Chapter 21

Levi

“You.” Mom thrust a wooden spoon into my hand. “You’re on stir duty. If there are any lumps in that gravy, you’re going to get it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I took up my station while Mom doled out the rest of the orders, then moved to the side as Garrick came over to fulfill his duty of basting the turkey.

“Don’t be so upset with him, Molly,” Dad said. He was deep frying potatoes at the other side of the kitchen, a dish that he refused to go without at Christmas but Mom complained about every year. She insisted he didn’t need both mashed and fried potatoes. He insisted he did. Much as Mom could be a hard ass, she knew when to pick her battles.

“What is my one rule?” Mom asked.

“No brewery talk on Christmas,” Garrick and I answered in unison.

Mom snapped her fingers, and I resumed stirring.

“Technically I didn’t talk to anyone about the brewery,” I defended. “You and Dad were napping, and Garrick and Val were off doing...whatever it is they were doing. I didn’t think anyone would miss me if I slipped off for a while to get some work done.”

I chanced a look behind me and saw my mom’s features had softened. “Maybe it’s time you found yourself a girl, Levi. You can’t just throw yourself into your work every time you’re lonely.”

“Hey, being alone is not the same as being lonely.”

Garrick snickered. I glared at him.

“Your mother’s got a point, you know.” Dad came up behind Mom and snaked his arms around her waist. “If it weren’t for your mother, I would have worked myself into the ground just like your grandfather did. And he nearly drove Black Mountain into ruin. There needs to be balance.”

Mom leaned her head back against Dad’s shoulder and smiled, kissing him on the cheek. Then, without even looking at me, she snapped her fingers. “Stir.”

I resumed stirring again and turned back to the stove. Garrick finished basting the turkey and stood beside me, inhaling. “Damn I love gravy.”

“We know. That’s why Mom cooks so much of it.” I shouldered him away from the stove. “I guess it’s useful when we’ve got unexpected guests though.”

Garrick shrugged. “Guess so.”

I wanted to ask why Frankie was there but couldn’t make it seem like I was too interested. Garrick suspected that something had happened between Frankie and me on Mount Hood, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction so hadn’t told him anything.

“So does Frankie not have her own family to spend Christmas with?” I asked, stirring casually.

Garrick leaned against the counter next to me and took a draw of his beer. “Her family’s all in New York, but she couldn’t afford to go this year.”

“Couldn’t afford to go? She seems like she does okay for herself.”

Garrick nodded. “She does, but her dad had surgery a couple of weeks ago, and since he and her mom were going to have to take out a loan to cover it, Frankie stepped in and paid for it.”

I paused. Frankie never mentioned her dad’s surgery when we were on Mount Hood. She didn’t mention not going home for Christmas, either. If Val hadn’t brought her here today, would I have ever found out? Not that it was any of my business. I felt bad for her—which was likely exactly why she didn’t want me to know.

“That Frankie girl,” said my dad. “She’s a real doll. Your mother and I were just saying earlier how much Val has brightened up since she started working with Frankie. She’s got a real shine to her now.”

“I agree.” Garrick pulled plates down from the cupboard and passed them over to my mom. “It’s amazing what a good friend can do.”

“They’re not friends. It’s Frankie’s job, and she just happens to be good at it.”

Dad and Garrick both frowned at me. Mom, predictably, was too absorbed in setting the table to notice the conversation.

“You’re too harsh on her,” Garrick said. “I figured after your weekend getaway you would realize that there’s more to her than you think.”

I had come to such a conclusion, but it didn’t seem like such a bad thing to remind people that Frankie was only going to be in our lives for so long. She seemed very fond of Valerie, but once the wedding was over, she would move on to the next. None of us would see her again.

Mom shuffled in beside me and took the spoon from my hand. “Why don’t you go see if the girls need another drink?”

“I just got them one.”

“You know how fast Valerie drinks.” She pushed me away. “Go on.”

I sighed and left the kitchen. The sound of laughter hit me like a wall the second I stepped into the living room and I stopped when Frankie and Val came into view. They had moved to the couch. Spread open on Val’s lap was one of our old photo albums and Val was pointing at a picture of Garrick wearing my dad’s shoes and vest. He couldn’t have been older than five at the time. The two of them were busting their sides over it.

Hell, maybe they were friends. Maybe Frankie wouldn’t disappear once the wedding was over. I hoped for Val that was the case. Months ago, when Val’s parents dropped on her that they were going away for the holidays without her, she seemed excited about the opportunity to spend Christmas with our family. But when she and Garrick showed up last night, I could tell she was sad. Nothing any of us did had worked as well to cheer her up as whatever Frankie was doing now.

The girls finally noticed my presence and Frankie’s smile fell away. The atmosphere altered, grew chillier. A pang of something like sadness hit me in the chest.

“My mom sent me in here to check if you guys need another drink,” I explained.

Valerie shook her bottle and then her head. “I’m good.”

“Me too,” said Frankie.

“Call if you need anything.” I turned away, but instead of heading back to the kitchen I turned right down the hall and made my way to the stairs.

Something was bothering me. It was the same thing that had been bothering me for the past week, but I’d been doing a good job of ignoring it until now. Or, at least, a better job. Now that Frankie was here, in my childhood home, I knew it would be impossible for me not to think about her.

She wanted us to forget that Mount Hood ever happened, but I didn’t see how that was possible. If I could forget it, I would—because it was damned inconvenient thinking about Frankie as much as I did.

But what could I do? She’d left an indelible impression on me. Her plump ass, those gorgeous tits, the way she moaned in that rasping, sultry voice of hers. I was constantly horny, but the idea of fucking anybody else just didn’t appeal. I wanted her. I thought all I needed was time to get over it, but it had been a week and still no progress. Worse, now Val had shoved the temptation right in front of me.

I mounted the stairs and followed the corridor to my bedroom, which had remained unchanged since high school. I’d had horrible taste back then. Football posters lined the back wall, and the shelves were cluttered with knickknacks and dog-eared novels. The closet door hung open from Valerie’s visit earlier. Just thinking about Frankie in that ridiculous sweater made me hard and it had nothing to do with the holiday spirit. It was my sweater, and it looked like sin on her. I couldn’t tell whether I loved or hated my dad for making her wear it.

I fished my phone out of my pocket and collapsed onto the bed, still disheveled from my rough night’s sleep the night before. I knew I didn’t have long before Mom sent someone to look for me, particularly since dinner was nearly ready, but I had one thing I needed to do before I had a few beers and started to enjoy the evening.

I just hoped Frankie wouldn’t take it the wrong way.