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“How many fights have you had to break up?”

“A fair amount. We have a regular who’s a Raiders fan, and the guy loves being vocal about it—almost like hewantssomeone to deck him. So, yeah, I’ve had to break up my fair share of bar fights but, overall, people are pretty chill—and most of ‘em are united in their Denver love. It probably helps that anyone who knows me knows I won’t mess around. If they throw a punch, they’re out of my bar. It’s that simple. Customers need to feel like they can relax and not worry about other people getting in their face, no matter whose team they like.”

“Well, there’s a couple of games on the television later if you want to watch with me. Otherwise, the old lady’s gonna rope you into playing games.”

“Speaking of,” my mom said, cutting though my siblings’ chatter, “Did you guys see what Hayley got us for Christmas?”

“Youpeeked?”

My mother gave me a sly glance, as if asking why I’d expect anything otherwise. “She brought us a board game, so we’ll definitely have to play that today. Oh, and was that a jug of apple cider?”

“Yeah. That was from Wolf.”

He nodded. “Homemade.” I’d never seen the man so quiet, but it was only when my mom tried to engage him in conversation. And to think we were just getting started.

“We’ll have to have that with dessert.” Mom winked at Wolf, reminding me of her inappropriate comment earlier. “If it’s all right with you, Hay-Hay, we won’t open presents. We’ll just send you home with what we got for you.”

“You guys didn’t have to get me anything, mom.”

“We just got you a couple of things we thought you could use. But we opened presents last night, so you can just open yours back at home—unless youwantto open them here.”

And be ogled and expected to comment on how much I loved those gifts? No, thanks—I’d take the out my mother gave me. Before she changed her mind, I switched subjects. “Hey, mom, I’ve been meaning to ask: how did your first semester of classes go?” At that moment, it dawned on me that she was going to the very same school Ashley was, which brought up so many more questions I wouldn’t be able to ask.

“It didn’t work out.”

Meaning my mom had already flitted to the next thing. I guessed it had worked out for Ashley then.

But she had more to say, making me realize I’d stirred up something. “I had a midterm in my history class, but before I went there, I was in the financial aid office, asking what was going on with the money I was supposed to get. They said something about it not going through and, by the time I was done with them, I was late getting to my midterm. And the professor just kind of chewed me out in front of everybodyduring the exam. It was really humiliating—and I decided right then and there that I didn’t need that bullshit. I’m not a kid. I get that I was late. And I still could have taken the midterm even if I wasn’t able to finish it in the time I had. But he wouldn’t listen to me and just told me to leave. He wasn’t going to accept the reason why I was late. So then I knew if I was going to fail the midterm, I would fail that class. And, after all that, it just wasn’t worth it, especially if I didn’t have my money.”

Although my mom was glancing at her plate as she cut off a bite of turkey, I didn’t dare look at Wolf. I so wanted to raise my eyebrows at him or something, just to communicate that my mother wasn’t the typical mom. But he already knew, and maybe I didn’t need to humiliate her any more than she had been.

Still…I felt bad for asking. “Sorry to hear that, mom.”

“Did you hear that Derek’s coach talked to him about maybe being a co-captain of the football team next year?”

“Seriously? Congratulations, baby bro!”

Derek smiled and nodded, but mom wasn’t about to let him get a word in edgewise. “Yep, and he might be able to get a scholarship out of it—to Otero College if nowhere else.” Shifting her eyes from me to my brother, she said, “But be sure you avoid Professor Hill, ‘cause he’s an ass.”

That was typical of my mom—always the victim. Although the man hadn’t needed to be so rude, my mother should have known not to be late for a test that sounded so important. And, for all I knew, mom had left out important details, like bustling in the room and creating a scene, disrupting other students.

I also wanted to tell my brother that, if he got a scholarship offer for anywhereotherthan Otero, he should snatch it up without another thought. Because, otherwise, he’d be stuck here with our mother. Ashley, at least, had an out because if she stayed with Luca, he’d need to go to medical school somewhereelse—and hopefully she’d go with him. If she stuck with nursing, she’d be able to get a job anywhere she wanted.

I only knew I was healthier and maybe happier at my position outside my mother’s orbit.

Derek maybe wasn’t so damaged, although I knew he’d had a couple of run ins with the cops on occasion, but I remembered how mean Jeff had been to Ashley, teasing and picking on her. I would have gladly taken bullying from him to protect my little sister…but, instead, he’d had other plans for me. Derek was lucky enough to have never met his dad.

So maybe my little brother would be okay sticking close to home if he chose that, but I hoped he would get a scholarship to one of the four-year universities in Colorado where he could also get a good education too.

At least my siblings had had the benefit of a roof over their head with their family their whole lives.

But the only thing I had to say was something that I knew wouldn’t stir up trouble. “Good luck, Derek. I know you love football.”

“I lovesports. I’m on the basketball team right now—and I’ll be on the baseball team in the spring.”

“So maybe you could get a scholarship for any one of those sports.”

“Yeah!”

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