“I asked you three times whether you wanted to work at The Old-Timer, Gwen.” William looks upset. He straightens his bright red, oversized Christmas sweater, twirls his mustache, and then rubs his thighs. “I told you: you’ll get two bags of popcorn a month for free.”
“I don’t need a job, William.” Gwen sits down next to him and pours herself a glass of wine. “That was just a joke.”
“You could clean out the stables.”
“I really don’t need a job. I help Mom out in the diner here.”
Kate raises her eyebrows as she sits down next to her daughter. “Oh, Gwendolyn, really? When was that?”
Gwen casts her mother a glance that more or less says:Come on, Mom, play along with me for once.
We sit down—Dad across from Kate, Paisley next to me—we are just pouring glasses of champagne when Wyatt and Camila come through the door. Camila is carrying a big cake box that has to contain her famous apple pie. Wyatt’s glance scurries almost in panic across everyone sitting at the table before his shoulders sink back down, relieved. He undoes his scarf and hangs his jacket on the coathook, then sits down on my other side and gives me a slap on the back. Snow falls out of his hair onto the table. “Merry Christmas, man.”
“Merry Christmas.”
“Should we make a toast?” Dad asks, and Kate says, “In a second, Jack. We’re waiting for Ruth and Aria.”
Dead silence. “Let It Snow” sounds so much louder than before. Paisley’s knee bumps against mine, her silent way of sayingOh my God, Oh my God, and I press back, my way of sayingLet’s get out of here. Please, let’s get out of here.
Everyone at the table does their best not to look at Wyatt, but, of course, wealllook over at Wyatt. He’s staring into his wine glass as if weighing whether to drown himself in it while Gwen is staring at the beets so intensely, it’s as if she was waiting for them to jump up and hop off. Before any one of us decides to break the silence, the door opens one more time and makes the bell ring. I can hardly look, but then I do because I’m curious.
Ruth is limping a bit. I don’t know what she’s got, but it’s gotten worse since last year. She’s holding her daughter’s arm, who in turn is carrying a bowl of Christmas pudding.
Aria looks just the same as always. Her long brown waves of hair are spilling out from underneath her wool cap, and her green eyes are sparkling. She rubs her nose, right over the dark freckles, and looks every inch the cheerful, harmony-needing person I’ve known half my life. Gwen, on the other hand, looks like a cat who’s just been shot in the face with a water gun, and Wyatt is as gray as a shriveled mushroom.
“Aria!” William pushes back his stool while Aria is putting the pudding down on the table and takes her into his arms. “How wonderful to see you!”
“Thanks, William.” The cold has left red splotches on her face, which reach all the way up to her high cheekbones. “It’s good to see you, too. Howwonderfulto see all of you together so happily.” Shesays it brightly, no trace of mockery in her voice whatsoever, but all the while she’s looking at Wyatt and Gwen, and, to be honest, her smile’s got something psycho about it.
Kate seems overwhelmed. She can tell that things are tense, and I think she heard about the two of them breaking up, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know anything about Gwen. She pushes the cranberry sauce next to the mashed potatoes and then back between the turkey as if she couldn’t make up her mind and says, “Yes, wonderful. Have a seat.”
Aria sits down next to her mother, across from Paisley. Half a table and all of America lie in between Wyatt and her, but, God, it is so obvious that that’s not enough. Aria can make all the effort she wants, but she issmoldering.
Dad is the first to raise his champagne glass, and the others all follow his lead. “Merry Christmas,” he says, and we all repeat it in unison and take a sip. Wyatt almost downs his entire glass, Camila does her usual, and Aria appears strangely content.
She looks at Paisley. “You must be the new figure skater. Mom told me about you.”
Paisley serves herself some turkey and smiles. “Yeah. Thanks again for letting me stay in your room. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch the marten.”
“And I hadsuchhigh hopes for you!” Aria says.
“She’s my girlfriend,” I say, annoyed that she’s only been introduced as a figure skater. Now I’m the one everyone’s staring at. I clear my throat, take the beets from William who’s filled his entire plate with them, and say, “Paisley and I, yeah, well, so, we’re together.”
Camila chokes on her garlic bread. Kate begins to beam so intensely it’s like she’ll turn into the sun. For a second, Wyatt forgets that Aria’s here and slaps my back, Ruth squeaks, and William jumps up from his chair. It falls over, everyone laughs, and I feel like my relationship status has become the sensation of the century.
Paisley looks almost pleadingly in William’s direction as he picksup his chair and sits back down. “Please do not post that on @Apsen, Will.Please.”
“Of course not,” he mumbles. “I only publish interesting things on @Apsen. Information regarding the new gully in town, for example, or Woody’s new rain gutters.” He winks at Paisley from across the table, and Paisley is visibly relieved. She smiles.
Aria reaches for the gravy and in the process grazes Wyatt’s hand as he reaches for the beans. He pulls back so quickly that he inadvertently hits Camila in the face. His sister closes her eyes and flares her nostrils. She’s probably counting to ten so as not to lose her mind.
Aria acts as if she hasn’t noticed a thing. “I’m happy to see you’ve given your bad-boy image a rest, Knox. It never really fit you.”
“Oh, I think he did a pretty good job,” Ruth says. She’s wearing a blue scarf, but it doesn’t really cover her wrinkles, which seem to have doubled over the last few months. All the same, her similarity to her daughter is unmistakable. They have the same eyes. Ruth smiles at me. “But next to Paisley, I like you even more. Just don’tmessit up.”
I roll my eyes. “Why does everyone assume that I’m going to mess it up?”
“Because it’s in your blood,” Wyatt says. “It’s a chronic thing with you.” He says that in his usual Wyatt tone, that casual-funny tone that gets him every woman he meets.
