“That’s too bad. My parents don’t live around here anymore, but we’re very close.”
“I remember being close to our parents, too,” Reagan said. “I think we would have stayed that way.”
Grant said, “Instead, they’ll never meet their grandchildren or see how their own children turned out.”
He sounded a little bitter, and Alex couldn’t blame him. He’d been through a lot while fixing their mistakes. His life would have been very different if he hadn’t had to go to work at seventeen to support his sister.
“Anyway, dinner is going to be ready any minute, but I guess you’re not hungry?” Reagan said to Alex.
“No, not even sort of,” Alex responded with a laugh. “I ate two people’s share of food.”
“I forgot to thank you earlier for bringing the lasagna,” Grant said. “You can take home any leftovers, but it might steal the show over my turkey breast and disappear.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of taking it with me. I made it for you, so it’s yours.”
Reagan smiled at this exchange. She hadn’t seen her brother this happy and almost relaxed in a long time.
The timer went off in the kitchen and Grant got up. Alex had been leaning on him so she sat forward when he moved. She stayed put while he checked the food, leaving her alone with Reagan and Hudson.
“I love your jeans,” Alex finally said to Reagan to break the silence.
Reagan looked down like she’d forgotten what she had on. “Oh, thanks. I think I got these at the thrift store. That’s where I usually shop. Since I have a job now, though, I tend to splurge here and there when I find the perfect pair of pants.”
“It’s hard to find anything that fits my ass and my long legs,” Alex said with a wry grin.
“Oh, I have the same problem, except it’s my ass and my short legs.” Reagan giggled.
“And tops always have an armhole gap if they fit over the boobs. Or they fit at the arms and then they’re way too tight over the girls,” Alex said.
Reagan laughed. “Absolutely. I feel like you and I should go shopping together since we have some of the same problems.”
“That would be nice.”
Grant came back into the room then and everyone looked over at him expectantly. “Food’s ready.”
They trooped into the kitchen and served themselves before sitting at the table. Alex got a drink and a roll and sat with everyone. They made small talk while they ate and it was awkward again. Alex liked them so far, but she didn’t like to spend the time getting to know them through meaningless chit chat. It wasn’t how she was built. She couldn’t speak freely, at least in her mind, because she was worried about saying the wrong thing. She knew it was her fault and not anyone else’s, but it was still there in the back of her mind to be careful what she said.
“Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of each other soon,” Reagan said to Alex as she finished eating.
“That would be nice.” Alex gave Reagan a warm smile. She had tried to be friendly and include Alex in the conversation, and Alex appreciated it.
“What is everyone doing for Christmas?” Hudson asked. Alex noticed he didn’t talk very much. She wondered if it was because Grant still had a problem with his age.
“I can always have it here, but you know I only get Christmas Eve and Day off,” Grant said.
“That’s too bad. I have two weeks off, it would be nice if we could do something together,” Alex said to Grant.
“Maybe I can figure something out. I haven’t taken more than a day here and there the whole time I’ve worked for the shop. I’ve never asked because I needed the money. But now it’s not so tight, so maybe I’ll ask.”
“We can host Christmas if you’re willing to come,” Reagan said.
Hudson nodded. “I’m not going back to my parents’ house unless they apologize to Reagan, which my father said would happen when hell froze over. So feel free to spend the time with us and not worry about who we’re going to be with.”
“It wouldn’t be bad to travel to College Park,” Grant said. “Alex and I will talk about it and see if we can make it happen.”
That seemed to close the conversation. Everyone got up with their plates. Reagan insisted on loading the dishwasher so everyone else made their way to the living room. Hudson sat on the chair again so Grant and Alex could sit on the couch. It was so uncomfortable that Alex didn’t know what to say. She knew that Grant and Hudson weren’t exactly tight with one another, but she hadn’t realized how hard it was for the two of them to hold a conversation. Alex was beginning to feel sick to her stomach from the tension in the air just as Reagan came out of the kitchen and sat on the arm of Hudson’s chair.
“We were thinking of getting out of your hair,” she said to her brother.
