Desiree, however, nearly cried as she watched her once beautiful and now unfamiliar hair being ruthlessly discarded with last night’s egg shells.

“There,” he said finally. Desiree stood up and looked in the reflection of the darkened kitchen window.

“Cool,” she said, thinking she looked different, yet not. “Now, what do you think? Nose ring?”

“Hell, no,” he said, tossing the scissors back into the utility drawer. “I say just dress different, maybe gain or lose weight, or give the illusion of either by wearing the wrong size clothes.”

“What?” she scoffed, but when she thought about it, it made sense in a vague kind of way. She nodded thoughtfully, “All right. So then... bigger clothes?”

“Yeah, will probably make you look different.”

Desiree made a face at him. “Thanks, big brother.”

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for.”

“Hello?” came a strange voice.

“Oh, shit,” Reese said, scrambling to sweep the scraps of hair under the kitchen table with a tea towel.

Jenny came into the room holding two large bags that smelled strongly of fresh Chinese food. She gave her boyfriend a questioning look when she saw the oddly coifed brunette standing in the room. “Reese?”

“Oh, hey, Jenny!” he said, sliding over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Guess what? This is my cousin, Sarah! My mom wants me to help her get a job here and... stuff. She’s going to go to the community college. She’s interested in your field.”

“Oh?” Jenny had a strange look on her face.

“Oh, yes,” Desiree/Sarah now said. “I’m thinking seriously of going into dental hygiene.”

“Well, it’s a good field,” Jenny said. “In fact, we’re in need of someone at Dr. Pennyfeather’s.”

Desiree snorted with laughter. “Dr. Pennyfeathers?”

Jenny and Reese gave her serious looks, and Desiree calmed down. “I’m sorry. It’s just…that name!”

“I think it’s Native American,” Jenny told her.

“Oh,” Desiree said, mortified. She shut her mouth and nodded respectfully.

Reese intervened. “So listen, is that dinner?”

“What? Oh, yeah,” Jenny said. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving!”

“Sarah, do you like Chinese food?” Jenny asked, setting the bags on the table.

Desiree stood silently for a moment before she realized that Jenny was talking to her. “What? Yes. Yes, thank you, I do. I’ll help you with plates.”

“That’s okay,” Reese said, pulling a stack of paper plates from his cabinet. He tossed them onto the table as the three of them took seats. Jenny passed out the chopsticks and they all portioned out the contents of the containers.

“So Sarah, tell me about yourself,” Jenny said. “I’ve never heard Reese mention you. I mean, he talks about his sister all the time, but never the rest of the family.”

“Aw, really?” Desiree said, giving her brother an adoring smile. “That’s so sweet! I mean, that he talks about Desiree, not that he never mentions me, the jerk.”

Reese choked slightly.

“Anyway,” Desiree went on, “I was just really close with Desiree. I mean really, really close. Her death just wham, hit me like a ton of bricks.”

“What? Her death?!” Jenny turned in alarm to Reese who smiled weakly. “Honey, oh my god, why didn’t you say something? Are you okay?”

“No,” Desiree spoke for her brother. “He’s not. He’s still in a state of shock about it, sort of a denial.”

“Oh, no,” Jenny said, rubbing Reese’s shoulder and giving him a sympathetic look. “Poor baby. What can I do?”

“Nothing,” he said, giving his sister a dark look. “I don’t want to dwell on this. I brought Sarah here so she could have a new life without Desiree, and I think we should concentrate on helping her get on her feet for now. Did you pick up a paper today?”

“Yeah,” Jenny said, digging deeper into one of the bags. She pulled out a thin newspaper and handed it to Reese, who handed it off to Desiree.

“Here ya go, sis... ee,” Reese said, trying to save his slip. “You big sissy, now you can get started right away on finding an apartment. Jenny, could you pass me an egg roll?”

Jenny gave him a bewildered look but handed him an egg roll nonetheless. He crammed it in his mouth and chewed ferociously, causing Jenny to turn to Desiree for conversation.

“So, Sarah, you said you were close with Desiree?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Desiree said. “Sometimes it was like we were the same person.”

Reese started off on a violent coughing fit to cover his laughter. Jenny whacked him on the back a couple of times before he recovered.

“What’s gotten into you?” she asked in wonder.

“Must be the egg rolls,” Desiree said. “They’re to die for.”

Reese and Desiree dissolved into unrestrained chortles; Jenny just stared.