She smiled. “I’m glad. You guys are great together.”
“Where’s your boss?”
Her face twitched and he could tell it was a sore point for her. “Well, he’s obviously not here. I told you, it was nothing serious.”
Her saddened expression made it obvious that there more to it than she was letting on. “What happened?”
She shrugged as she tilted the mixing bowl and poured the batter into a baking pan. “It just didn’t work out.” She turned to place the pan in the oven and he noticed the way she subtly rubbed her cheek against her shoulder to get rid of the stray tear.
Max shook his head and gritted his teeth. Balls and fucking shears! Tyler was a dead man!
“Mom,” Kevin shouted from outside the kitchen, “I’m going to Momma B’s.”
“Sure, honey,” his mother yelled back. “Just be back before lunch.”
Jordan used the opportunity to change the subject. She walked over to the island counter and began chopping vegetables beside Danny. “How’s Bink doing, Ma?”
“I was telling Max last night, he’s doing a lot better. He came back from his road trip completely different. He talks to me a lot more. He’s been going over to see Momma B a lot and it seems like he’s made peace with Perry’s death, but something else is troubling him. He gets so depressed sometimes, but you know Kevin. He doesn’t talk about it. He just sits in front of his computer, staring at it all the time, Facepaging and twittering.”
Max chuckled at his mother’s attempt to be hip with techno-lingo.
“Sometimes ’til two, three in the morning,” his mother said. “I just leave him be.”
Jordan’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “Momma, Kevin hates social media. If it wasn’t for Perry and the swim-team, he wouldn’t even have an account.”
“Maybe he’s got a girlfriend,” Danny suggested idly.
Jordan and Max both laughed at the idea. Danny did not know all the details of Kevin’s track record with women. Their brother changed his girlfriends as often as he changed his underwear. Actually the encounters were so brief, they could not even be called girlfriends. And the thought of Kevin ever spending that much time or effort on any girl was unfathomable.
Max left the women in the kitchen and went searching for more testosterone. He chatted with Dom and Shane for an hour before lunch was served.
The dining room was smaller than the living room, but still large enough to comfortably fit the twelve-seater dining table. He watched as all his family members filed in, all except the kids. They usually ate in the living room because it was impossible to pry them away from the tree.
They held hands as his dad said a short prayer before everyone took their designated seats.
Max looked at the empty chairs beside Kevin and his dad and felt sadness sweep over him. The absence of Jake and Perry wasn’t only noticed, it was felt. He could tell by the look on his brother’s face that this wasn’t easy for him. Perry had occupied the seat beside him for fifteen years, not just for Christmas lunch but every occasion involving a meal. And that was plenty.
Danny was feeling uneasy too and he could see the sad smile on her face as she stared at the empty chair on the opposite end of the table. He reached over and took her hand, and she squeezed his fingers to let him know she was okay.
“Let’s eat,” Shane said, breaking the silence. “Momma, everything looks delicious.”
Everyone began filling their plates with the wide variety of food set out on the table. It seemed like a lot, but four boys could demolish all that, leaving only morsels of leftovers for dinner.
“I helped, too,” Jordan countered, adding roast potatoes to her plate. “So did Danny.”
Shane leaned over and ruffled Danny’s hair. “Well, we all know Danny didn’t actually cook anything.”
Danny laughed and jabbed him with her elbow before reaching for the salad.
“Do you remember your first Christmas with us?” Shane asked her. “God, that turkey couldn’t have tasted worse if it came out of the dishwasher. Dom even told Tracey not give any to Madison. She was only a year old at the time and he didn’t want to be racing her to the hospital on Christmas.”
Danny’s mouth dropped in shock. “You said that, Dom?”
Dominic laughed sheepishly. “It was awful, Danny, and parents are always paranoid with their first born. If it’s any consolation, I would definitely feed your cooking to Makayla.”
“Really?”
“Well…no. Max says you’ve gotten progressively worse over the years.”
Max was the one who received an elbow-jab now.
“You have other talents,” Shane’s eyes mocked reassurance. “Like putting up with my brother. It must be so painful for you living with him now. He’s such a neat-freak. Everything must be in its place. No dirty dishes in the sink…”
Max took a few slices of gammon as Shane jabbered on.
“Remember how you thought he was actually gonna ask you out?” Shane said, looking at Danny.
“Did I say that?” she responded, looking confused.
This was news to Max too.
“Yeah, and here you are years later, living with him, and he still hasn’t made a move. He brought you to my birthday party to prove he could get it right with a college girl and he still doesn’t have enough game to do it.”
Max smiled to himself. His instinct had been right. If Danny hadn’t found out the truth, Shane would have definitely spilled the beans. These were things they joked about every year at the dining table and it always used to make him feel awkward because he didn’t want her finding out how he felt about her. This year was different, though. Everything was out in the open and the woman he loved was now his girlfriend.
He was about to set the record straight, but Shane carried on blabbing.
Danny took his hand under the table and smiled at him. He smiled back, stroking his thumb over her hand.
“You two should just bone and get it over with,” Kevin said from the across the table.
Danny giggled and turned the brightest shade of pink.
“Ugh, you did?” Kevin’s face contorted with disgust. “That’s gross! I think I just lost my appetite.”
“But don’t worry, Danny,” Shane said, completely oblivious that they had all stopped listening half-way through. “It’s better that you two are just friends. My little brother is too moody. Both of them are.”
Max looked over at Kevin as Shane carried on taking verbal jabs at them.
“Blah. Blah. Blah,” Kevin mouthed, using his hand as a flapping mouth. “Fucking Virgos,” he said only loud enough for Max to hear.
“Speaking about Virgos,” Max said, “did that girl on the road trip end up driving you crazy?”
Max had meant it as a joke but when Kevin’s jaw tightened and he stared down at his plate, he knew he had struck a nerve with that question.
“You have no fucking idea,” his brother whispered.
Max looked over at Jordan and her raised eyebrows told him that she had also picked up a weird vibe. They were arguing with their eyes as to which one of them were going to bring it up until eventually he mouthed, “Later.” to her.
If they were going to get anything out of him, there needed to be less people in the room.
When everyone had stuffed themselves to the brim, his mother began clearing the dirty dishes.
“Let’s open presents first, Mom,” Dominic suggested.
“Yeah,” Max and Shane agreed in unison.
“Boys, we have the same argument every year. Dishes first because no-one wants to work after opening presents.”
“I’ll help, Mommy Jess,” Danny offered.
“Me too,” Tracey added. “Besides, the kids are all excited.”
His mother gave in with a sigh and they all walked to the living room. The next half an hour was Max’s favorite part of Christmas. It wasn’t about the presents. It was about the joy on everyone’s face. The kisses and the hugs, excitement and surprise. He loved watching Danny while all of this was going on. The smile on her face was so wide, it looked like her cheeks would hurt once she stopped. She blended in so perfectly with the rest of his family and watching her with them made him want a family of his own. Maybe it was time to take back that ring.
After presents, Debbie laid out dessert in the dining room. Danny and Tracey kept their promise and disappeared into the kitchen to clean up. Jordan cut a slice of cake for both of them while Kevin scooped out a huge helping of vanilla ice-cream and drowned it in chocolate sauce. It was something he and Perry used to do from the time they were kids and Max could never understand why they never opted for chocolate ice-cream instead.
“Kevin, don’t you think that’s too much chocolate sauce?” Max asked.
Sadness hazed his eyes for a brief second before he forced a smile. “You can never have too much chocolate sauce.”
The three of them took their usual seats at the table. They weren’t alone. His three nieces were running around the table, chasing each other with the toy guns he had actually bought for his nephews. It only took a few minutes before Jordan’s blue-gray eyes started asking him to probe.
Eventually he gave up arguing with eyebrows and head tilts and cleared his throat.