Page 7 of As a Last Resort
“What I’m doing is getting vegetables ready to throw on the grill before your father runs out of patience and burns the steaks.”
Dad never wanted to put the vegetables on first.Always thought they took up too much room and his steaks couldn’tbreatheproperly.
She handed me the knife.
“Fine, but no serious life questions.Deal?”
“Onlynotserious life questions allowed.Deal.”
“Hi, Mom!”Lexi strolled in with her fiancé, Rex, trailing behind her.My little sister entered a room the same way Mom did—a lively little ball buzzing with energy locked in a five-foot frame.You couldn’t help but be drawn in by her aura.They even looked alike, both with sandy blond hair reminiscent of Farrah Fawcett’s heyday, naturally windblown and all bouncy like it had huffed a helium balloon.
And Rex was the perfect Ken doll to her Barbie.He moved here to coach the Mariners, the Rock Island High School football team.When Lexi introduced him to the family, it was like Dad had won the lottery.Rex slid effortlessly into the role I’d failed to fill—the Marcs family legacy carried on, but by someone else.
And when Rex took them to the state championship his first season—didn’t matter that they lost.By the look on Dad’s face, you would’ve thought they won.It quieted the doubters, sure, but more than that, it eased Dad’s focus on me, at least for a little while, something I could never quite do on my own.
But I couldn’t ask for a better guy for Lexi.He’s a man of few words, but when it comes to her, he lights up.They met at Harpoon’s Oyster Bar when she was saving up for photography school.He asked her out, and she shot him down on the spot.She had a rule about never dating guys who hit on bartenders.But it was love at first sight for him.He wouldn’t take no for an answer, showing up every night just to order a Coke until she gave in.Then, three dates in, and she was smitten.He proposed after just a few months.Now, with the wedding a month away, all eyes are on me—the last one standing.
Which is ironic, since I was the first to get engaged.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Mom said warmly.“Would you mind chopping up the lettuce?Rex, go distract Bill out there.He’s fixing tostart taking apart my chairs and throwing the wood on the grill if we don’t put something on it soon.God forbid it sit there hot for a minute with nothing on it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”He winked at my sister on the way through the sliding glass door.
What’s up with people winking all the time?
“Did your dress come in?”Mom asked Lexi.
“Yep!I have to go in for the fitting this week.And I confirmed the hotel is completely blocked out.Patrick said he’d man the ferry Friday night with his cousin until all the guests are over.”Lexi faced me.“He promised me he wouldn’t run it into any icebergs.”
“Just a heads-up, he’s wearing a formal tux.”
“To the rehearsal dinner?”
I nodded.
“Of course he is,” she said with a chuckle.
I wiped my eyes with the back of my wrist.
“Oh no!Are you getting emotional about your baby sister getting married off?”she joked.
“Oh, stop, it’s the onions.And it’s about time you got off Dad’s payroll,” I replied.
“Right.The onions.”She smiled.“It’s seriously not a big deal.I could always ask Mallory to go with you if you need emotional support.”Mallory, a friend of my sister’s from high school, had a major crush on me that bordered on stalker level territory.My hands still sweat whenever I meet a Mallory.
“Are we going to eat tonight or tomorrow?”Dad walked through the slider and wrapped his arm around Mom’s waist.She playfully slammed the basket of vegetables into his stomach and told him to scoot along.
He did a double take when he caught sight of my eyes.“What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s the onions,” Mom, Lexi, and I all chimed simultaneously.
Mom steered him back out the slider to put on the vegetables.
“Mallory would be a fun date.”Mom’s attempt to steer the conversation back to my dating status was predictable.It wasn’t a matter ofifshe would bring it up at every family dinner night, it waswhen.
“Do you remember when she showed up on our doorstep with flowers?”I asked.
“I’m not opposed to a little role swap.”She definitely was.
