She threw a fist into his stomach, hard enough for him to gasp.
“Ow.”
“Who’s the sissy now?”
She adjusted her glasses and continued mixing the cake batter. “You didn’t respond to my text.”
“How does one respond to a picture of two turtles humping?”
She giggled. When she’d sent him that message, she hadn’t expected him to respond. She’d just needed the distraction from Tyler. And at that second, Tyler’s lies reminded her of Max’s lies. She kept her voice low and nodded her head towards Danny. “So does she know the truth now?”
“Yeah. It got really bad before it got good again. And now it’s…perfect.”
That was a relief and nothing made her happier than knowing her brother was happy. “I’m glad. You guys are great together.”
“Where’s yourboss?”
She should have sent out a memo to the whole family to tell them that questions about Tyler were off limits. “Well, he’s obviously not here,” she answered abruptly. “I told you, it was nothing serious.”
“What happened?”
That question was too loaded for her liking. Two much had happened. Two dates with two lies which led to two make-out sessions which led to two months of frustration. After that therewas bliss when two completely incompatible people finally came together. But then he broke her heart…twice. Two times she’d found out he’d been with Trisha. Two times she’d asked how he felt about her. And after all that, only one of them was in love.
She shrugged, tilting the mixing bowl to pour the batter into a baking pan. “It just didn’t work out,” she whispered.
Tears were on the way. She needed to pull herself together before she burst out crying. She opened the oven and placed the pan inside, subtly rubbing her cheek against her shoulder to get rid of the rogue tear that had escaped. She didn’t know if Max noticed because he remained quiet, but she could sense he had more questions and she didn’t want to answer them right now.
“Mom,” Kevin shouted from outside the kitchen, “I’m going to Momma B’s.”
“Sure, honey,” Mom yelled back. “Just be back before lunch.”
Jordan was grateful for the distraction and quickly changed the subject. She walked over to the island counter and began chopping vegetables beside Danny. “How’s Bink doing, Ma?”
“I was telling Max last night, he’s doing a lot better. He came back from his road trip completely different. He talks to me a lot more. He’s been going over to see Momma B a lot and it seems like he’s made peace with Perry’s death, but something else is troubling him. He gets so depressed sometimes, but you know Kevin. He doesn’t talk about it. He just sits in front of his computer, staring at it all the time, Facepaging and twittering.”
Max chuckled and Jordan had to pull her lips in to stop herself from laughing at her mother’s ridiculous wording.
“Sometimes ’til two, three in the morning,” her mother continued. “I just leave him be.”
Knowing the type of person Kevin was, that didn’t make sense at all. “Momma, Kevin hates social media,” Jordan said. “If it wasn’t for Perry and the swim-team, he wouldn’t even have an account.”
“Maybe he’s got a girlfriend,” Danny suggested.
Jordan and Max both laughed at the idea. The idea was laughable. Kevin didn’t have girlfriends. He had girls on a dating rotation schedule. None of them ever got past three months and even then he barely put in any effort. Facepaging and twittering were things he didn’t entertain in general and Jordan was sure that he definitely wouldn’t do it for a girl.
Max left the kitchen. He hated discussions involving Kevin’s lady friends. Max was under the absurd notion that sex should be shared between two people who love each other and he just didn’t approve of Kevin’s lifestyle.
“Maybe you’re right,” her mother said to Danny. “Maybe he does have a girlfriend…or at least an ex-girlfriend. He hasn’t said anything, but there’s a log out there named Jasmin and it’s got quite a few nails in it. It must have ended badly.”
Jordan stayed tight-lipped. She said nothing about the fact that Jasmin was the girl he was travelling cross-country with, nor did she say anything about the phone call she received to get him home. That was Kevin’s story to tell, but she had a feeling none of them were ever going to hear it.
An hour later, Jordan and Danny walked to the dining room to lay the table for lunch and as they began setting out the plates, their moods dipped a little. There were going to be two empty spots at the table this year. Danny’s foster father, Jake, used to spend Christmas with them as well. He’d passed away last year, leaving one chair open. This year Perry’s chair would be empty too.
The sadness in the room was a heavy weight on both their shoulders, but nothing was said. The rest of the family filed in. Danny’s mood seemed to lift as soon as she saw Max, but Jordan’s dropped even further when her eyes caught sight of Kevin. He was crumbling beneath the surface and even as their father said a prayer, his blue eyes were fixed on the seat Perryhad occupied for fifteen years. Tracey and Debbie took food to their kids in the living room and then everyone took their respective seats.
“Let’s eat,” Shane said, breaking the silence. “Momma, everything looks delicious.”
Hands reached across the table simultaneously, each person filling their plates with the wide variety of food. Her mother had gone all out this year. Chicken, gammon, roast vegetables, cottage pie. So much to choose from and yet she found herself without much of an appetite.
