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“Everyone as in Jack, Amy, Emily, and me?”

“You bet.”

The entrance to the house was pretty small. It featured a mirrored closet

and opened into the living room, which, in turn, curled and opened into the

kitchen and dining room. The dining room table was perched off to the side

of the double patio doors that opened up onto the back deck and backyard.

Since no one was in any of the rooms, Romi tried the back deck. Her mom

trailed after her, rattling off a million drink suggestions. Beer, juice, milk,

water, a cocktail, a slush drink, a smoothie—the list went on and on.

“Mom, I’m fine. Really. I just got here. Sit down. Relax.”

“Relax,” Deb scoffed. “Relax, she says. I have potatoes bubbling over in

the kitchen, salads to make, drinks to serve, the table to set—”

“Which we will all help you with.” Emily jumped up from her plastic

lawn chair, a sweating can of beer in hand. “Sit down for a few minutes at

least. We’ll all help you.”

Deb finally sat after more coaxing from Jack and Amy, who remained

seated in the plastic chairs ringing the edge of the deck. They all flashed her

smiles and waves as she seated herself in one of the two vacant chairs. Off

to the left, her dad was working away like a busy bee. He alternated

between the barbeque and the smoker, which were beside each other.

“Oh my god, what happened to your feet?” Emily asked as soon as Romi

sat. Jack and Amy leaned forward in their chairs. They had identical fruity

drinks in their hand. Some kind of blended slushy that was orange.

“I don’t want to get into it,” Romi groaned.

She glanced around at the concerned faces in the half circle. Her brother

and sister pretty much looked just like her. Dark hair. Green eyes. Tall and

slender. Her brother was taller than both her and Emily. He was actually

taller than their dad as well, at six foot three. He was pretty much a giant,

especially compared to Amy. Jack’s girlfriend was quite petite and barely

topped five feet. They laughed at the differences in height quite often and