Page 12 of Kiss My Glass
Ava smiles and pats me on the arm. I try not to flinch.
“I already trained you to do that years ago,” she says. And heads past me to the house.
Goddammit. I walked right into that one.
Cam’s finally made it across the gravel. He was a soldier, served in Afghanistan, and he’s a big unit, a head taller than me and Nate, and built like the kind of tree he makes barrels from. Despite it being high summer, he has on his usual plaid flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up, and old work-roughened jeans. I suddenly become a little self-conscious of my sage green polo shirt and chinos. Told you I should be wearing overalls.
“Hi, Cam. Good to see you again.”
As well as being the slowest human in existence, Cam’s also the least verbal. He lifts his chin in response. Could mean, “You, too.” Could mean, “Still haven’t forgiven you for teaming up with Jackson Armstrong last year and roasting me about my love life.”
I give it a fifty/fifty shot. Nate was teasing him that night, too, and Cam and Nate are best buds now. Nate’s probably closer to him than he is to me.
“Danny.”
Speaking of. My beloved bro appears, to summon me curtly from the house. Ava’s right: Nate’s in stress mode, which makes him extra impatient and officious. I breathe in some more fresh air, so I can deal with Nate being overbearing, Ava looking for every opportunity to goad me, Cam possibly plotting retribution, and Frankie being … distracting.
I could, you know, stop thinking about her in terms of competition. I could offer to collaborate, work with her. That way I could keep the promise of good behavior I made to Shelby and Nate. It would bring Frankie and me closer, and who knows where that might lead?
Or I could accept that I’m a Durant and we’d sacrifice vital body parts before conceding defeat.
I square my shoulders and walk back inside.
ChapterNine
FRANKIE
So, this is Ava Durant, the sister in between Nate and Danny. As I said, she and I have had limited interaction thus far, but given what I’ve heard about her, I have a feeling we’ll get on like a house on fire – or a nuclear power plant exploding. She’s sitting opposite, giving me the kind of stare I could take offense at, except that there’s no judgment in her expression, only curiosity and anticipation, like she can’t wait to see what I’m made of, too.
Cam ambles into the kitchen at his usual leisurely pace and smiles at me. I’ve known Cam since I was fourteen and have watched him evolve from borderline-feral drifter to settled, skilled craftsman. Ava is the first serious relationship he’s had in all that time. Well, apart from my mom. I don’t believe that they did the actual wild thing, but they were very close. Dad never minded because, like I said, he had an iron-clad sense of self-worth, which allowed him to be generous and forgiving. Ididmind, but by then, I was used to being overlooked. Although Cam has never done anything intentionally to hurt me, wouldn’t be capable of it, I still have mixed feelings about him. He knows nothing of this and never will. So, I smile back.
“Hey, Cam,” I say. “How’s the new place?”
This is another story. Cam and Ava rent a cute bungalow on a decent-sized piece of land outside of Verity. The house used to be owned by my late aunt, Debra, my mom’s half-sister. Debra was adopted out when my grandmother was very young, and she and Mom didn’t know the other existed until last year. By the time the two reconnected, Debra was dying of cancer. I got to meet her only once, at the hospice, where she laid out her plans for her will. Having no immediate family of her own, she left us four Armstrong siblings fifty-thousand dollars each, and her house, for us to keep or sell as we wished. My brothers and I had no plans then to return home, so we agreed to rent it to Cam. The tiny house he built beside the workshop had room only for one, and he and Ava were an item by then, so it seemed a good solution: house got cared for and we got to share in a little rental income. I’m practical first, and emotional second, so I could put aside any ambivalence I have regarding Cam. I mean, he’s not shacking up with my mom, is he? That would be a whole different basket of snakes.
“House is great,” says Cam, in his usual fulsome manner.
“Come and visit,” Ava says to me. It sounds more like an order than an invitation. “You too, Danny,” she adds, as her brother finally joins us at the table. “Come and witness me being all cozy and domestic.”
Danny gazes at her aghast. “Doesn’t that breach some law of the universe? Like dividing by zero?”
“Ava’s asked for Mom’s jelly recipes,” says Shelby. “Their garden has a lot of fruit.”
“Jesus.” Now Nate looks aghast. “Have you alerted emergency services?”
“I remember when Ava made a volcano for school science class,” says Danny. “The kitchen counter had to be completely replaced.”
Ava grins, happily. She’s obviously impervious to insults. No doubt because she knows she can dish them out better than anyone. And if that doesn’t work, she’s always got snake bite arm burns to fall back on.
She smacks the tabletop.
“Let’s get on with this meeting, people,” she says. “I have things to do, surfaces to scorch.”
Nate looks to me. I have a notebook and my trusty fountain pen. I’m ready.
“Right,” I begin. “The purpose of this meeting is to figure out how we can all work together without killing each other, so that Shelby can have a restful last six weeks of pregnancy, and Nate can feel confident that the business won’t implode the instant he takes his hands off the reins. Is that a fair summary?”
“Except that Nate’s hands will be cold and dead before they loosen their grip,” says Danny.
