“Her and Kevin were right behind us, they should be here any minute,” Phil shrugs and takes his place at the table next to Austin.
“What do you mean ‘her and Kevin’!” Piper shouts as she slams her hands down on the table and stands up quickly. “Why is he here! Why is she talking to him? Why did you let her stay with him! Phillip! What the hell!” She stomps out of the room and out the front door in a rush of fury, leaving the three of us in stunned silence.
“I take it Piper doesn’t like this Kevin fellow?” Austin asks.
Phil lets out a loud exhale and folds his hands in front of him on the table. “Let’s just say, the whole family thinks he’s a douchebag. All of us except for Phoebe apparently.” He shakes his head in frustration. “He invited us all to his home last Christmas, after refusing to come here every time my parents invited him. He claims that he couldn’t take time off from work, and because of that, Phoebe also didn’t bother trying to come home. It really upset my parents, but they never stopped trying to get her towantto be in our lives. We knew she was busy with school and her job at the museum, so we never held that against her,” he continues. “So when Kevin invited us up last year, my parents were stoked. They were ready to induct him into the family and make him his own personalized stocking to hang here every year. That is, until they met him and saw how much Phoebe had changed around him. It was like this robot took over my sister’s body. She wouldn’t relax, she was hovering around him to make sure he was happy the entire day. It was weird and not like the Phoebe we knew at all. And he just let her! Not once did he make sure she was okay, he just sat back like some rich douchebag and let her wait on him hand and foot!”
“And that’s why they hate Kevin?” I ask quietly. I didn’t know about any of this before I saw him at the market, but if I did I wouldn’t have been so damn polite to him.
“No, they hate Kevin because he left the window open when he asked her to go outside, right before he dumped her.”
I feel a hand pressing down on my shoulder and I jump out of my seat to see Mr. Andrews hovering behind me.
“That guy broke my Phoebe’s heart and didn’t have the balls to give her a reason why,” Mr. Andrews seethes. “Thatis why we dislike the guy.”
Phillip shakes his head in agreement. “Well Dad, you better get your gun ready because that douchebag is here. With Phoebe.”
Mr. Andrews turns redder than Rudolph’s nose and squeezes my shoulder tightly before he turns on his heel and stalks out of the front door, slamming it loudly behind him, causing Little E to jump out of the Christmas tree and knock it down before he takes off up the stairs. His gray tail poofy and wired like a pine needle as it trails behind him.
“Stupid cat,” Phillip mutters before he stands up to go fix the tree. Austin follows him and helps him wrangle all the colorful bulbs and ornaments that are rolling haphazardly in every direction across the hardwood floor.
We all jump when the front door gets thrown open this time by Piper, who is pulling Phoebe by her yellow sleeve and dragging her up the stairs with her. The moment they disappear, Mr. Andrews and Kevin stroll into the house. Mr. Andrews looks less than pleased, and Kevin is shooting daggers my way before he takes in the interior of the house.
“Since you all seem to know each other, I won’t bother with introductions,” Mr. Andrews says gruffly before he looks down at the gold watch on his wrist. “It’s 6:00 o’clock! Whoever wants to have a shot at winning the first task, you have 15 seconds to get your butts to the table!”
I’ve been a high school football coach for two years now, and I don’t think that I’ve ever seen so many people move so fast. Within seconds, we’re all seated back at the table, including Kevin, waiting to hear who won this first task. We’ve handed Mrs. Andrews our sales reports, and she, along with her husband and my parents are speaking quietly in the kitchen.
We all wait here in uncomfortable silence, none of us daring to ask about the fancy coat-wearing elephant in the room. Phoebe has refused to meet my eyes, and Kevin keeps smirking at me like he’s in on some secret that I don’t know about. It’s making me itch to punch his perfectly straight teeth out. Phoebe’s giving off major ‘don’t talk to me vibes’, which makes me feel a tad bit better because those vibes seem to be directed at him as well. If she’s not talking to him, then why is he still here?
Our parents come back into the room before I’ve gained the courage to ask her, and we turn our attention to them.
“Alright kids, the tally is in.” Dad gives me a wink before smiling at Phoebe. “Congratulations Ms. Phoebe, you sold the most items today! Nana gave you a glowing review and said she’d love to have you come volunteer any day of the week. You got her more sales during one shift than she’s had all weekend!” He beams at Phoebe and my heart swells with pride.
“Look at that babe! We won!” Kevin boasts loudly while slamming his hand loudly on the dining table, earning him an entire room of annoyed glances and death glares.
“Don’t call me that,” Phoebe snaps out. “You dumped me, remember? You don’t get to come here and invade my family home and call me that.” She stands and grabs her coat and the keys from the small ceramic dish near the front door and storms out. Running seems to be a family trait.
“Get 'em, girl!” Phillip cheers from across the table then reaches out to high five Piper, who has her hand up and ready to go.
Everyone watches Phoebe as she rounds the table and slams the front door behind her, then as a collective group we all death stare Kevin as he pretends to read something on his phone.
“Alright kids, be back tomorrow for task two. 10:00 AM sharp,” Dad hollers loudly from the hallway while he helps Mom put her red winter coat on. They live across the street, but the snow has started to pick up and I worry about them slipping on their short walk over, so I say my goodbyes to everyone at the table, minus Kevin, and follow my parents out.
Once we’re outside, Mom stops and places her hand on my arm. “We don’t need an escort dear,” Mom says sweetly. “But you could go see if Pheebs is okay. She doesn’t seem like herself this evening, and she could probably use a friend.” She points at Piper’s rental car parked a few houses down, and then kisses my cheek goodbye.
You know what they say, mom always knows best.
Chapter Eleven
Phoebe
Whatiswrongwithme?
Am I so broken that I couldn’t see what a bad idea this was going to end up being? Yes, I promised Kevin that I would speak to him. No, that didn’t mean I had to let the man drive me to my parents house.
I’m not an idiot…well I’m usually not this big of an idiot. I know how they feel about him. My parents are nothing but loyal when it comes to family, but even more so when it comes to their children.
I chose to let him drive me home, I didn’t choose to bring him into the house. I can blame Piper for that, with her combat ready attitude and innate sense of protection when it comes to me. My plan was to let him drop me off, and then we’d make plans for lunch or coffee some time tomorrow. There was no chance of anyone seeing him if I just snuck off after being presented the next task. But now, he’s here. Sitting in my house. With my family.
