Page 15 of Lyrical

“Baby.” She rolled her eyes, then walked away.

I took Chase’s hand. “Do you want to sit next to me?”

“Always.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, and I decided to rip out a play from his book. If things were smooth, I shouldn’t snowplow over it and blow it all to hell.

We went into the kitchen, where everyone congregated around the middle island except for Stephen. His arm was stuck in the fridge, pulling out drinks.

“Hey, sis.”

“Hi.” It was the first I’d acknowledged him since we’d arrived.

He lifted a bottle and I nodded. Then he did the same with Chase. I grabbed both, handing one over. “Thanks.”

“Want one, Daniel?” Stephen asked. I was about to lay into him when I remembered that he was old enough to drink now. Yeah, that’d take some getting used to.

“No, thanks.”

Daniel was over at the stove with Frank as he opened his gift. There was no doubt that it was food-related, so when he slid out a bottle of olive oil, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. It was perfect for him. I didn’t recognize the brand, but I’m sure Frank did.

“Mille grazie,” Frank said “Bellissimo. We can use this tonight.” He looked at me. “For the bread.”

I gave him a slight shrug. I loved to slather his fresh-baked bread with butter, and to him that was cringe-worthy.

“Prego,” Daniel replied.

“Yeah, yeah,” Perry said, “I’ll only ignore that because I have a present too.” She tilted it back and forth. “And it’s sloshy.” She peeled back the top of the box. “And I think I know what it is.” She smiled big, pulling out a bottle of Limoncello. “Yay. Thank you.”

“How’d you remember she likes that stuff?” I asked Daniel.

“He has a good memory,” Perry replied, kissing him on the cheek. “And he got me the extra sweet kind… awww.” She stuck it in the freezer. “If it gets really cold, we can make slushies.”

“Last one, Mom.” Daniel handed me a small bag and Chase shifted over, giving me space. “Careful, it’s fragile.”

“What about Stephen and your grandma?”

My mom showed me a box, lifting the lid to reveal a variety of citrus soaps. She loved all that stuff but never ended up using it because it was too pretty. I glanced at Stephen, and he held up a brilliant blue tie. I reached out and stroked it.Ooh, silk.

“That will be amazing with your eyes,” I said.

“I told Daniel he should use it for his Chicago interview Friday.”

“Chicago?” I turned towards Daniel. “You said Oak Creek.” We were talking a difference of ten minutes versus an hour or two, depending.

“That’s the one on Tuesday. I also have something downtown the next week. But the one on Friday is the big one.”

“You said you were staying in Milwaukee. Chicago’s too far.”

“You didn’t think it was that far when you were going to pick me up from the airport. Come on, Mom. Open your present so we can eat.”

Humph. I looked down, not sure how to feel. I didn’t want him moving away again, but I guess it really wasn’t that far. We could still see each other often enough.

I unraveled the several layers of protective wrap, revealing a kaleidoscope-colored ball. On closer inspection, I noticed it was an ornament. I held it up to the light, and all the colors swirled together.

“Whoa, cool,” Perry said. “It’s like that time when I was shrooming and—oof!”

I assumed Stephen just elbowed her in the ribs. I ran my fingers over the glass. It was beautiful.

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