Page 29 of Ravenous

“At the wedding before that, the groom dropped the ring into a flower arrangement. He and the priest had to dig around for almost five minutes.”

“Did they find it?”

“Yeah, but it wasverydirty. And at the reception one of the ushers got so drunk he started to do a striptease in the middle of the dance floor.”

Joe went from giggling to all-out cackling, wiping tears from his eyes. “How far did he get?”

“Well, Marci - our maitre d’ - stopped him before his pants came off. She’s small but she has vampire strength. It’s kind of scary.” He wasn’t lying. Marci was barely five foot two and he’d seen her handle men twice her size without batting an eye more times than he could count.

“Is she the one you’ve been grinning over?” His uncle winked and Finn scowled at him.

“No. Not in any way. We didn’t get along at first but now we have an agreement. I give her respect and she doesn’t push me down the stairs.” But arson was still on the table because she came close to setting him on fire a few weeks ago, clicking a barbecue lighter in his ear as he and Dylan moved tables for the Viennese hour.

“I think I like her.” Joe shifted again, even more slowly this time, taking a while to get the chair pushed back into a more comfortable position. It was clear he couldn’t get around as easily as he used to and his sluggish movements wrapped an icy hand around Finn’s heart.

He knew that getting his uncle to leave was a huge ask, for the place had been Joe’s for over forty-five years; however, he worried about his uncle staying by himself. Joe was on a mix of medications and not getting any younger.

With a sigh, Finn figured he’d try one more time. “I know I keep bugging you about this but have you given any more thought to selling this place and maybe moving closer to me?”

“Not in any way,” Joe told him, his face full of nostalgia as he looked around him. Tucked away in a valley, the cabin was part of the forest that surrounded it, with ivy climbing up one outside wall to scale the chimney and a plethora of bushes and shrubs bordering the exterior, helping with the camouflage. The inside was just as charming, with high ceilings and beams lying above the open floor plan. Rugged salvaged furniture created a pathway, a flow, and each piece held a story, much like the photos on the walls; between old guitars and framed T-shirts were pictures of Joe with his old bands, Finn throughout the years, and many of Sadie.

“But you are my only family and I want to take care of you.”

“I don’t need looking after. I’m not a toddler, Nephewson.” Joe pursed his lips. “And I’m not youronlyfamily.”

“You’re the only family that matters.” Finn shrugged, knowing that there was no point in trying further. But he did need to visit more often.

“Well, since we’re already halfway there.” Joe put his bowl down and Finn knew he was going to bring up something - or someone - unpleasant. “Would you consider speaking to your father?”

“No. I have nothing to say to him.” Finn took a long pull from his beer.

“But Ron emailed this week. Says it’s important.”

“Did he tell you what it was?” Finn had to admit that his curiosity was piqued but his disgust and anger were stronger.

“No, he said he wants to talk to you first.”

Frowning, Finn shook his head. “He’s playing games. If it was really important then he’d tell you too. He’s just trying to get back into my life and I know I’ve said this before but it’s too little too late.”

“I respect your decision. I don’t agree with it,” Joe pointed his lighter at Finn, “but I respect it. Just let me say this. It might be good for you to air things out with him.”

“I don’t have anything to air out. I don’t even know him.” Finn wasn’t wrong. He’d only seen his biological father a handful of times.

“But you could,” Joe pressed.

“I could also go skydiving but I’m not doing that either.” Finn took another long sip from his beer. “You and Opie are the only family I need.” That wasn’t really true. When he was younger Finn dreamed of having a big family, with parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, and nephews all gathered around a large table during the holidays, along with friends, actualgoodfriends, their happy chatter filling the room. But it wasn’t in the cards for him. He’d made peace with that a long time ago, for he was blessed in other ways. He had his health, a good job, a best friend that doubled as a brother, the best uncledad, and maybe soon he’d have Ollie too.

9

OLLIE

“Howaboutafamilypicture before dinner?” Ollie’s dad held up his phone, wiggling it, and everyone groaned.

“I’ll be the official photographer,” Ollie declared, snatching the phone out of his father’s hand, tapping the camera open, and changing the settings. “No offense, Dad, but the last pic you sent me had half your head in it.”

“It was a look,” his father winked, ushering everyone toward the fireplace.

“It sure was.” Ollie tried not to roll his eyes as he rooted through his bag. “Let’s use the tripod I brought. I’ll set the timer on the camera to ten seconds.” As he fiddled, placing the phone in the head mount, his family gathered in front of the fireplace next to the full and fluffy real tree. With a final adjustment, Ollie pressed the large white shutter button and darted over to them, squeezing between his two sisters. Biz draped an arm over his shoulder and he froze, but then he remembered that he’d layered up. With a thermal shirt and two fluffy sweaters he should be sweltering, but the combination fought off his constant chill so he was feeling fine. Even his makeup was flawless. Using a combination of contour, highlighter, and blush, his face looked full and ruddy, not pale and gaunt, and his mother had even commented on how healthy he looked.

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