“A Zefron-a-thon,” Alex repeated. “Zac. Efron. Movie. Marathon. Zefron-a-thon.”
Nina and I looked at each other, trying to hold in our laughter.
“I love that guy,” Alex said. “I mean,Greysonloves that guy.”
“Stop,” Nina said, shooting Alex a glare that dissipated into laughter. “You are a public nuisance, Chef.”
Alex turned to me. “If you wanted, I’d be happy to cook for everyone. You could have it at my place. Easier access to the fancy chef tools.”
And more space, I thought. The units across the parking lot were all two-bedrooms with wide kitchens. That, and I wouldn’t have to clean up Mia and Kitty’s mess before the event.
“I’m going to take you up on that. I hadn’t even thought about food. This...Zefron-a-thonhas turned into a whole production. Your daughter and my nieces are making decor, and who knows what that will entail.”
“Then it’s a deal.” Alex’s eyes met mine, but then he stepped over to Nina and grabbed a lei from her hands, putting it over her head. “You’re coming, too, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” Nina said, uncharacteristically flustered. “I was planning on it. Wherever Jo goes, that’s where you’ll find me.”
“Cool.” He rapped the table with his knuckles. “The guests want lunch at one, right?” he asked Nina.
“Yup.”
Alex flashed her a smile, then nodded to me before leaving for the galley.
I raised an eyebrow at Nina once he’d left. “What wasthat? Doesn’t he know you hate him?”
Nina clutched a lei to her chest. “What? I love him! He’s so easy to work with. Finally, a chef without an ego. I don’t miss Ollie at all.”
I snatched a palm frond from the table and fanned it in her face. “Oh, really? Because only a few weeks ago you hated Alex for simply existing.”
Nina waved me away. “What are you doing?”
“Wafting away the smell of your bullshit.”
“Am I sensing jealousy, Josephine Walker?”
“Not at all.” I tried to keep my tone light, but Nina was starting to get on my nerves with all this Alex stuff. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you I’m not interested. Not in Alex. Not in anyone. He’s just a flirt, and I’d be more than happy if he were interested in you. Then maybe you’d get off my case.”
Nina pressed her lips together and looked toward the galley. “Maybe. But he doesn’t really seem like a womanizer to me.”
The voices of the guests floated over to us, cutting off our conversation. In an instant, our bickering was set aside, and with ready smiles andperfect posture, we transformed into our stew selves. I poured water and took drink orders, while Nina left to bring out the food from the galley.
I muddled mint and sugar for mojitos and wondered what she and Alex were talking about in the galley. Was Alex singing out the names of each dish as he passed them into her hands, like he did with me? Or maybe he was asking about her dream job as a kid? (Celebrity dolphin trainer.) Not that it mattered what they were talking about. Really, it would be a weight off my shoulders if there was something between them. My annoyance was more for Ollie than for anyone else. I looked down at the muddler. The mint leaves were crushed into too-tiny pieces that would stick in the guests’ teeth and taste bitter. I sighed and dumped them into the trash before beginning again.
Nine
On the day of the Zefron-a-thon, Mia and Kitty were already at Alex’s when I knocked on his condo door. TheHigh School Musicalsoundtrack blared from within, and I hugged the box of decorations I’d brought tighter to my chest as I waited.
The music quieted. “Coming!” Greyson’s voice called, and a moment later she opened the door rosy cheeked and out of breath. She wore a Wildcats jersey and had her short hair pushed back in a red-and-white sweatband.
“You look festive,” I said.
Greyson grinned. “Thanks. Marla and Tom took me to this mindfulness workshop for teens while Dad was on charter. It was really weird, but kind of fun, except the incense really bothered my nose and the group leader keptglaringat me during the meditation part. But anyway, we had to come up with a personal motto, and mine was ‘Go big or go home.’ ” She frowned, her brow wrinkling beneath the sweatband. “She said our mottoes were supposed to be original, not clichés, but I figure everyone has to know it for a reason, right? So I just try to do that, go bigor go home that is, though I guess that doesn’t apply right now since I’m already home.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but Greyson took the box of decorations from my arms and shouted over her shoulder, “Dad, Jo’s here!”
I followed Greyson inside, shutting the door behind me. Though the girls had spent plenty of time at Alex’s over the last few weeks, I’d never been over myself. For someone who could French-braid hair (which Nina and I had immediately put to the test), Alex was the typical bachelor dad when it came to interior decorating. Nothing matched, and there wasn’t a single piece of decor that hadn’t been made by Greyson: a rainbow-colored macaroni sculpture on the shelf beside the TV, a sickly green papier-mâché bowl on the coffee table, a large self-portrait hung on one wall (medium: crayon). On another wall hung a guitar, a banjo, and what I guessed was a mandolin.Oh, Alex, we need to do something about this, I thought.But at least his place was clean and smelled nice, like melting sugar and vanilla.
“Nice of you to finally show,” Mia said. She was spread out beside Greyson and Kitty on an oriental rug that took over most of the living room. The red and white of the rug clashed with two lumpy forest-green couches. Was Alex colorblind? But at least the rug matched the color scheme for tonight.
