Then she shook my cousin’s hand. “You must be Linden then?”
“Indeed. It’s a pleasure. Everything smells so good.”
Elena beamed at him. “Thank you. I hope you are hungry.”
“Famished.”
“Well, come in, come in!”
“Can I help with anything?” I asked.
She waved a dismissive hand at me. “No, go sit with Christos and Atlas’s brothers. They’re watching a football game. Relax. Dinner will be in about ten minutes.”
Linden and I followed him into the living room, where the football game was on full blast. My cousin looked relaxed, but I also knew he always appeared that way, even if he wasn’t.
Atlas stood in front of the TV and kicked out his hip. “Rude! Come say hello to my bosses!”
All eyes landed on us. “Hello, I’m Hugh. This is my cousin Linden.”
A man much taller than Atlas walked over to us with his hand out. He had a pooch for a stomach, and his hair was thinning, but I saw the resemblance. “I’m Christos. Very nice to meet you.”
“These are my brothers, Andreas and Athan. Don’t worry if you get our names confused. My parents wanted to torture people for fun.”
“Atlas,” Christos admonished. “You and your silly jokes.”
His brothers, who were both taller than Atlas, stood and shook our hands as well.
Now that the greetings were out of the way, the awkwardness set in, at least for me. Linden was chatting it up with the younger brother, who was talking about baseball and played for GW. Linden had been an amazing player in high school and college, but he had no interest in going pro.
I glanced at Atlas, who winked at me and wiggled his arms like rubber worms. “Loosen up,” he mouthed.
Loosen up.
I could do that. If Atlas could handle my father, I could handle his family.
Sure, no sweat.
Chapter 21
Linden
“Howareclasses,Athan?”
“Atlas, if you grab those rolls one more time…”
“Mama, you know I can’t stand asparagus.”
“You eat all that I put on your plate.”
“Anyone want some wine?”
“Why did you get a ‘C’ in calculus?”
It was chaos as soon as we sat down at the table in the formal dining room. The entire family talked over each other, yet they still managed to carry on a conversation. And I loved it. It was noisy and full of love. Atlas’s parents were completely involved in their children’s lives. It was so different compared to how Hugh and I were brought up. Dinner was usually a formal affair, and we ate in near silence.
I glanced at Hugh and chuckled. He smiled back, shaking his head. I already loved Atlas’s family, and I think my cousin did, too.
Without being asked what I wanted, Elena piled my plate with rice pilaf, some sort of meatballs, asparagus, a lasagna-looking thing, two rolls, and stuffed grape leaves. God, I wasn’t sure I could finish it all. I eyed Atlas, who shrugged and mouthed, ‘Eat it.’
