Page 111 of Resisting the Temptation
They studiously avoided looking at me until I broke the silence.
“Good to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Price.”
They didn’t return my greeting.
That’s fine, I don’t need to be fed fake niceties.
They walked away while Emma and I took off our shoes, and I heard Jane parrot the same sentiment as at dinner: “At least he’s a man.”
After that, Emma took me around the room and introduced me to probably thirty people I vaguely rememberseeing at the funeral. It would be difficult to remember everyone’s names if I bothered to learn them.
But I remember Hailey’s. Because she’s a bitch.
Hailey immediately asked me—after looking at me like I was shit on her shoe—what Emma did to lure me into a relationship.
Emma snapped at her to shut up.
Hailey told her to stop being so sensitive, then walked away.
Emma’s niece, Georgia, pulled her into a conversation and has been talking non-stop for fifteen minutes about her junior high school. I’ve been sitting silently next to her while the tween talks so fast I can’t keep up.
Emma, seemingly unconsciously, rests her hand on top of mine on my thigh while she listens intently to Georgia and asks her insightful questions. I can tell Georgia misses her aunt, and it hurts to know Emma’s missing out on a closer relationship with her.
Dirk interrupts the chatter around the room to announce it’s time for a prayer before we eat, and as he says it, I notice only a few people in the room bow their heads and close their eyes. Instead, they keep sneaking glances over at me or just making faces at their kids.
It makes me wonder if Emma isn’t as much of a black sheep as she thinks she is, or if she’s just held to a higher standard because she was raised to be a certain person and she hasn’t lived up to the standards placed on her.
After the prayer, everyone lines up and makes their way around the expansive kitchen island covered in food. Tonight’s menu is rice with some type of chicken gravy and a slew of toppings. There’s shredded cheese, carrots,lettuce, crispy chow mein noodle pieces, green onions, tomatoes, and… pineapple?
“What is this?” I whisper in Emma’s ear as we wait in line.
“Hawaiian haystacks. You put everything on top of the rice. You can mix it in, too, but it’s supposed to look like a haystack.”
“There’s no way this is actually Hawaiian.”
Emma shakes her head, and her eyes shine with amusement. “No. The pineapple makes it Hawaiian.”
“The—What?You can’t be serious.”
Emma bites her lip to suppress the grin at my outrage. “I wish I weren’t. It’s got to be some type of cultural appropriation for sure. I know it’s a strange combo, so if you don’t want to eat anything, we can get something after.”
I sigh. “I’ll try anything once. Even if it is cultural appropriation.”
Emma dishes up her plate first, and I notice she only puts the chicken gravy, cheese, carrots, and crispy noodles on her rice. From what I’ve gathered about the woman I’m probably in love with, she has an aversion to vegetables. She also probably doesn’t like the texture of the things mixed together, which I can’t blame her for.
I put a little bit of everything on mine. Might as well go big.
Once we’ve dished up, we pick a spot at one of the picnic tables set up in the large living room just off the kitchen. It’s currently empty, but I’m sure it’ll fill up soon. I just hope Hailey doesn’t try to sit here. I’d probably have to kick her in the shin.
Emma watches me as I scoop up a bit of everything onto the spoon and take my first bite.
Oh God, what the fuck?
I will give Jane credit where credit is due because the chicken is soft, and the rice isn’t crunchy, butholy shitis it bland. Emma really wasn’t kidding about pepper being considered spicy.
All the toppings mixed together shouldn’t work, but I guess they kind of do. It gives it some texture rather than it just beingmush.The flavors get drowned out by the blandest brown gravy I’ve ever had.
Emma must understand my reaction because she covers her mouth and fake coughs to cover the laugh trying to break free.
