The inside of the house is ornate on its own, but it’s covered with elaborate garlands, lights, and flowers for the party. Music floats through the large room from a white grand piano. Tables loaded with elegant food are sit at either end of a huge great room. Adorable blonde twins in frilly white dresses are chasing each other between the legs of the guests. They look like part of the décor. The whole scene feels like something fromThe Nutcracker.
Michael introduces me to a dizzying array of relatives, friends, and faculty from the college. I meet his dad, Dean Stephens. He’s quiet and polite, but he spends most of his time talking with other members of the faculty.
I like all of Michael’s sisters. Karen, Dr. Nelson, is professional and formal–like her mother. Kelsey is sweet and very pregnant. Kandice is closest to my age. She’s fun and mischievous. I think if we had the chance, we'd be good friends.
Beautiful, professional family photos fill a smaller room off of the main room. A picture of a baby with curly red hair catches my eye.
“Which sister is this?” I point to the picture.
Michael grimaces. “That one is actually me.”
“Wow, you were a beautiful baby.”
“I guess so. My sisters used to love playing dress-up with me, makeup, nail polish, everything.”
“Hats, frilly dresses,” Kandice is standing to the side of Michael. “He was adorable. We have pictures. I’ll show you later.”
“No, absolutely not.” Michael steers me out of the room. “Now do you see why I never bring girls home?”
An hour into the party, Kelsey approaches Michael with a guitar. “Mom wants you to play.”
“You’re much better than I am.” Michael pushes the guitar back to her.
“I can barely get my arms around my belly, much less actually reach the strings to play,” she hands it back to him.
“This is embarrassing,” he mutters. “You have to sing, Kels.”
“We’ll sing together, okay.”
The two of them take chairs in the middle of the large living room. Kandice stands behind me and whispers, “Mom insisted on music lessons for all of us, piano, violin, voice, you name it. Kelsey and Mike were always the best at it. Have you ever heard him sing?”
“Only in the shower.” I say, then blush. Kandice raises her eyebrows and grins.
Michael and Kelsey’s voices blend beautifully. They sing Christmas songs first, and then a couple of folksy, John Denver-type songs. They end withSpringtime in the Rockies.I think I can see tears in both of their eyes when they sing that one.
“That was beautiful.” I say as he puts the guitar in its case.
“Thanks, I’m a bit rusty.”
“That was rusty?”
He nods. “I don’t have a lot of time to play.”
“You must miss Colorado.”
“Kind of.” He shrugs.
“But that song...” Maybe I was wrong about the tears.
“That song reminds us of our little sister, Kaylee,” Michael isn’t looking at me.
“I didn’t know you had a little sister.”
“She was a couple of years younger than me." His voice cracks. "She died in a car accident when she was fourteen." He swallows hard. "We were close.”
“I’m sorry.”
A cloud passes over his face. “It was a long time ago.”
