Page 60 of A Taste of Chardonnay

Call Mom to make sure she put the turkey in the oven. (Check)

Peel the potatoes (Did that last night, and they were in the fridge in a pot of water)

Make the cranberry sauce (Check, and it was currently reheating)

Check with Nero to make sure he was stocking the wine cellar (Check)

Make the stuffing (Mom was doing that now)

Prepare the vegetables ahead of time (Check, and they were in the oven now)

Invite Brady (Check, but he didn’t confirm)

I glanced at the door, waiting for Brady to walk through. I had no idea why I was holding onto hope. Maybe because I thought our circumstances had changed. Maybe he’d want to see me. But I was being selfish. Holidays reminded Brady of everything he didn’t have, everything he’d missed out on.

A Nerf bullet flew across my face and landed in the bowl of mashed potatoes. Mom sighed and fished it out, holding it between her fingers. Wyatt hurried over, taking it from her grasp.

“Sorry about that, Ma’am.”

“Wash the potatoes off before you shoot it again, please.”

“You got it!” He went right to the sink and cleaned it before running to the living room, shooting Rose right between the eyes.

“Hey! No head shots,” Rose exclaimed.

Wyatt held his hands up. “Babe, I’m so sorry.” He moved toward her, gun hanging from his finger, hands still in the air. “Can you forgive me?”

A smile cracked at the corner of her mouth, and Wyatt was in trouble, though he knew Rose enough to know that. Before he could protect his face, Rose unloaded her Nerf gun. The blue orange tipped foam bullets fell to the floor, and Wyatt’s mouth widened into an O. Mock shock spread across his face, and Rose covered her mouth as a giggle slipped free.

Wyatt lunged, Rose squeaked, and Mom sighed. “Watch the glasses! If you spill wine on my carpet…”

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