It didn’t take long for Luke to get swept up in the chaos. Within minutes, he was standing by the boiling pot, cracking jokes with my cousins and peeling crawfish like he’d been born to do it. He seemed entirely at ease, wearing the apron as if it were part of his everyday wardrobe.
“Hollywood’s not bad at this,” Uncle Tony shouted, clapping him on the shoulder.
My grandma Nonna looked him up and down. “You’re skinnier in person. Do you eat? Sit down. I’m making you a plate.”
Aunt Mona leaned in beside me, her voice low and conspiratorial. “He’s a keeper, that one. Down-to-earth, you know? Not like that other one. What was his name again? Ben? Boo?”
“Beau,” I muttered.
“Right, him,” Aunt Mona said with a cackle. “He was always struttin’ around.”
Uncle Charlie chimed in from the other side of me. “This one’s got a good head on his shoulders. Not like that trust fund guy. Bet that guy wouldn’t even know what to do with a crawfish if you boiled it, peeled it, and handed it right to him.”
I forced a smile, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. “Yeah, well, Luke’s different.”
Uncle Ray leaned over, grinning. “So, Anna, what’s it like dating a movie star? Do you get free popcorn every time you go to the theater?”
Before I could answer, Aunt Sharon cut me off. “What about his house? Or does he have more than one? Is one of them a castle? I bet one of them’s a castle.”
“Sharon, be reasonable,” Aunt Delores interrupted, rolling her eyes. “Castles are expensive to heat. He probably has, like, a yacht or something.”
“Does he have a yacht?” Aunt Sharon pressed, turning her full attention to me.
“I don’t know,” I stammered, but they weren’t done.
“Wait, wait,” Uncle Charlie added, his tone dead serious. “Is he one of those method actors? Like, if he plays a knight, does he ride a horse everywhere for months?”
“Oh,” Aunt Delores exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “And does he do his own stunts? Because I bet he could. He’s got those arms.”
“Do you think he could get me a walk-on role in one of his movies?” my cousin Mary asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “I’d even settle for background. I can stand in a crowd really convincingly.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. It was like being stuck in the middle of a popcorn machine, except instead of buttery morsels raining down, it was a barrage of absurd questions.
“Has he met Meryl Streep?” Aunt Mona gasped suddenly, as though it had just occurred to her. “That’s the big one, Meryl Streep.”
“Does he know how to cry on cue?” My cousin Lucy leaned in with genuine curiosity. “Because I could use that to get out of parking tickets.”
At that, I couldn’t hold back a groan. “Guys, he’s just… a person. Like everyone else.”
Uncle Ray raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t seem like everyone else to me. Everyone else doesn’t peel crawfish that fast.”
“Or look that good doing it,” Aunt Sharon added with a wink.
“You’re cute together.” Mary hip-checked me.
Aunt Mona gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. “Heavens to Betsy, you’re dating a movie star.”
“I—“
“Don’t listen to her. She’ll deny it,” Aunt Sharon said.
“I’m not denying?—“
“Of course they’re dating,” my cousin Lucy said. “Two beautiful people sharing a house like this? It’s like one of those romantic-comedy movies he stars in.”
Aunt Mona grabbed my arm, her face serious. “So how serious is this? Because he seems like a keeper.”
I nearly choked. “We’re... it’s still pretty new.”
