“I’m so curious about the tiny sausage octopuses in the mac and cheese,” Jett joked as he took a spoonful.
“The macaroni is the ocean.” Evan shrugged as he took some. “I haven’t had this in forever. It’s perfect after a day at the beach.”
I poured all the adults a little bourbon so that we could try it. “Grace chose this bottle for me especially.”
Brennan went through his whole process of observing the bourbon, sniffing, and tasting it. “Leather and chocolate with a hit of orange.” He took a larger sip. “I think this is even smoother than mine, but fuller-bodied.”
Wes took a sip. “It tastes like booze. Expensive booze.”
And this was why Brennan got annoyed when Wes drank his high-end liquor.
I took a sip, making note of what Brennan mentioned. I looked over at Grace. “Thank you, my good doctor. I feel like this suits me perfectly.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Grace replied.
“It’s quite nice,” my mother agreed.
“Mama, this is amazing,” I praised, starting with a bowl of meatball soup.
“It’s nice to have a competent helper.” She gave Grace a fond look. “Cooking is lonely with no assistant.”
I’d been her helper so many times, especially after we moved to Rock Springs. Evan’s family was over a lot, too. Though I had plenty of fond memories of my father cooking with her.
A little bit of loneliness crept through me. How I wished he were here.
“Ilena, this is delicious. Thank you. We could have cooked for you.” Brennan took some marinated lamb and roasted artichokes.
“No, no. It’s fun to cook for a family again.” She waved us off.
“How was your activity?” I asked Riley, adding some macaroni and cheese to my plate. Personally, I thought the tiny sausages sliced to look like octopi were a sweet touch, something she used to do in order to tempt me to eat as a small child.
“It was fun, very chemistry-oriented, but it was nice to get to know some of the interns in other departments. I like the internship. It’s almost as fun as punching people all day.” She picked up a dolmas and stuffed it in her mouth.
“Boxing camp. She was at boxing camp last week, Auntie,” Evan corrected, taking some roasted artichokes.
“Does everyone have everything they need for tomorrow?” Grace looked at everyone anxiously as she took some souvlaki.
Wes squeezed her hand. “We’re all set.”
“Good. We were able to squeeze in our unexpected guests. Oh, right, so we have some additional guests, one will be staying a couple of nights. The other guest room isn’t done, so she’ll have to sleep in the creepy doll room,” Grace added.
Brennan sighed. “Tru booked herself a plane ticket?”
“Verity is flying to Europe tomorrow for a modeling job. She managed to re-book her ticket with a long enough layover to attend our party. Mercy is coming and staying with us for a couple of days. I’m surprised her parents let her come, too, since who’s going to watch the kids with Verity gone? Hale?” Grace shook her head.
“That sounds disastrous.” Brennan shuddered.
“Grace recently found her biological father, and she has nine siblings. It’s a complex story, but her siblings are very nice. Hale is simply… rambunctious,” I told my mother.
Brennan snorted.
Grace glanced at her phone. “I think Tru assumes that she’s coming with them. She keeps sending me pictures of herself in different dresses.”
“I mean, she thinks she’s your favorite sister. I just love her. She has no filter, and I get rambling video messages with all the gossip. I think she thinks she’s making insta-chat videos like Mercy does. Did you know that Hope stuffed a rock up her nose?” Riley laughed.
“I sort of want to know why Hale isn’t allowed near bouncy castles,” Grace added.
Brennan shook his head. “No. I don’t want to know.”
