“Make it however you like and I’ll try it,” he said.
“Excellent.” She added onions, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. When she closed the hamburger, it was so high that she had to secure it with a toothpick. “Baked beans?” she asked.
“Yes. Thank you. What is that bowl of yellow…?” he asked as he opened a bun and set it on a plate for Max.
“Potato salad. It’s my mother’s recipe. Want to try it?” Abbey had her plate and Nick’s teetering on the edge of the counter beside each other as she piled on the food.
“Potato… Salad. Is there salad in it?” he asked, peering over the bowl.
“No. There’s mustard, mayonnaise, and relish, among other spices. You might like it.” She scooped up a glop of it and lumped it on his plate. “You’ve been living in Richmond all this time and you’ve never encountered potato salad?” He just looked at her. She tried not to giggle. “I’ll put a little of everything and you can try it all.” His face was priceless.
The others were slowly filling their plates, watching Abbey and smiling. Robin had set her food down and was leaning into the wine cooler. “What goes well with this meal? Red, maybe? It’s beef…”
“Anything is fine,” Abbey said.
Robin pulled out a bottle of Zinfandel and uncorked it. “Who’s having wine?” she asked as the bottle breathed in her hand. The adults accepted her offer, and Abbey poured milk for the kids.
They all took their plates and drinks with them into the dining room.
Nick let out a punch of laughter. “What’s on the table?” he asked.
“A paper tablecloth,” Abbey said as she set her paper plate down on the Christmas tree printed paper. “It’s festive. And at the end, you can ball it up with everything on it—easy cleanup.”
With another chuckle, he sat down beside her. Abbey looked around at the faces that were there tonight. Caroline was cutting her burger with her plastic knife and fork, clearly being a good sport, her paper napkin in her lap; Robin and James were both helping Thomas get situated; and Max was holding a burger as big as his head!
Abbey recalled those first nights with Nick, sitting in silence at that huge table. She leaned over to Nick. “Now this is what the dinner table should be like,” she said quietly to him.
Nick smiled and discreetly pointed at Max as he tried to take a bite of his burger, half the toppings falling out the other side.
Abbey laughed. “Well, you helped him make it.”
“I just followed your lead.” He pointed to his own and grinned at her.
Abbey turned to address the group. “Has anyone tried something new?”
“It’s my first taste of potato salad,” Nick said. “The jury’s still out…”
“I like it,” Robin added. “And I like this green bean casserole as well.”
“When I first started working for Nick,” Abbey said, “he made me dinner and I didn’t know what it was. It was zucchini, wasn’t it, Nick?” She looked at him for agreement. “Anyway, it was delicious. I wanted to share something new with you all. I hope you’re enjoying it. I’ve made apple pie for dessert.”
“That sounds delicious, Abbey,” Caroline said. “Thank you for all of this.” She dabbed the corners of her mouth with her paper napkin. “When was the last time we all ate as a family?” Caroline asked.
Everyone looked around at each other and shook their heads.
“We don’t do this enough,” Caroline said. “Promise me that when your mother gets here, we’ll all get together again. We lead such busy lives. We need to stop and remember our family.”
Nick stood up, holding his glass. “To family,” he said, and they all raised their drinks. Abbey joined too and asked Max to lift his cup. While this wasn’t her family, it was a great one, and she was toasting to that. Nick added, “And good friends,” as he winked in Max’s direction.
“Cheers!” Max said, and clinked his cup with Nick’s glass. They all laughed.
* * *
It was getting late, and Max hadn’t had a bath or gotten his homework finished, but tonight, Abbey didn’t mind at all. He was having the time of his life. And so was she. She didn’t let herself worry about missing this family once they were gone, or the fact that Nick was still moving to New York. She didn’t have a care in the world tonight because she was too busy enjoying the people around her.
“Who’s next?” James said, bending down to pick up one of the kids. Max jumped into his arms as if he’d known him for ages. James held her son out like an airplane, spinning him around and up and down, Max’s giggles bubbling up with every dip and spin.