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She plays a few more notes on the keyboard and then brightens as soon as Mack opens the door. She stands so fast, her knee bumps everything out of her way.
“Hey, Quinn,” Mack says as he tries to hide how excited he is to see Betty Paige.
“Hey, Mack.” We exchanged holiday pleasantries.
“I’m going to go upstairs and hang with Mack. I hope you’ll be okay.” Paige leaves the studio, leaving me in a stupor over her words. She hopes I’ll be okay? I’m the one who asked her to come down so we could talk about her melodrama.
“I was duped by a teen.” I hit the cymbals one last time and head upstairs, where the party has grown exponentially. As soon as I step into the kitchen, I bolt through the door into the other room, needing to avoid any type of kitchen duty. If my mom or Josie asks, sure, I’ll help but I’m not going to be a sitting duck and turn into everyone’s server boy.
In the living room, where I had my first ever Christmas in Beaumont, my entire and extend family has gathered, minus the moms. My aunt Yvie sees me before anyone else and squeals as she comes running toward me, as if she floated on air. I’ve always marveled at how light she walked which is a testament to her years of dancing. After our little love fest, where she told me she was very proud of me, my grandma—looking frail—beckons me for a hug.
“Such a handsome young man.”
“Thank you, Grandma. The cruise life looks good on you.”
Grandma fans herself and blushes. “Let me tell you, if you ever decide to go for an older woman, I’ll have a list for you.”
My insides twist into knots. Something tells me I don’t want to go on any of the cruises these grandparents of ours are going on. In fact, I should have my dad check them out and make sure nothing nefarious is going on. The last thing any of us want to hear is about the freaky stuff going on while they’re at sea.
I make my way around the room, saying hi to Xander, Nick, Talisa, and my grandpa, who like my grandma is getting up there in age. While Grandpa and I are chatting about the tour, Josie yells it’s time to eat. Everyone rushes to the other room, and we line up like kids in the cafeteria on pizza day. Why we ever thought school pizza was the best is beyond me.
Or maybe we just thought it was the one decent meal they fed us.
When it’s my turn to fix my plate, the front door busts open and JD announces his arrival by letting us know the party can start. Jenna, who I’m shocked doesn’t have permanent rolling eyes, whacks him in the back with a bag.
“Be quiet, there are sleeping babies in the house.”
“Uncle JD is here, babies,” he says as he claps his hands and comes into the dining room to greet everyone. The polite thing for me to do is put my empty plate down, but I’m starving, and I know JD well enough to know he’ll take my place in line.
“Where are the babies?” Jenna asks.
“Right here.” Elle’s voice rings out and then my mother squeals. I’m assuming no one expected Elle and Ben to be here today, let alone with the boys. Now with everyone clamoring around Elle, I get to make my plate of food in peace.
“Hey,” Eden says as she gets behind me. “How’s the tour?”
“Great. How’s the surfing?”
She lifts one shoulder. “I graduate in the spring and mum’s on my ass about going to college, but I want to surf and I’m afraid if I go to school, I won’t be good enough for the Olympic team.”
“Dude, they’d be dumb to pass on your talent. What’s your ranking right now?”
“Two,” she said with a grimace. “Holding steady in the top three though.”
I give her a high-five. I never thought when I started teaching her how to surf, she’d become this beast in the water. She’s far better than I am.
“Where’s your boyfriend?”
“At home, with his parents and then he’s got a competition in Utah.”
“Oh yeah, you going?” I hold up a scoop of homemade mac-n-cheese, but she shakes her head no. That’s okay, more for me.
Or her dad.
“Yeah, dad’s going with me.”
“That’s good. It’ll be fun. Too cold for me though.”
“The high-performance gear is pretty awesome at keeping us warm while we watch the events. But yeah, give me sun, sand and waves, and I’m happy.” We fist bump in agreement.