Page 32 of The Art of Loving Ellie
He steps away from Theo and gestures to me. “Theo, this is Ellie.”
I offer my hand for him to shake, and giving me a sheepish smile, he places his hand in mine giving it a squeeze. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Come on, let’s go see if Mom needs help upstairs.”
Sometime between when we arrived, and when we went downstairs, Uncle Troy snuck his way into the festivities, and a huge smile spreads across my face at the sight of him.
“Hey, hey young lady!” he raucously calls to me from across the kitchen. “Fancy seeing you here.” Troy makes his way over to us and hangs an arm over each of our shoulders pulling us closer. He nods his head to Tyler, and whistles, “Keep a hold of this one, eh?” He slaps us on our backs and walks back over to where I can see he’s begun carving the turkey, and a blush lightly touches my cheeks.
The sound of the front door slamming has me turning around to see a tall man with straight brown hair kicking snow off his boots. We make eye contact and I see a spark of excitement light his hazel brown eyes.
He’s a little out of breath when he walks over to introduce himself. “Hi there, you must be Elizabeth.”
“Ellie,” I say, gently correcting him and giving him a polite smile.
“Oh yes, sorry, Ellie. Name's Joe. It’s nice to meet you, sweetheart.” He shakes my hand and his voice is soft and pleasant. I can hear a little bit of his accent when he speaks, but I’m curious. Where is the high-spirited man Tyler had previously described to me?
“Hon’! Did you fix the car?” Terri yells from the kitchen with her hands deep in a dish of something that’s making an odd squishing noise.
“Dammit, woman, I told you I would fix it! Leave me alone!” He shakes his head laughing at Tyler, who smiles back, seeming to share a joke with his father.
I take a minute to glance around the kitchen at all of these people. Uncle Troy dances his way around the prepared dishes, picking pieces of food off each plate and eating it, while Tyler’s mother swats him and laughs with Theo. I can see where Tyler gets his adventurous spirit. It must have been a blessing to have grown up with so many people there to support him through his life.
The space in the kitchen is a little tight with all of us here, but the Mitchell’s don’t miss a beat. His mom delegates orders to everyone, myself included, and before long we are all lined around several covered card tables that have been pushed together to fit everybody.
“Grab a hand, everyone!” Joe announces, and begins a prayer, “Lord, we thank you for your presence in this room today. Thank you for my beautiful family, and our lovely guest, Ellie. May you continue to bless each of our lives, and give us the strength to pull through when life becomes difficult, Amen.” My heart softens as everyone resounds an ‘Amen’ back, and it’s time to dig in.
Tyler takes the empty plate out of my hand and starts piling food onto it for me. I look up to see him smiling to himself and I bump his hip playfully. When I glance across the table at his mother, I find her staring at us tenderly.
“So, Ellie,” she begins after we’ve all sat down, “does your family celebrate Thanksgiving?”
I freeze in my seat, not sure how forthcoming I should be about my familial struggles. “Well, to be honest, I don’t have anyone to celebrate with. I just returned from Texas, where I was visiting my aunt. She’s the only family that I have.” I don’t mention my parents, but I can feel everyone’s questioning stare making my face hot.
His dad chimes in, “Even more reason why we are happy to have you!” Tyler squeezes my leg under the table encouragingly as his father inquiries about my job. “Tyler says that you two work in the same building and that you’re working for a local artist?”
I nod my head, hurrying to scarf down the turkey I had just shoved into my mouth. Tyler quietly chuckles at my panic. “Yes, I’m an assistant to Alexandre Bernard.”
Uncle Troy drops his fork in surprise, and I laugh a little. “I help his other assistant run the events he puts on throughout the year, and I keep his personal gallery in check.” I intentionally skip over what I'm really supposed to be doing there. “He’s a great guy, and I’m lucky to be working for him.” I smile fondly, thinking of my friend. Things are a little rocky right now, but if I ever truly needed anything, I know Alex would be there for me in a heartbeat.
“That’s amazing! Are you an artist yourself?” The question comes from his mother, but beside me, I notice Tyler oddly tense up. Everyone waits for me to answer the question, and I find it difficult to lie to them—especially after the kindness they have all given me today.
“I wouldn’t say that.” I nervously pick at my nails under the table, evading the truth. “I’m not cut out for the art industry.” I feel a headache coming on as I remember the lily fiasco from a few nights ago.
Gramps scoots his chair back from the table, gingerly making his way into the kitchen, and I focus on the next set of questions thrown my way. On and on they all grill me, albeit politely, and I notice Tyler grinning at me from the corner of my eye, seemingly impressed with how I’m handling his boisterous family.
It’s easy to enjoy the company of these people. The love and laughter surrounding us makes me feel like I’m already a part of the family, and as I look around at their smiling faces, there’s an unknown pressure building in my chest and I desperately try not to dwell on what it could mean.
Gramps makes his way back eventually, and moves behind me to pick something up. I’m in the middle of answering Theo’s question of who my all-time favorite rock band is, when Gramps interrupts, “I think you dropped this Ellie.” I turn around to see my napkin has somehow made it to the floor, and he’s holding it out to me.
“Oh, thank you—AHH!” I shout as he pulls the napkin back to reveal a small rubber snake, which he throws directly at my face. I decide at this moment that if I’m going to play this man’s game, I’ve got to play it right. I jump, falling out of my chair, pretending to faint. I’m lying on the ground half under the table and the room has suddenly fallen silent with shock.
My eyes are closed, but I hear a loud smack. “Oh, Charlie! What’s the matter with you, huh?” Terri’s accent springs to life as she continues to swat him with what sounds like a kitchen towel. Tyler kneels beside me, putting a hand on my hair and I quickly blink open an eye, giving him a wink. I hear his low chuckle as he keeps my secret, feigning irritation with his Grandpa.
“Gramps, what did I tell you about pulling tricks on her? Ellie has a heart condition!”
It’s hard to contain my laughter when I hear Uncle Troy say he’s going to call an ambulance at the same time that I feel the roughness of Gramps’ hand on my bicep.
“Ahhh!” I shout at him, jumping to life and scaring everyone around us. Tyler’s grandpa flies backward, falling on his butt with his eyes wide with shock.
