Quint handed over the round dish while Heather described it.
“How lovely.” His mom ushered Heather inside, her eyes now way too sparkly. She leaned up to Quint, and her smile slid away. “Keep your cool. Both Jolene and Chrissy are here.” With that bombshell, she turned and walked alongside Heather. “It’s wonderful to meet you. You’ll have to tell me all about your trek down the mountain with Quint. It sounds so romantic.”
Quint watched them go, his mind spinning. Why the hell were Jolene and Chrissy at the barbecue? Oh, he’d only dated Jolene for a week, but he and Chrissy had been on and off again for a year until finally being completely done three months ago.
Everything inside him wanted to rush back to the car.
Zena looked up at him, waiting.
He sighed. “Let’s do this, girl.” Then he strode inside like he was diving into the deep end of the river head first.
Heather would never beable to keep track of names or faces; there were so many. The back yard was wide and huge with too many picnic tables to count, leading down to the slowly grinding river. Even though there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground, there were big restaurant styled heaters set near each table that seemed to keep folks warm. Reindeer made up of sparkling lights and Santas were dotted all around. Trees and wild grasses sprang up along the far bank, giving the place a sense of tranquility. Except for all the people milling around.
Anna rescued her from questions peppered at her from a couple of uncles, two paper plates in her hands. “Let’s get food and I’ll take you to my table.”
Heather stumbled up the stairs to the wooden deck, where a long table was ladened with platters of food on top of a red gingham tablecloth. “You all have your own tables?”
“No, but Pauley and I always sit at a little table closer to the river and off to the side. It has its own heater above us, and it’s cozy, even though this is probably the last barbecue outside until spring. We need quiet.” Anna started dishing up the plates. “Is there anything you don’t like or should I just go for an assortment?”
“I like it all,” Heather admitted, seeing her dish placed near the crackers. A large, very large man with blue eyes was scooping a healthy amount onto a plate.
Anna coughed. “Uncle Sean, save some for the rest of us.”
Sean took another scoop. “I love artichoke dip, and you know it. Be faster if you want some.”
Heather smiled to herself, even though she felt like a dork. Then she looked around. Where had Quint gone?
Anna finished piling the plates high with chicken, salads, more salads, and some interesting looking fruit dishes, along with Heather’s appetizer.
Heather swallowed. “I’ll never eat all of that.”
Anna laughed. “You’ll be surprised. It’s all so good. Follow me.”
They wound across a shoveled path and through people, stopping for Heather to meet several of them. Finally, they arrived at a round barrel of a table beneath a sweeping pine bough by the river. A tall heater glowed a bright orange above it. A teenager sat nearest the river with a plate in front of him. He had dark hair, soft brown eyes, and a clean-cut countenance.
“Pauley, this is Heather,” Anna said, sitting in the middle
“Hi,” Heather said, taking the final seat and putting her crutches on the ground next to her.
Pauley looked at her and then away. “Hello, Heather. Heather. Heather is a name and a plant in the genus Calluna.” He rocked back and forth, looking at the river. “As well as current slang for somebody your crush likes. On TikTok.” He looked at the neatly divided food on his plate.
“I knew about Calluna but not TikTok,” Heather said, settling more comfortably on her seat as the heat warmed her from above. Pauley seemed Autistic, but she didn’t know enough about it to know for sure.
“You are probably too old to know about TikTok,” Pauley said, reaching for his fork.
Anna grinned and then dug into her food. “P thinks anybody over the age of twenty is old.”
“Relatively,” Pauley agreed.
Heather let the December sun and the nice heater warm her as she tasted her chicken and watched the mingling family members. “I like your table.”
“It has three people,” Pauley said. “Three. Three people. Three.” He looked at Anna and then away. “Usually Anna and me and somebody else. Not Aiden today.”
“Aiden?” Heather asked.
Anna pointed toward a group of men near an open metal container with ice and drinks. “Tall guy to the right.”
Wowza. Aiden was at least six-four with dark hair and very wide shoulders. His face was rugged and strong. As if sensing their appraisal, he turned, and his eyes were a combination of too many blues to just be called blue. “Wow,” Heather breathed.
