Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
As always, we argued over the main courses over burgers and then landed on the exact same conclusion. If Marjorie wanted lasagna so bad, she could make one. If I was dead set on having a turkey, I’d have to cook it at my place and bring it over. And if Jake wanted veggie burgers, he could find somewhere else to eat.
“Maybe I will,” he laughed, the sparkle still in his eyes.
I saw Marjorie’s face change. It was a threat we’d thrown out half a dozen times before. A threat no one took seriously. But I could see her mind working–what if he wanted to eat somewhere else? What if he wanted to microwave veggie burgers with his secret girlfriend and then hike the Runyon Canyon Loop like he was always suggesting and we were always smacking down?
“We could have veggie burgers,” she said abruptly.
Jake stopped laughing, tilted his head, confused. This wasn’t how the script went. “Mom, I was just kidding,” he said.
She bit at the edge of her fingernail. “We could though.” She tried to force her words into a festive beat, but it sounded wrong. Dissonant. “I mean, it’s our holiday dinner. We can do whatever we want. What matters is that we’re together.”
Jake sent me a what-the-hell glance across the table. I shook my head slightly. “Marjorie, we’re not having fucking veggie burgers. Or hiking,” I added before Jake could suggest it.
“We should though. We should incorporate what everyone wants to do!”
Since it was looking more and more like I was going to want to day drink, I didn’t think hiking the canyon was compatible. I knew better than to say that though. A strange silence settled over the three of us. Christmas music was dancing through the air. Laughter was coming from the booths on either side of us. The tables had all been pushed together in the center of the floor for another company get-together, and it was loud enough that you almost couldn’t hear the silence in our little bubble.
But not quite.
Finally, Marjorie went to the bathroom, and Jake leaned across the table and said, “Uncle Nic, what the hell is going on?”
I filled him in on the invitation to the Christmas ball that Marjorie had found on the corner of my desk. “I told her I wasn’t going,” I added, trying to keep the aggravation out of my voice. “It’s on Christmas Eve.”
“Right, okay. This is making more sense.” Jake leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “You know, you could go to the Christmas ball if you wanted, Uncle Nic. You don’t always have to…you know.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
Jake gave me a come on look. “Where are the guys going this year?”
He was talking about Julian, Garrett, and Landon. Con had always stayed home with his daughter, but the other three had made the most of the holidays up until recently. Jake always loved getting their video calls on Christmas from whatever absurd location they’d ended up in. Usually somewhere tropical. As a kid, he’d asked me if I wished I was with them, and his face would light up when I told him there was nowhere I’d rather be than with him. As a teenager, he’d shaken his head and said, “Man, Uncle Nic. You must really love us” in the same way a bartender would tell someone they’d been overserved. Kind, but a little disgusted.
“The guys are staying home with their families,” I said. “Because that’s what you do on Christmas when you’re not an asshole.”
“Wanting to do something besides watch A Christmas Story with me and Mom wouldn’t make you an asshole. It would make me an asshole,” Jake said after some consideration. “But not you.”
I looked at him closely. “Is there something else you want to do?”
Jake shook his head, but then he pulled his phone out of his pocket, looked down at it, and grinned. He typed something back, and then looked back up at me, his gaze bright but a little unfocused. “Sorry, what were we–oh yeah.” He jerked his shoulders like it was an answer. “You know. Maybe one day.”
I couldn’t keep wondering. I nodded my chin toward the phone. “Who’s the girl?”
Jake widened his eyes like he had no idea what I was talking about. “Actually, my phone prefers to not be gendered.”
“Har har.” I took a drink of my water. I could see Marjorie approaching in my periphery, and I was glad we’d moved off the subject of the holidays. “I mean who are you texting that keeps putting that dumbass look on your face.”
“What dumbass look?” Jake egged me on.
I did my best impression of it, and he burst out laughing. “Is that how you look when you’re happy, Uncle Nic?”