“Lunch isn’t quite ready yet,” Simone said, and Lila Mae swore that Trap growled. His mother didn’t seem to hear it, or at least she didn’t care. He started toward the couch just as his sister came into the kitchen.
“Laurel wants to play a game,” Simone said.
“No way,” Trap said. “Nope. Nuh-uh.”
“Oh, come on, Trap,” she said. “No one ever plays anymore.”
“That’s because it’s not fun,” he said. “We’re adults. We don’t have to do things we don’t like, right?”
“Not entirely,” his mother said.
Lila Mae’s eyes dropped to the box in Laurel’s hand. “What’sTaco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza?” she asked.
Laurel grinned. “The greatest game ever invented.”
“It hurts my knuckles,” Trap said.
“You don’t have to bang so hard on the table.” Laurel moved over to the dining room table, which wasn’t anywhere near set for Sunday lunch.
“Are you going to play, Momma?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll play. Let me finish mixing up the coleslaw.”
Lila Mae watched the discontent move across Trap’s face, but he changed course and moved over to the table, where he sat down across from Laurel.
“This is a card game,” he said. “And it’s pretty easy to play.”
Laurel launched into the explanation, and Lila Mae thought that as long as she had the box right in front of her so she knew which order to go in, she could play it.
“Where’s Daddy?” Trap asked as Laurel started shuffling and dealing out cards. She only made three piles, which meant Simone wouldn’t be playing that round with them.
“He went to help your uncle with something on the ranch,” Simone said. “He’ll be back in about a half-hour.”
Trap rolled his neck and looked at Lila Mae. “A half-hour, right.” He rolled his eyes, and Lila Mae gave him a smile, hoping to convey to him that she didn’t mind. She’d spoken true—she didn’t care what they did, as long as they were together.
The game started, and they went around in order, putting out a card and saying, “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza.” If the cardmatched what they said, she had to slap the pile, and while Lila Mae felt like she used her brain all day, every day, this was in an entirely different way.
“Taco,” Trap said, and he’d actually laid down a taco card. Lila Mae knew she needed to do something, but both Laurel and Trap got their hands in first. Hers came down on top of Trap’s and he grinned wickedly at her.
As the last one, she had to pick up all the cards and add them to her deck. She certainly knew she wouldn’t be winning this game. Still, she laughed, because it was a card game and not brain surgery. That, and she wasn’t alone.
She missed every special card, and when Laurel finally went out, Trap held up two cards and scoffed in disgust. “That’s the closest I’ve ever come.”
Lila Mae held the whole deck in her hand, and he grinned at her and chuckled. “I like playing games with you,” he said.
“That’s because you’re going to win.”
Laurel smiled and took the cards from Lila Mae to start shuffling them again. “Be nice to her, Trap. It was her first time.”
“I’m being nice,” he said. “I just said I like playing games with her.” He put his hand over hers and grinned. “What else do you want to play, Laurel?”
“Did you like this one, Lila Mae?” Even Laurel rubbed her knuckles, and that made Lila Mae grin like a fool.
“Yeah, that was really fun,” Lila Mae said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played a family game before.”
Laurel looked at her with wide eyes. “Ever? Any family game?”
The atmosphere around her changed, and Lila Mae realized what she’d said. “My family’s not really into games,” she said, as Simone opened the fridge and put the coleslaw she’d been working on inside.
