“Didn’t think so. Now get back to work.” She wheeled on me, and I cringed a little, waiting to see why she was going to yell at me.
“Leo, if that’s all the trays, why don’t you go out and talk to Eli and the girls? They looked a little lost.”
“No one calls him Eli, Mom.” Danny peeled the foil off the top of a pan. “Everyone calls him Tucker or Tuck.”
“The boy’s name is Eli, and that’s what I said. Now mind your own business and remember what I told you.”
I trailed my mother out of the dining room and into the den, where my friends had gathered. The older generation, including Nate’s parents, Carrie and my dad, had settled in the living room, but I knew Quinn felt more comfortable here, in the room where we’d played since we were kids. She was in the corner of the couch, her shoes kicked off and her feet tucked beneath her, taking me back in time to when we’d hang out here on a Friday or Saturday night ... maybe after a football game, or during off-season, after a movie. We’d get here, and I’d immediately head for the kitchen to get us drinks and snacks, because like any healthy teenaged boy, I was always hungry. I’d come back into the den to find Quinn snuggled in the corner of the sofa, and usually, I’d deposit the food on the coffee table and then scoop her up as she squealed, pulling her onto my lap as I sat down.
She’d turn her face up to mine, smiling, and I’d kiss her until the only things that existed in this world were the two of us ...
“Leo. You okay there, man?” Tuck, sitting in his chair just inside the doorway, snapped his fingers near my ear, and I jerked to awareness, realizing that I’d been standing in the doorway, staring at Quinn as I’d taken that fun little trip down memory lane.
“Yeah, sorry. Just ... thought of something. Got distracted.” I risked a glance at Quinn, noticing that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wide. I wondered if she’d been remembering, too.
Gia was on the sofa too, next to Quinn, and she smiled at me a little as I sat down on the other side of her.
“We were just saying it was a really nice service.”
“Yeah, trust Nate to make it exactly what he wanted, even if he wasn’t around for it.” Tucker gripped the arms of his chair, rubbing his hands over the metal.
“That’s true.” I shifted a little, slinging my arm around Gia’s shoulders. “You doing okay, G? It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”
She nodded, dropping her gaze to her knees. “Yeah. Busy, you know. Work and school and everything. I had to go up to my sister’s for the holidays, and it pretty much sucked.”
“I told you that you could’ve come home with me.” From the opposite side of the room, about as far away from Tuck as she could get, Zelda was draped into my dad’s old recliner. “There’s nothing like Christmas in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.”
“Thanks.” Gia flashed her a vague smile. “But you know, it was a command performance. Two of them, actually. First was Christmas with my mom, at my sister’s house, complete with tree and church and copious amounts of gifts. A veryChristmasChristmas, if you know what I mean. And then I took the train into New York so I could partake in holiday number two, which was a sanitized, PC version. My dad’s new girlfriend worships at the altar of Dolce and Gabanna, so it was all very shiny, very modern ... all chrome, no evergreen or holly. And no church. We saw a show on Broadway, went to a cocktail party with all of Isobel’s vapid friends and ate Chinese food at my father’s penthouse, because he thought I’d appreciate the irony of it.” Her voice was brittle. “I took the train home the next morning and drank a bottle of Scotch.That, my friends, was the highlight of my holiday. Ten hours of blissful oblivion.”
“God, Gia, I’m sorry.” Quinn leaned forward as she reached for Gia’s hand, her hair swinging around her shoulders until it nearly touched my arm where it rested along the back of the couch. “I wish I’d known.”
Gia gave a quick bark of laughter. “Oh, because your Christmas was so much better, Quinn? Come on. Let’s just face facts. This was the suckiest of sucky holidays for both of us.”
“Yeah.” Quinn’s grin was crooked. “I don’t really want a repeat performance. Maybe we should make a pact to spend next Christmas together, just in case. If we have plans already set up, you have a good excuse to bow out on your crazy family.”
“Hey, what about me?” Tuck mock-scowled at her. “Don’t the rest of us get to join in on this Yuletide fun?”
Quinn sighed. “I don’t know, Tuck. You and Leo and Zelda have whole, intact families. Gia and I are the broken ones. You guys have places to go.”
Zelda rolled her eyes. “My family isn’t any picnic. There’re just a lot of them, so it seems that way. I’d be totally down for celebrating with my best buds.”
“Yeah.” Tucker agreed without making eye contact with Zelda. “And being an only child is too much pressure on the holidays. I’m an adult. Why can’t I spend Christmas with my friends?”
I shook my head. “Don’t think you’re ditching me. My brother’s getting married right after Christmas this year. I could skip out on the actual holiday without anyone even noticing I’m gone.”
“Simon’s getting married?” Quinn’s mouth formed a perfect O of surprise. “Oh, my God! How did I not know that? When did this happen?”
I shrugged. “They got engaged on Christmas Eve. But we didn’t want to make a big deal about telling anyone yet. You know ... with Nate. My mom thought it would be better to wait.”
Some of the light that had begun to come back into Quinn’s eyes dimmed a little. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. I get it.” She chewed the corner of her lip. “Simon and Justine. Wow.”
“I know. Crazy, huh? Doesn’t seem that long ago he was bossing you, me and Nate around because—”
“‘You three drive me INSANE!’” Quinn finished my thought. “Yeah, you’re right. We did kind of torture him, though.”
We were all quiet for a few minutes. I was sure Quinn and I were both remembering the old days, when the three of us were the Trio, the unstoppable force, always at one of our houses and practically inseparable.
“When do you go back, Leo?” Gia arched her neck, stretching.
