“Iknowthat,” he said. “But I stillfeellike it is. And Melissa doesn’t feel left out of the family the way the group of people coming here tonight do. And I just think OJ probably has some of those feelings. He’s adopted, you know.”
“We all know that.” Belle looped her arm through his and gently took his phone from him. “Let me get this order in before you forget to do it completely.” She grinned at him, and Harry let her take the device and finish up.
Then the doorbell rang, the front door opened, and people entered his house. Someone, probably Rosie or Boston, kept ringing the doorbell over and over until Harry turned away from the island and yelled, “All right, enough with the doorbell!”
Sure enough, Rosie cackled like she was the funniest person alive, and she entered the house last and closed the door. Harry opened his arms to his younger cousins, Liesl and Corinne. They both lived up in Dog Valley and often drove together. They’d brought Eric with them this time, as Morris had just relocated his family to the border of Coral Canyon and Dog Valley.
He didn’t see Bryce or Codi, but he moved on to hugging Cole and Rosie and Beth next.
“I told her not to ring the doorbell,” Beth said in a very practical voice. She’d been raised by a very proper mother in Jackson Hole, though she’d split her time between there and Uncle Mav’s house.
“Oh, it’s fine,” Harry said. “I knew it would be Rosie or Boston.”
“Hey,” Boston protested good-naturedly. He steppedover to Harry and gave him a hug, complete with pounding on the back.
“How you doin’, brother?” Harry asked.
“Good. Well, good enough.” Boston smiled as he stepped back.
“Have you found a job yet?” Harry asked.
“Not yet,” Boston said. “I’m actually going to talk to Adam this weekend about being a reference. You’re still okay to do it?”
“Absolutely,” Harry said. “Any place in town would be lucky to have you.”
Boston had worked with Harry on his online concert series, and he had proven to be a good manager of details. He learned quickly, and he took direction well.
“Looks like we’re just missing Joey, Bryce, and Codi,” he said, and just as he turned away from the front door, it opened again.
“Howdy-ho,” Bryce called, and Harry turned back to watch him twist to help his very pregnant wife up the step into the house. Joey followed, and she carried an enormous tray of cinnamon rolls.
“Howdy, guys.” Harry hurried forward to relieve Joey of the heavy tray. “You are a goddess,” he said. “Look at these things.”
“I only did the frosting,” Joey said. “Grams made the rolls while I was at work this morning.”
“Then they’ll be doubly good.” Harry grinned at her, hoping he could simply see how her date with Adam hadgone over the weekend. He couldn’t, and he turned away before Joey caught him staring.
“I ordered the burgers,” he yelled to everyone as he entered the kitchen. He slid the tray onto the counter and faced them all.
“They should be here in about fifteen minutes,” Belle said.
“Which is just enough time for us to go around and get caught up on things.” Harry’s eyes locked onto Joey, but not a single muscle in her face moved, though he was at least expecting an eye twitch or a blink. She was a solid rock, and Harry found himself chuckling.
“We’ll pick the movie too,” he said, sweeping the papers up off the counter, plucking his hat from his head, and dropping them inside. “Who wants to go first?”
The Youngs weren’t well known for their ability to let one person talk at a time, and when they all got together, the noise could awaken the dead. But of all the people that Harry invited to cousin movie night, they were definitely the quieter ones, the ones on the fringes, the ones left behind, the ones left out.
The ones left over.
He knew they each felt like that in some regard, though some had said it out loud and some hadn’t.
“I’ll go first,” Beth said. “I’m applying for a graduate program at a college in Maryland for my MBA.” She beamed around at everyone. “So I’d appreciate your prayers that I’ll be able to get in and get a scholarship.”
Harry knew full well that Mav would pay for anythingBeth wanted to do, but he simply nodded and said, “I’ll pray for you, Beth,” along with several others.
“I’m looking for a new job,” Boston said. “In event management, hospitality, or customer service. If you hear of anything, let me know, would you?”
Winter wasn’t the greatest time to be looking for such a job, but Harry knew Boston didn’t want to go back to college, and he was fine to stay in small-town Coral Canyon if he could earn enough money to move out of his parents’ house and have his own life. Of them all, only Boston was not a Young, and Harry knew it plagued him in ways he wished it wouldn’t.
