Page 35 of That One Heartbreak

The physical exertion from scrubbing it felt good. She needed it. To work off the excess energy she’d been feeling more and more every day.

“Are we grilling tonight?” Ethan asked as he walked through the kitchen door to the yard. He looked excited. He had a weird fascination with fire. And then that made her think of James’ party, and then of Marley bringing him home.

Ugh. She needed to stop thinking about him.

“Yes we are.” She nodded.

“Canyougrill?” Ethan asked her. “Didn’t Dad used to do it?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes, he did, but now I’m doing it.”

“Okay.” Ethan shrugged. “Want some help?”

“Sure.” She gave him a big smile. “First of all, we need to do the prep. Make the burgers, cut up some onion. Make some salad to go with it.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I meant with the grill.”

“I know you did. But there’s no grilling without food preparation.” And she was trying to raise boys who knew that a cookout didn’t start with lighting a fire. “Come on, I’ll show you. It’s fun, I promise.”

And itwasfun. They put on some music – Springsteen at his eighties finest – and Addy joined them, though she seemed to think food prep meant mostly eating the carrots that Kate was cutting up. Ethan washed the lettuce, and had a whale of a time spinning it around in the special bag to dry it, pretending he was about to throw a discus.

They were nearly ready to start the grill up when Shana knocked on the door. She was carrying some bottles of wine and cans of soda plus some sprinkled donuts she’d picked up from the local bakery, and Ethan and Addy threw themselves at her before she was even through the front door.

“Here, you take these,” Shana said when they finally let her go, passing the donuts to Addy. “And these are heavier,” Shana warned as Ethan took the cans of soda.

“Want me to take the wine too?” he asked Shana, a grin on his face.

“Nope. I’m keeping hold of these.” She strode into the kitchen where Kate was washing her hands. “Abba, I approve.”

“We had Springsteen on earlier. Decided to have a dance party while we prepped.”

Shana grinned. “I approve of that, too.” She grabbed two wine glasses from Kate’s cupboard.

“None for me yet. I’ll wait until after the grilling is done,” Kate said, because you didn’t marry a fireman and mess around when it came to barbecues.

“Ooh, we’re having a cookout?”

“Yep.”

“I should have brought ingredients for smores. Damn.” Shana wrinkled her nose.

“Next time,” Kate said firmly, aware that Ethan and Addy were getting more excited by the minute. “The donuts look perfect.”

“Where’s James?” Shana asked, as Kate started carrying the food out to the old table they’d set up on the back patio.

“Finishing his homework. He’ll be down in a minute.” Kate hunkered down to turn the propane back on. “Okay, everybody stand back.”

“Can I turn it on?” Ethan asked.

“No. Just wait. I’ll let you help me cook once the flames are ready.”

To her amazement he didn’t argue with her. Just nodded and watched her intently as she pressed the ignition and the burners came to life.

“Let’s get an apron on you,” she said to Ethan. “And some heat resistant gloves. And you have to promise to do exactly what I say when you’re near the grill, understand?”

“Of course.”

Shana and Addy started setting the table as Kate slowly showed Ethan how to slide each burger onto the long-handled turner, then slowly shake it so the patty set nicely on the rack over the hot flames. They did the first together, then he did the second on his own.

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