But, like Stela herself, I could never hope to impress
them. I just wanted not to prove them right. So instead of
shouting, I smiled.
'How are you?' I couldn't cal him George, Mr. Smith
sounded absurd, and I would never cal him Poppa.
I'd been asking out of politeness, but he told me exactly
how he was. For fifteen minutes. And I listened, nodding
how he was. For fifteen minutes. And I listened, nodding
and murmuring in appropriate places, as though I cared. I
didn't know half the people he mentioned, but he acted as
if he thought I should. He never asked me about myself,
which was fine, because then I didn't have to answer.
Finaly, the game of Pictionary got under way. Gretchen's
husband, Peter, begged off, volunteering to take care of
Hunter, their three-year-old son. Steve and his vastly
pregnant wife, Kely, played, though, as did my dad and
Stela, al the grandparents and Tyler. And me. Jeremy had
disappeared. We split into teams, boys against girls.
'I'l sit out,' I said when we'd counted up the teams to find the girls' side had an extra player.
'Oh, no, Paige, are you sure?' Stela protested, but not
too hard. She liked things even and square.
'Sure. Not a problem. I'l go check on dinner, if you
want.'
Okay, so maybe I'd cast myself in the Cinderela role. Just
a little. But it was a relief to get into the kitchen and set out
platters of vegetables and dip, cheese and crackers.
Decorative breads and soft cheeses with pretty spreaders
Decorative breads and soft cheeses with pretty spreaders
that matched the platter. Stela loved to have parties.
I found the cold-cut platters in the garage fridge and
brought them into the kitchen to put them out on the table,
which was serving as a buffet. I startled Jeremy when I
came back in, and he whirled, can of soda in hand, from
the open fridge.
From the living room, the sound of laughter wafted. I set
the platter of meat on the table. Jeremy and I stared each
other down.
'You're not supposed to be drinking that before dinner,' I told him.
'I know.' His chin lifted. He hadn't yet cracked the top.
'I'm not going to tel you on you, kiddo.' I turned to the
table and took off the platter's plastic lid so I could get rid
of the fake greenery around the edges. I knew how to
make things pretty.
'Don't cal me
I expected him to slink away with his stolen prize, but he
didn't. When I turned to look at him, he was stil playing
didn't. When I turned to look at him, he was stil playing
with the can, shifting it from one hand to the other.
'Something up?' I moved past him to the big, mostly
