Page 73 of Fire

For as long as I can remember, Hutton family gatherings were held at Micah’s Aunt Cat and Uncle Lucas’s house and today is no different. Pulling into their driveway is a dose of nostalgia that stabs me in the heart.

“It hasn’t changed a bit,” I say as I peer out the window at the stately two-story home with the splattering of palms in front and the ocean behind. The first floor is an enclosed outdoor living area with a bar, a pool, hot tub, and boat dock. The two bedrooms, kitchen, and living area were built on the second floor to minimize damage from flooding.

Micah takes the car out of gear and kills the engine. “The house is the same. The people are too, though we’re all bigger, older.” He bobbles his head. “And there’s more of us.”

“More? There were already so many of you!”

“There’s no such thing as too many Huttons.” Micah turns in his seat to look at Nell. “You ready to learn the meaning of the word ‘big?’”

She eyes the rows of cars filling the drive and spilling onto the street, then turns her attention to the house in front of us. She’s accustomed to expensive homes. Between Dad’s money and Julian’s, we’ve always had nice things, but our family gatherings never included more than five or six people. She’s in for an experience tonight. I only hope she handles it well and Micah hasn’t built it up too much. While there might be a lot of people, there won’t be that many kids…

“I’m so ready,” Nell says, wiggling in her seat.

We file out of the car. Micah wraps one arm around my shoulder and takes Nell’s hand with the other. The palms bend in the breeze and the ocean sweeps and rolls behind the house, glimmering in the setting sun. Soft music wafts our way, twining with laughter and conversation as we approach. We step inside and almost run face first into a couple engaged in a heated discussion in the foyer.

“Nator Tot!” Micah exclaims. “Just the man I wanted to see.”

Nathan Hutton used to be a scrawny redhead with a pale face and freckles. He grew up and filled out while I was in Seattle. Instead of a vibrant red, his hair darkened to a deep mahogany and bright green eyes sparkle in a strong face with a kind smile.

“You promised you’d stop calling me that,” he says, thumping Micah on the back, then turning to me. “My God. Ivy Cole. You look wonderful. We’re all so glad you’re back.” He turns his attention to Nell, crouching down to greet her on her level. “I remember you! Miss Penelope Michaela Cole, lover of strawberry ice cream, right?”

“At your service!” She hits him with finger guns and a huge smile. “And you’re the stranger without danger.”

Nathan introduces us to his girlfriend, a sour woman named Blossom wearing a candy pink dress, her blonde hair styled and sprayed within an inch of its life. She looks at me the way the girls at school did before Dad enrolled me online, a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, a scan of my face, my body, my hair, my daughter, the curl of her lip a clear indication I don’t measure up.

“It’s so good to meet you,” she exclaims in a voice that says it most certainly isn’t, then grabs Nathan’s arm and hangs from him like an anchor. “Nathan and I were in the middle of a discussion though, so if you don’t mind, we’ll catch up with you later?”

Or never, says her practiced grin.

Nathan frowns, then sighs and hits Micah with an apologetic smile. “Blossom has two girls a little older than Nell. Maybe they can play?”

Blossom wrinkles her nose. “I think my girls might be a little mature for her.” She turns her back to us, not so subtly signaling our part in the conversation has ended.

Micah leads us deeper into the house, glances over his shoulder to make sure we’re out of earshot, then bends down to whisper, “Her girls are anything but mature. They might be the meanest, nastiest, most entitled human beings on the planet.”

“Surely they’re not that bad,” I begin, but a shriek interrupts me, followed by frantic splashing and a wail of indignation. A little girl around ten or eleven stands at the edge of the pool, her hands on her hips, her perfectly curled hair spiraling down her back as she stares haughtily at her sister, drenched and struggling in the water with a voluminous dress floating around her.

“I’m gonna kill you!” yells the sister in the pool, spitting water and losing any sympathy her predicament earned her. “You stupid, jealous, bratty idiot!”

“Jealous? Like I have a reason to be jealous of you!”

“Cathlynn! Carabell!” Blossom appears out of nowhere, takes a few steps toward the pool, then gestures for Nathan to solve the problem.

“I stand corrected,” I say to Micah while Nell stares, eyes wide.

“The girly girls are always the scariest,” she whispers, shaking her head

Before long, we’re surrounded by Huttons, most of the faces familiar, though kissed with age and experience. Micah’s mom takes Nell by the hand and leads her over to the treats, leaving me to catch up with his cousins.

“So, this is the Ivy Cole,” says Angela’s husband, Garrett. He’s dark and imposing, though he obviously loves Angel very much. Which is easy to do. She’s as sweet as sunshine and just as bright.

“Here I am.” I laugh nervously, wondering what’s been said about me that even this new addition knows my name before we’ve been introduced.

Micah’s brother, Levi, wraps me in a hug and their cousin, Nick, looks like a movie star in his dress blues, broad shoulders, and dark, cropped hair.

“There he is. The whole reason for this shindig,” says Micah, thumping Nick on the back. “The man who goes on so many Marine intelligence ops that the family throws a party every time he comes home.”

A woman I don’t know joins the group. She has dark, curly hair and one of those faces you instantly like. “Hi!” she says brightly, extending her hand. “I’m Garrett’s sister, Charlie. I’d like to think I’m the reason for the party, since my visit just happens to coincide with Nick’s, but it’s probably safe to say it’s a coincidence.” She glances toward Nick, blushing and dropping her gaze as they make accidental eye contact.

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