New Year (5 page)

Cousin Woolly
took it from me. “So, Jackie said you work with animals?”

It took me a second to remember that Jackie meant Anna’s mom.
Jackie and Stan
. Two names I absolutely couldn’t falter on.

“Yeah, that’s right. Dog washing and walking and kennel
cleaning.”

“That must be…a pleasant job,”
Stan said. “Low stress.”
All an underachiever like you can handle
remained unspoken.

Trapped between a retired lawyer and a
brand-new surgeon, I felt about as useless as dirty dishwater as they walked me toward the garage.

“I like working with the dogs,” I said to fill the awkward silence. “
And the owners are really nice. I felt bad leaving them with a mess on their hands this morning.”

“Pipes burst, I hear?”
the guy with the odd name—Woody? —said.

“Yeah. The power went off and the backup generator has to be started
manually. They didn’t know till morning what had happened. By then the temperature had dropped, water froze in the lines, they broke and flooded the place.”

“Sounds like a good case for a suit,”
Stan remarked. “It’s irresponsible to board animals and not have an emergency plan in place.”

I couldn’t argue with that, but I didn’t like to hear Sarah and Saffron bad
-mouthed. The couple who owned Happytails Boarding had become like family to me in the short time I’d been working there.

The garage was enormous. Big enough for two cars and a third bay for whatever extra
vehicle the homeowner might have from a motorcycle to a boat. Stan’s area was filled with golfing equipment and some saws and drill presses. There was also a work bench and a lot of tools hanging on the wall.

“Doing some woodworking?”
I asked.

Stan
pointed out the space where Woody could set the dog crate. “Yes. I’ve been making birdhouses.”

“
Nice. My dad likes to make things too. He owns a hardware store,” I offered lamely, and then silence resumed.

I
longed to be at home. This three-day visit already seemed to have gone on for at least ten hours. My mind pinballed around trying to keep names straight, remembering what I needed to do next for the dog, and, of course, thinking about Anna’s less than enthusiastic reaction to my proposal. Information overload for somebody who functioned best on a regular routine.

T
he door from the garage into the house opened, and Anna appeared, light from behind haloing her like an angel come to save me from dysfunction.

“Hi. How’s my baby doing?”
she said.

I released the
kraken, and Baby charged. She leaped into Anna’s arms, wiggling and licking as if she hadn’t seen her in weeks.

“It’s all right. Good girl.” Anna soothed and p
atted the dog.

I
remembered what I’d planned to do next and got out the dog dishes. After putting some food into one, I went inside the house to fill the other at the kitchen sink.

Jackie stood
, stirring something in a mixing bowl and talking to Cousin Callie, or Chloe. They looked over at me when I entered.

“Just getting some water for the dog,” I said.

Anna’s mom drew her mouth into a polite smile that wasn’t very warm. “That’s fine.”

The smell of roasting meat and something sweet—maybe sugar cookies—
made my stomach grumble. It had been a long time since we’d stopped for lunch. I tried to think of something to say, but nothing popped into my head, except the same drill about how uneventful the drive had been.

I half
filled the dish and hurried out of the kitchen. Before the door closed behind me, I noticed Jackie had stopped stirring and was wiping my snow-wet footprints from the floor with paper towels.

Out in the garage, Anna was alone. Her dad and Wood
y had taken our luggage up to the room we’d be sharing—Anna’s bedroom. I wondered if her mom had left everything untouched. Anna had once told me I wouldn’t find boy-band posters and flowered wallpaper. Though always an overachiever, she’d dressed goth and listened to heavy metal back in the day.

Anna sat cross-legged on the
garage floor, holding Baby’s front paws and looking into her face. “Poor girl. You have to go in your crate for a while, but we aren’t going to leave you here. We’ll be right inside.” Anna looked up at me. “I feel so bad. She’s not going to know we’re not leaving her forever.”

“
It would be the same if she was boarded at Happytails. She’ll be okay.”

I leaned against the wall
, because the thought of sitting cross-legged was impossible right then. The garage was quiet. From inside the house came muffled voices and the soft strains of Christmas music. The holiday was starting to smother me in syrupy sweetness.

Anna got up and put Baby in her crate. Immediately
, the dog began to whine.

“Those kids better not come out here and mess with her,” she said. “They asked me about ten times already if they could play with the dog.
I told them she has to rest first, but they seem like spoiled brats who are used to having their way.”

“I can see you like children,” I
said dryly.

“Some are okay. This pair seem like assholes.”

“A merry Christmas to you too.”

I laughed and held out my hand. Anna took it
, and we went inside, leaving Baby to wail over our abandonment.

Anna

By the time dinner was ready, I was too filled up on the hors d’o
euvres Mom had set out and bleary-eyed with exhaustion from the long drive, not to mention the martinis my dad had fixed for me.

My mo
ther had organized the meal ahead of time and insisted there was nothing for me or Chloe to do, so I sat on the sofa beside Jason in front of a crackling fire and listened while Chloe filled us in on her family. I learned more about her boys’ schools and soccer teams than I cared to. The various illnesses or accomplishments of this aunt or that cousin were explained in great detail. I nodded periodically, happy to give the floor to Chloe since I was so wiped.

But there was still a meal to get through. I dragged myself
reluctantly from the couch to the dining room. Crystal stemware and the best china seemed a pretty bad call on Mom’s part, considering the little boys’ destructive ways. Since I’d arrived, they’d broken their spaceship toy and one of Mom’s vases. Then I noticed she’d set two places with plastic
Toy Story
plates from my childhood. The sight of those cartoon faces, well marked by the scrapes of forks and spoons, made me smile.

I took my place between Jason and my dad
while everyone complimented Mom on the meal, which smelled heavenly.

“
Retirement’s been a little dull, so I’ve been taking cooking classes among other things.”

I’d never considered how a workaholic like my mother might cope with retirement. Shame filled me that I’d rarely talked to her
about what was new in her life. “What else are you doing?”

“Pottery and painting
, a creative writing class I didn’t care much for, and tennis. Zumba on Wednesdays and, of course, sometimes I golf with your father.”

“I had no idea
you had so many interests.”

“Well…”

For a moment, I was sure she would add,
You never asked
.

“When you’ve worked as many hours a week as I have
and suddenly find yourself at loose ends, you need to find something to fill the time.”

“Since my mom and dad
moved to Florida, they’re busier than ever,” Chloe said. “With all their clubs and boards and recreational activities, they hardly have time to come visit their grandchildren. Tomorrow will be the first time we’ve seen them in three months!”

The conversation
moved on, and I zoned out a little. That second martini really had me blurring around the edges. I ate a few bites of the delicious beef bordelaise and wondered, if I ever had children, how often my parents would come to Columbus to visit them.

“What about you, Jason?” My mom’s voice
snapped me back to the present. “I believe Anna mentioned you’re working at a kennel now?”

“
Yes, ma’am.” Jason didn’t elaborate. I noted the way his hand clenched his fork and the unfocused look in his eyes. He was really tired, too tired to have to work at dinner conversation.

“Do you have any plans for the future?”
My mom cocked her head, a subtle gesture I recognized all too well. She used to assume that posture before grilling me about a topic. One time, I’d watched her in court, and she’d done the same thing to a witness.

“Jason’s taking a business class,” I
answered quickly. “He’d like to open his own boarding kennel someday.”

“Do you have a time frame
for that?” She stared at Jason.

“I’ve only just started the class. I don’t have much money saved
, and I’m not ready to take out a big loan, even if I could get one. It’s just a dream right now.” Jason shot a glance at me. Annoyance showed in his tightly pressed lips. He wasn’t happy I’d outed his personal fantasy.

“
Dreams don’t come to fruition without some solid preparation. It’s never too early to make a plan,” Mom pointed out. “If you’re going to get ahead, you need to organize yourself.”

Irritation swelled from a
mild itch to a poison ivy rash inside me. “You see, Jason, the only proper way to get through life is to map out every move, every detail of every day. Goals and planning make the world go round,” I explained.

A slight frown perched between
my mother’s perfectly manicured eyebrows. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with having some organization in your life. If more people in our society bothered to plan ahead, the country wouldn’t be in the mess it is today.”

“
That includes the government,” my dad chimed in helpfully. “Nobody in either party has a clue where they’re going from one minute to the next.”

I didn’t really disagree, but
I also didn’t like the way a discussion about Jason’s vague future plans had evolved into some sort of statement. As if my parents believed he was infected with a slacker mentality inherent in my generation.

“Jason is happy
in his job. If he chooses to keep on working at Happytails and never becomes an entrepreneur, it’s his choice.” I heard myself speaking too loudly, a little drunkenly, but it was too late to tone it down.

“Besides,
somebody
has to shovel the shit.” Jason smiled, clearly trying to ease the tension, but he didn’t realize my mom wasn’t laid-back like his parents. She absolutely detested coarse language.

Her face froze
, and abrupt silence filled the room.

Until now,
Gulliver and Haynes had been in their own little world at one end of the table, talking nonsense to each other and occasionally being shushed by their dad. But now Haynes erupted. “Aw, he said a bad word!”

“He said shit,” Gulliver announced in case we’d missed it. “Mrs. Labadie says that’s cursing
. Brenda got in trouble when she said it at school.”

“It’s not a polite word, but Jason
wasn’t cursing,” Chloe said. “Eat some of your vegetables and stop worrying about what grown-ups say.”

S
he changed the subject, launching into a long ramble about a Costco that was opening up near her neighborhood. In that moment, I loved my cousin just a little.

We got through the rest of the meal with
stilted politeness. Afterward, Jason took Baby for a walk while I helped clean up the kitchen. With Chloe there, my mom and I kept our talk all surface.

It
was weird how little Mom had said on the subject of Jason moving in since I’d first told her about it. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Considering the things she’d said to me after first meeting Jason, there was no way she’d continue to let our relationship exist without comment, but for now, she kept her opinions to herself.

Another couple of hours coasted
by on talk of relatives and past Christmases. By that point, even Chloe had run out of things to say, and we all retired early.

As soon as
Jason and I entered the bedroom, he collapsed facedown across the bed. I followed his example, sprawling beside him and looking around the room I’d lived in for more than half of my life. A new paint job, carpet, curtains, and bedding had erased all traces of my teenage years. But the bed itself was the same. I curved a hand around one post, feeling the familiar smoothness and bumps of the carved wood.

Jason turned his head to
face me. “You don’t have to speak for me when we’re with your parents. If they ask me a question, I can answer for myself.”

“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t point out that his comment about shoveling shit hadn’t really gone down that well with my mom. “It’s hard for me to bite my tongue around them. Around
her
. ”