Finding peace, p.9
Finding Peace, page 9
“Your entire face is covered in spaghetti sauce,” Amy says. “Duh.”
Troy darts out the door, but he forgets to close it behind him.
“Hey, do you guys need anything—” Another blonde woman pokes her head inside and freezes the second she sees me. “Oh.”
“Hey, Mary,” Anica says. “This is my friend Ethan.”
So much for boyfriend. “Hey.” I stand up. “Ethan Trainor.”
“I’m Anica’s . . . ” Mary clears her throat. “Well, my husband is her brother-in-law.”
Huh? I try to work out how that would work—because Mary seems clear that Anica’s not related to her. But she doesn’t seem upset about it, just unsure.
“Welcome to our house. You’re the very first friend she’s ever invited over, and it’s been months and months.”
“Wait, you live here?” I turn toward Anica.
“I didn’t say that?” Anica shrugs. “Yep.”
“She’s an absolutely indispensable help with her niece and nephew and the new baby,” Mary says. “I’m not sure we’d all have made it without her.”
“We’re good,” Anica says.
Troy barrels past Mary then and collapses on the floor, grabbing a whole fistful of Legos like they’re a scarce commodity. “I wanna build the tallest tower.”
“Too late,” Chase says.
“Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it,” Mary says. “But if you decide you’d like to come downstairs, Paisley’s already asking for you.”
“We’re good,” Anica says. “And if you could keep it quiet that I’m up here. . . ”
Mary mimes zipping her lips, and waves goodbye as she shuts the door.
“I’m a secret, huh?” I slide closer to her. “I thought you found me attractive.”
She bares her teeth in an irritated smile I’ve never seen anyone else make. “I didn’t want to be the one to break this to you, but . . . you’re kinda ugly. I think it’s the shiny teeth, the perfectly tousled hair, and the washboard abs.”
“You’ve never even seen my abs.”
“Oh, I have,” she says. “You got pretty sweaty during that fight, and your shirt clung.” She inhales sharply. “What I mean is that all those hard muscles are pretty repulsive.”
“Repulsive?” Amy asks. “What does that mean?”
Anica makes a strangling sound.
“It means your Aunt likes me.”
“Duh,” Amy says. “She’s been talking about you for like, hours.”
Oh, the blushing. “You don’t say.” I shift so that I’m leaning against the armrest behind me and I’m staring at her fully. “Tell me again how unattractive I am.”
Anica purses her lips.
And now I want to kiss them. Badly. “When are we turning that movie on?”
Her eyes flutter. “Right now.”
“Oh, good.”
Anica stands up and grabs the remotes. “Kids, find some seats.” She dims the lights, but then she comes right back to where I’m sitting, and this time, she doesn’t leave any space between us, her leg grazing mine when she sits down again. “Let me find it on here. This Roku is a little confusing.”
“If you need help, I bet I can figure it out.” My hand closes over hers, and the world tilts when our hands touch. Or maybe it just feels like the world tilts because my heart hammers erratically inside my chest. Either way.
The door slams open again, and Anica’s eyes dart to the doorway. I’m starting to hate that door.
“Where’s Anica?” A man with an almost predatory look on his face searches the semi-dark room. “Anica?”
“I’m here,” she says.
Please don’t let this be the guy who made her look all weird when I asked about a secret boyfriend. He’s commanding, self-assured, and somehow powerful in a managerial kind of way. I hate him.
“You owe me,” he grinds out.
Anica sighs. “Paisley said—”
“Forget what Paisley said. There’s no way I’m going to dress as Santa and let them take a photo of her sitting on my knee, looking like a kid.”
Anica laughs. “Is that what Trig—”
The man scowls so furiously, I’m almost nervous for Anica, but she seems unconcerned. “Your wife—”
“Yes, yes, she thinks the whole thing is hilarious, I’m well aware. I told her I’d forgive you—if you come down and help us get out of this mess.”
His wife. Thank goodness.
“I’m terrible at Fishbowl,” Anica says. “Clearly.”
“So you can join Trig’s team and sink them for us.”
“Sink them?” I ask.
The man squints. “Wait, who’s that?”
“It’s my friend Ethan,” Anica says.
“Oh, good, then no one can complain the teams aren’t fair.” He gestures over his shoulder. “Turn on that movie and get downstairs. Now.”
“Or what?” Anica asks.
“Or I’ll send my wife up here.”
She gulps.
“Who’s his wife?” I ask.
“Paisley.”
“Oh, I know her,” Ethan says. “I’m a little offended I wasn’t invited to their wedding, actually.”
Anica shrugs. “It was kind of fake at first, or so Mary says. Don’t take it personally.”
“What?” I’m so confused.
“It’s a long story. I can try and tell you what I know, but maybe not right now.” She presses a few buttons and the movie starts. She looks at the screen wistfully.
“Maybe she won’t come up,” I say. “It’s not like they can make you play.”
“Have you met Paisley?” Anica freezes. “Wait, how do you know her?”
“I went to Emory with Paisley and Geo,” I say. “And I went to high school at the same place as Trig and his sister Brekka. I was closer to Brekka’s age than Trig’s, though.”
“That’s bizarre, isn’t it?” I ask.
He shrugs. “My dad’s from here, but I got into kind of a lot of fights for a while when I was thirteen. My dad thought it was smart to move before I started high school, and we went to Colorado, where Dad was opening a series of new hotels.”
“For a fresh start,” Anica says. “And did it work?”
“Hey,” Amy says. “You’re being loud.” It’s dark, but I can still make out her scowl, thanks to the light from the opening scene.
And . . . as if on cue, the doors open again. “Anica?” Paisley squints. “Is Ethan up here? For real? Geo just told me she ran into him and that you two had a date. I can’t believe I’m the last one to know.”
Anica laughs. “I surrender.” She whispers to me. “Are you ready for this?”
“For what?” I ask.
“We’re going into battle.”
“Battle?”
“Well, Mary calls it game night if that makes you feel any better,” Anica says. Then she stands up and drags me along with her.
8
Anica
The second we reach the light of the hallway outside the movie room, the interrogation starts. So much for a quiet night snuggling on the couch, watching a cartoon.
“Ethan!” Paisley squeals. “It really is you! I could hardly believe it.”
When she hugs him, he looks extraordinarily uncomfortable. I’m guessing he doesn’t hug many pregnant women. “Congrats on the wedding—and the baby,” he says. “It’s great to see you.”
“You’re dating our Anica?” She lifts one eyebrow and somehow manages to look down her nose at him from a foot below his eye level. It’s pretty impressive, really.
“You’re a princess?” he counters.
“Well-played,” she says. “But I’m not done, you know. I’ve only known Anica for a few months, but I like her. A lot.”
“You’ve known me for years,” Ethan says. “Are you saying you don’t like me?”
She puts one hand on her hip. “Of course I like you, but I like her more. After all, she has moved here. I hear you’re only visiting.”
Ethan glances at me, and I shrug. So I mentioned a few things he said on our failed first date. So what?
Paisley heads down the stairs, clutching the railing tightly, and we trail behind. Ethan touches my arm, and I pause. “Yeah?”
“Did you mention that I’m boxing?” he whispers.
“Are you boxing?” I study his face.
It’s completely impassive. “I’m not sure yet, but none of them know that I ever did. I’d prefer to keep it that way.”
Really? A little part of me feels special, being the only one who knows this secret about him. “Alright.”
“Thanks,” he says.
“But you’ll have some questions to answer later.”
He smirks. “I assumed.”
“Just don’t try and wiggle out of it with more monosyllabic responses.”
He raises his hand up like a Boy Scout. “I promise not to wiggle.”
I arch one eyebrow. Is he flirting right now? “Funny.”
“Finally,” James says from the bottom of the stairs. “They’re down, so we can pick teams.”
“I didn’t agree to any kind of follow up bet,” Trig says. “I feel good about how things went down.” He turns our direction. “By the way, good to see you Ethan.”
He waves. “Thanks.”
“You’re back in Atlanta?” Brekka asks.
“For the time being,” Ethan says. “Not sure for how long, exactly.”
“Well, don’t spend too much time here,” James says. “These people are like a plague. They’ll worm their way inside and infect you and then you’ll never escape. I’ve been trying and trying to pry Paisley free, but I’m starting to worry I never will.”
Paisley rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. He’s crabby about the bet we lost last week.” She explains it, and Ethan laughs.
“Oh, you can laugh,” James says. “But you’re not the one being told to buy a Santa suit.”
“You’ll have to offer me something epic to get me to bet against this,” Trig says. “Because right now there aren’t many things I want more than the knowledge that all our friends are dying laughing while looking at your photo on their fridge this holiday season.”
“Your friends,” James says. “I don’t have friends.”
“Oh, it will be featured prominently on our fridge,” Luke says, “and I’m pretty sure we’re friends.”
James scowls. “What else do you want, Trig?”
“I can’t think of another single thing.” Trig crosses his arms.
“You can name my baby if you beat us,” Paisley says quietly.
The entire room falls silent.
“Are you serious?” Trig asks.
Paisley shrugs and turns toward her husband. He whispers something to her. She smiles, and he nods. “Yeah, we are. But if we win, we’re even.”
“Deal,” Trig says. “Because can I just say how much I love the name Bernard?” He lifts both eyes. “It’s an underused name.”
Bernard? Is he kidding?
“You wouldn’t dare,” James says.
“Oh, you can use any nickname you want. But if we win? It’ll say Bernard Fulton on that birth certificate.”
“What if it’s a girl?” Paisley asks. “And maybe we’ll give the baby my last name. Did you think of that?”
“Which one?” Trig asks with a smile.
Oh man, they’re kind of rough on each other. But Paisley’s still smiling and James seems less concerned than he did before.
“What exactly are we playing?” Ethan asks.
I explain it to him while the others pick teams. With her very first choice, Paisley picks me and with her second, she chooses Ethan. Oh, man, the pressure. “Hey, what’s the theme this time?” I ask.
“We haven’t picked one,” Mary says. “What do you think about kids’ movies?”
“Good one.” Trudy winks at me. “We’ve totally got this one.”
“Mary and Luke are on their team,” I point out. “And they have more kids than the rest of you combined.”
“But they both work,” Trudy says. “I stayed home until not that long ago. I’ve watched enough Disney movies to break most normal people.”
And I’ve been helping out with Amy and Chase, so I’m up on the latest ones. “Alright, it’s on.”
“Hey,” Trig says. “No fair. You can’t stack the game that way.”
James looks at Luke and Paul and Rob. “Can’t we?”
Rob beams. “I think it’s fine.”
Trig glares. “You’re a traitor.”
“I’m on your team, but that doesn’t mean I want to call a little girl Bernard for the next twenty years.”
Brekka laughs. “You lose the benefit of loyalty when you’re being an insufferable jerk.”
Trig laughs. “Oh, fine, but you guys better do your best guessing. That’s all I’m saying.”
We all write down our most obscure kids’ movie ideas and drop them into the bowl. Sixty slips this time, thanks to the six couples. Ethan’s kind of useless, and Paisley isn’t much better, but Trudy and I tear through the pile as though it’s tissue paper around a pair of Louboutins.
Paisley smiles at me. “Nicely done.”
We’re up by almost twenty when we go into the second round. But it’s Ethan’s turn next. He looks practically pained when he looks at his first slip.
“You can only say one word,” James says. “So really think about it.”
Ethan’s eyes widen. “Reindeer?”
“Rudolph!” Trudy says.
Ethan smiles and does the next one. He’s not bad, but he’s not fast, either. He only gets five, and Trig is up next.
He and Brekka may not have seen many of the movies, but their minds are like steel traps. There’s a reason that no one ever wants to allow them to be on the same team.
“They got thirty-seven.” James groans.
Trig’s a horrible dancer, but even so, it’s funny to watch him doing his victory strut.
“Game’s not over yet.” James stands up.
“Close enough,” Luke says grimly. “You can only get eighteen, and that would be a pretty epic turn for you.”
James beams. “I don’t have to get all of them. If I stop early, that holds you guys to whatever I leave.”
That shuts Trig up.
“Doors,” James says.
Doors? Paisley and Trudy exchange frazzled glances with me.
“I’ve seen this one,” Ethan says. “Monsters Inc.”
“Are you kidding me, honey?” Paisley groans. “Doors?”
“Move along,” Ethan says.
“Trash,” James says next.
“Ratatouille,” Trudy yells.
And we move through all but four before Rob calls time. If he gives us more than a minute, well, Trig’s the only one who complains that it seemed too long. It’s nice to see that they’re all kind of united on the side of kindness.
Brekka goes next, cycling easily through the last four slips, two of which were duplicates of other movies.
“We need a bigger category next time,” Trig grumbles.
“Yeah, we’ll take that under advisement the next time you’re not trying to hijack the naming of someone’s baby,” Paul says.
“It’s James,” Trig says.
“He does have a point,” Paul says before standing up for his turn.
“Focus, babe,” Trudy says.
“Hey, no speaking this round, so you have to act everything out. Don’t forget,” Geo says with a twinkle in her eye, “or you’ll be disqualified and take no points for the round.”
Paisley rolls her eyes. “Like he’d forget.”
Paul does a decent job, getting ten using only gestures and movements. Pretty reasonable score for the charades portion, really, especially for him.
Luke is up next. He makes a big production of plucking a piece of paper very slowly.
“Oh, come on,” Trig says. “This was a fair bet that they entered of their own volition. If James cares less about the name of his child than wearing a Santa suit for a Christmas card, how is that my fault?”
Luke laughs, and then he tosses a fake head of hair over his shoulder.
“Tangled,” Mary says. “Good one, sweetheart.”
But he can’t mime an ogre, apparently, because they’re stuck on Shrek for a long time and he only clears three for his turn. And . . . now it’s my turn again. Now that I know everyone better, even with the looming threat of Paisley’s unborn child’s name hanging over me, I’m not nearly as scared as last time. I churn through almost twenty movies, leaving only a handful of papers left when my turn ends.
Trig can’t win, and he’s good enough at math to know it immediately.
“When you guys don’t have a hilarious photo of James and Paisley hanging on your fridge this Christmas, you have no one to blame but yourselves.”
Paisley puts a hand on James’ arm. “We’ll still send you one. How’s that?”
Trig cocks his head slightly. “It’s better, slightly, but I think you should send one to everyone here.”
With her hands around her belly, Paisley beams. “I think that can be arranged, right, honey?”
James grumbles, but doesn’t object to a smaller scale photo to mollify his new friends. I lean back in my chair, bumping into Ethan’s arm in the process. My heart flies into my throat, and I don’t know whether to cry or laugh or close my eyes and savor the moment. Because for a tiny slice of time, I’m part of a couple, surrounded by friends and almost-family, and it feels nice. Unbelievably nice.
I fit in, in a way I haven’t since Lizzie died.
Guilt and sorrow and regret tear through me. I stand up. “I better get the kids to bed and head that direction myself. I’ve got the day off tomorrow, which means I really should be writing.”
“You have a job?” Paul asks. “Where? Doing what?”
Trudy kicks him.
“She’s a waitress not far from the Riviera Grand,” Ethan says.
“That’s convenient.” Geo smirks.
“I think so.” His hand squeezes my shoulder and I forget why I wanted to get out of here. I lean into his hand and don’t protest as they set up some ridiculously complicated game called Dominion. I lose miserably, but it’s entertaining watching James and Trig and Paul act like this game will make or break their lives. Luke acts like he’s above it, but he beats them all by a handful of points.
