Page 20 of The Apple Tree

“Will his parents be home?” Mom asked, placing the tuna noodle casserole onto the trivet in the middle of the table.

Why did that matter? Mom did a great job of shaming Sarah and me for wanting to do anything with friends on Sundays.

“I don’t know. Why?” Gabby curled her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ear on one side while scrunching her nose.

“If they have alcohol in the house, you could decide to drink,” I replied.

Mom eyed me with displeasure, and Grandma Bonnie snickered from the extra dining room chair beside the oak buffet; her hands busily crocheting. She wasn’t a churchgoer, but we picked her up every Sunday for dinner.

“I don’t drink. That’s your thing.” Gabby stuck her tongue out at me.

“Then you might decide to have sex,” I said.

“Eww, Ben’s my friend, not my boyfriend.”

“Yes. But Mom and Dad know that given the chance to have sex, their girls will have sex with anyone.”

“Eve!” Mom’s voice jumped an octave, and Gabby giggled.

“Amen, sister,” Grandma Bonnie added, earning a scowl from Mom.

“It’s true.” I nodded. “Last month, when I wasvolunteeringat the nursing home, I delivered some magazines to Milton Bean in his room, and I was tempted.”

“Eve Marie Jacobson,” Mom said slowly, but she couldn’t hide her grin.

Gabby covered her mouth and snorted.

“Rumor has it, Milton was quite the Casanova in his day. You could do worse, Eve,” Grandma Bonnie added with a straight face.

“Never let your father hear you talk like that,” Mom said, ignoring Grandma Bonnie’s commentary.

“Talk like what?” Dad asked, reaching the bottom of the stairs just as there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” I shot my dad an exaggerated smile as I passed him on my way to the door.

“Hey,” Kyle said, handing me a paper bag of apples. “Josh wants you to make him applesauce.”

I stepped aside. “Is that so?” I smiled at Josh.

They no longer wore matching suits, but I liked Kyle just as much in his jeans and white-collared shirt.

“Glad you could make it.” Dad ruffled Josh’s already messy hair.

“Thanks for the invitation, Peter,” Kyle said as I closed the door.

“I heard you met your team the other day.” Dad led them to the dining room.

“Yes. It was a preseason dinner to meet the players and their families.” Kyle pulled out a chair for Josh.

“I can’t see,” Josh complained with his head barely peeking over the top of the table.

“Eve, get the phonebook and a few other books for him to sit on.” Mom nodded to me.

I grabbed a stack of books and set them on the chair.

“Eve,” Dad scolded, removing the top book before Kyle lifted Josh onto the pile.

It was an old family Bible bigger than the dictionary and phonebook beneath it.

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