Page 101 of A Matter of Time

“Don’t say what.”

I made a disgruntled noise before I said, “Yes?”

“Better.”

I groaned.

“Now I forgot what I was going to say,” he said irritably.

“Hey, guess who I just saw?”

“I’m sure I have no idea.”

“Paige Ralston,” I teased him. “She said to give you her best.”

“Uh-huh.” He could not have sounded any more bored.

“So I’ll see ya in the morning.”

“Good. How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.”

“All right. Good night.”

I clicked off my phone and then began entering the party in my calendar.

“You are the man to call, Jory,” Michael teased me. “Put me on the guest list.”

I smiled at him, and once I was done with my entry, I asked Regina what she wanted me to do next. She wanted to show me her house, so I followed her.

We had a good time looking at old movie posters, and I looked at scrapbooks and photo albums. I never tired of looking at other people’s history, since I had none of my own.

Dinner was a loud undertaking, with kids running all over, lots of talking that I thought bordered on arguing, and conversation about a thousand things I knew nothing about, like raising children and baseball. I concentrated on eating until the doorbell rang. We all looked up when Rachel returned in no time with an older couple and a younger woman. There was a loud yell from the table as both Thomas and Regina got up to greet them.

“Oh my goodness, look who it is.” Michael beamed, getting up to go around the table.

I leaned in next to Jen. “Who’re they?”

She put her arm around my shoulders and whispered to me, “The Gordons. They’re old friends of my folks. Their daughter, Nora, and Sammy used to date back in high school. I had no idea she was back from California.”

I nodded, feeling like the air was being sucked out of the room. “How long has she been gone?”

“I dunno, years.”

“Why’d she leave?”

“She went to school out there.”

I nodded, leaning back in my chair.

Sam stood up, and Nora moved fast, coming around the table to fill his arms. She pressed herself in tight against him, her breasts crushed to his chest as she kissed his cheek and his jaw. He looked at me, directly into my eyes, and I turned all my attention to my food. I heard his rumbling laugh and felt my face get hot.

I was first up to help clear the table, but I went out the back door to stand around the side of the house instead of starting the dishes. It was cold outside in just my shirt and cardigan, but I needed the moment alone. Hard to sit and watch her put her hands all over him and do nothing. When I heard the yell from the kitchen, since I was under the window, I decided to go back in.

Sam was standing in the kitchen, yelling, while Michael held on to him. Nora was begging him to calm down while one of his other nameless cousins I hadn’t met stood on the other side of the room, with Levi holding on to him. Regina stood at the sink with Jen, who was pressing a paper towel to her nose. It was bleeding, and when the door swung open and Mitch came in, followed by Thomas, I saw Mitch lunge toward the same guy Sam was yelling at.

“You drunk asshole!” Mitch yelled as Thomas grabbed him, arm around his neck and another across his chest. “Get the hell outta here!”