what’s new? You’re always working. Do you have a Mrs. in the works?”
Dameon opened his mouth only to have his mom cut him off.
“Dameon has a girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah? What’s her name?” Tristan asked.
This was not a conversation he wanted to have with his brother, who kept calling him bro and man.
“Her name is Grace,” his mom said.
“That’s cool. Is it serious?”
“It’s new” was all Dameon wanted to say.
Tristan kept nodding.
“What about you, honey? Anyone special in your life?” Lois asked.
“I’m not ready for that. Let the older son settle down first, right, bro?”
Dameon wiggled the cork free with a pop. “Who wants wine?”
The bird was out of the oven, and the side dishes were in various stages of cooking or ready while sitting in the warmer.
Grace had moved on from the eggnog to wine.
The house was packed.
Her brothers and uncle were shouting at the game on the TV.
Erin buzzed around the kitchen as if she’d been there her whole life. The woman knew her way around a family dinner. And it looked like she’d baked enough goodies to feed the block.
“What are these?” Aunt Beth bit into something that looked like a macaroon.
“Divinity,” Erin told her.
Aunt Beth purred. “It’s divine. I’ll give you that.”
A roar came from the den. “Interference!”
“Do they think the players can hear them?” Erin asked.
Grace laughed. “Yes.”
Aunt Beth washed the candy down with wine. “So, Parker . . . when are you and Colin going to give my sister a grandchild?”
Grace moved behind her aunt and pointed at Parker with a smile. Hot seat, she mouthed.
“Give the kids time, Bethany,” Nora chided.
“Well, if Colin was anything like you, she’d already be pregnant.” Aunt Bethany knew how to throw punches. It was well known that Colin “came early.”
Grandma Rose, who sat picking at the sweets, looked up. “That was a shotgun wedding,” she added.
Nora acted innocent. “Colin was premature,” she told Parker.
“Not that anyone really cares,” Grace said, smiling at her mom.
The buzzer on the timer went off, and she moved to the oven to switch the stuffing with the yams. Behind her, Aunt Beth moved on to Erin. “What’s taking Matt so long with you?”
Grace happily buzzed around the kitchen now that there were two other women in the house Aunt Beth could focus her meddling attention on.
Dameon stood in his mother’s backyard with his phone pressed to his ear. By the fourth ring, he was starting to lose hope that Grace was going to pick up.
When her voice filled the line, he sighed as if someone had tossed him a life preserver after falling off the Titanic.
“The voice of sanity,” he said after her hello.
“A little tipsy, but sane.”
“I’ll take tipsy. Hi.”
She laughed. “Hi, Dameon. You sound stressed.”
He turned to look at the back door, making sure it was still shut. “My brother showed up.”
“That sounds like a bad thing.”
“He rubs me wrong. And I’m pretty sure he laced something with pot and got my mom high.”
When Grace started to laugh, he found his mood lifting. “It’s not funny.”
She laughed harder. “Sorry.”
“The turkey was half cooked and we’ve burned through all the wine in the house.”
Grace was laughing so hard she snorted.
That had him smiling.
“Your turkey is raw and your mom is baked,” she managed to say through laughter.
“I’m glad you’re entertained.” Dameon ran his free hand through his hair. “Tell me your day is going better.”
“My Christmas is awesome. The food was perfect and Aunt Bethany is harping on Parker and Erin instead of me. I’m golden.”
“I’m happy for you. And hey, the news of the week here is my brother is employed.”
“That’s good, right?”
“At a pot shop.”
Grace started laughing again.
Dameon started to chuckle. “Seriously! He’s thirty.”
“If you love what you do for a living, you’ll never work a day in your life,” Grace said as if quoting someone.
“You’re thoroughly amused, aren’t you?”
“One hundred percent. Do you think you can get a family discount? I’ll lace some of Erin’s brownies for my aunt.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“God, that’s funny.” She finally stopped laughing.
He placed a hand on his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
For whatever reason, Grace lost it again, and the line was filled with laughter.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The office was virtually empty when Grace walked in the day after Christmas. Half the staff was out of town for the holiday, and the other half rolled in close to noon.
She found herself looking at the overrun in-basket on her desk and decided to take a peek around the office. Lionel’s office was wide open and his desk