Page 104 of Turn

EPILOGUE

Christmas Day

I had almost all of their names straight by now.

The Gentry family frequently gathered for one event or another so over the past six months I’d had plenty of opportunities to get to know them. Chase’s teenage boys still mixed me up on occasion because the eldest two looked so much alike. Then there were the young sons of Stone and Conway. They were cousins but close in age and they ran around together so often and looked so similar it would be easy to mistake them for twins. At least none of the girls looked alike so I didn’t make any mistakes there.

“Curtis, be an angel and make yourself useful,” announced Cassie’s younger sister, Cadence, before she deposited a tray of food in my hands. She was home from college for the holidays.

“Where am I supposed to put this?” I asked her but she was already being swallowed up by a crowd of Gentry cousins.

“Find a place,” she shouted and disappeared back into the kitchen.

I looked around but didn’t see any immediate options. The food tables that had been set up in the living room were already pretty crowded. I’d have to displace something else to set the tray down.

“What have you got there?” inquired a voice. The hungry teenager it belonged to sniffed at the tray.

“Maybe meatballs,” I guessed. “Maybe something else. You feel like being a guinea pig, Kellan?”

I hoped I had used the right name. His older brother was a little more square-jawed and muscular but they were cut from the same cloth and anyone would be able to tell they were Gentry boys. Their father, Chase, was laughing about something with Cord on the other side of the room.

The kid who might be named Kellan didn’t correct me so I figured I’d identified him correctly. He plucked a meatball off the tray and popped it in his mouth. He took a moment to chew and then offered the thumbs up sign.

“What’s that?” asked another voice, this one belonging to Kellan’s older brother.

“Get lost, Derek,” Kellan growled, blocking the food tray. “I’m claiming dibs.”

“You can’t claim dibs here,” Derek argued. “It’s a Christmas party.”

Kellan wouldn’t step aside. “Don’t be such a greedy bastard. Go find something else to eat.”

Derek slapped his brother on the back of the head. “Stop being a dick.”

“Stop trying to steal my snacks.”

Derek tried to reach around his brother and grab some of the meatballs with his bare hand.

Kellan blocked him with an elbow to the gut.

I really just wanted to put the damn tray down somewhere.

“Guys, knock it off,” complained their younger brother, Thomas. His name was one I always remembered because at fourteen he seemed a lot more mature than either of his big brothers.

But the boys weren’t finished making a scene.

Derek shoved his brother.

Kellan stepped on Derek’s foot.

And then someone’s flailing arm knocked the tray right out of my hands. It landed in an unfortunate place. Right in the lap of fourteen-year-old Isabella Gentry, Deck’s beloved only daughter.

Isabella gazed down at her fancy red Christmas dress in horror. Creed and Truly’s daughter was sitting beside her and gasped.

Isabella stood up and glared furiously at her careless cousins, her face turning nearly as red as her hair.

“You JERKS!” she shouted and stomped away.

“Sorry, Izzy,” said Kellan.

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