Page 30 of The Singing Trees
She heard a tremor in his voice and stopped him by grabbing his arm. “I’m the one who is supposed to be anxious here.”
“What?” he said, looking at her like she was crazy. “You have nothing to worry about. You’re the best thing that’s ever walked through these doors. I just hope my parents behave.”
“If they don’t, I won’t hold it against you, okay?” She kissed him. “Not too much, at least.”
Thomas ushered her through the doors to the lobby, and Annalisa’s eyes went straight to the Christmas tree, which might have rivaled Rockefeller Center’s in size, though she’d never been to New York, to be sure. A sparkly gold star rested at the top. Her nerves turned to excitement. She was a sucker for Christmas.
Thomas seemed to know everyone, and they spent the first few minutes after having their coats checked making small talk with other members. Then he guided her into the dining room.
A man in a tux played “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” on a shiny black grand piano. A well-dressed and talkative crowd sucking down fancy cocktails with stirrers poking out of them packed the bar. In the dining area, candles twinkled in the center of each table, which were covered in bleached-white tablecloths. Beautiful garlands with bells and red ornaments hung from the walls. Pots spilling over with poinsettias rested under the windows that overlooked their own private cove. She saw one lone light out there on the water and wondered who would be crazy enough to go out in this cold.
“There she is,” a woman said, appearing from the crowd near the bar. She balanced a martini with two olives in her hand, and Annalisa saw an abundance of Thomas’s features in her. “After all this time. Where has Thomas been hiding you?”
“Hello, Mrs.Barnes, it’s so nice to meet you.” His mother seemed nice enough, a far cry from intimidating. Maybe this wasn’t going tobe too bad after all. Annalisa offered the gift. “I brought a panettonefrom my grandmother. It’s an Italian tradition during Christmastime.”
Mrs.Barnes took the box. “Please thank your grandmother for me. That’s very sweet.”
“Not too sweet, though,” Annalisa said. “Mynonnadoesn’t put a lot of sugar in hers.” She let out a nervous laugh.
Emma stood beside Mrs.Barnes in a long blue dress and said hello. Annalisa offered her best smile. “You look beautiful,” Annalisa said. “I hope you’re still up for coming over soon?” Then Annalisa shielded her mouth from Thomas and said for only Emma’s and Mrs.Barnes’s ears, “And to tell me all of Thomas’s secrets.”
Emma rewarded her with a grin. “That might take a few hours.”
Annalisa winked at her. “Then we’d better get started. How about right after Christmas, before school starts back up?”
“Sounds good.”
Mrs.Barnes smiled at their little tête-à-tête. “I’m so glad you two get along. Thomas isn’t always so lucky with his girlfriends.”
Emma turned to her mother. “That’s because they’re mostly ditzes.”
Bill Barnes was still wiping off a smile from an apparent joke with buddies when he left the bar and thrust out a hand to introduce himself. “Great to meet you. Welcome to the club.”
This is going to be easy,Annalisa thought, as she met his eyes and shook his hand.
He was dressed in nice slacks and a sweater with the logo of their country club. His thinning hair was combed creatively to cover up a bald spot. Thomas had told her his father could be charming, and he was right. Bill wasn’t as good looking as Thomas, but they shared the same confident smile, and he was comfortable making eye contact. Annalisa thanked him for having her, and he said it was his honor.
The early conversation was a breeze, and she and Thomas told the story of meeting each other at the museum and then reconnecting at the football game.
“Oh, I didn’t quite realize you were from Payton Mills,” Mrs.Barnes admitted. “For some reason, I thought you might be attending Weston.”
Annalisa side-eyed Thomas. He hadn’t told them?
“I thought I mentioned it,” Thomas said.
Mr.Barnes cleared his throat in apparent disappointment. “Not to us.”
As the pianist began to tease “White Christmas,” Annalisa pulled at the tablecloth dangling over her lap. “I’m a senior at Payton Mills.”
“Ah.” Elizabeth dabbed her lips with a napkin.
“The good ol’ Mills,” Mr.Barnes said sarcastically.
Saving the conversation from going downhill, Elizabeth—between giant gulps of her martini—told the story of how she had met Bill (to Annalisa it sounded more like a formal arrangement, but she laughed with the rest of them). Then Emma opened up (or, more accurately, poked her head out) and talked about the Stooges, whom she’d been listening to lately.
Annalisa felt wealthy—and slightly guilty, considering what her family might think of her in this moment—as she followed everyone at the table in ordering an appetizer and then a main course. She went for the seafood bisque and the haddock with asparagus.
Just as Annalisa wanted to whisper in Thomas’s ear that this wasn’t so bad, the conversation took a turn for the worse. It was as if they’d dispensed with the pleasantries, and now that food had been ordered, it was time to swipe the charade off the table.
