Page 46 of The Beach Shack Artists 3
Joey stopped folding. “Oh no. Was there yelling?”
“Worse,” Bea said. “There was... talking.”
“Talking,” Joey repeated.
Stella took a slow sip of her smoothie. “You know how Meg gets when she’s stressed? She made compound butter rosettes.”
“She what now?”
“Butter. Sculpted. Into flowers.” Stella held up her hands to demonstrate the absurdity. “For a family dinner where everyone was already mad at each other.”
Joey blinked. “That’s... intense.”
“They were lavender-infused,” Bea said flatly. “Like the situation wasn’t already fragile.”
“It was like watching someone throw a fancy party for people who hate each other,” Stella said.
“So what happened?” Joey asked.
“Well,” Bea said, “it started okay. Meg wanted everyone to ‘discuss where we are as a family.’”
“She had notes,” Stella added. “Actual printed notes. Like a business meeting.”
“I think there was a spreadsheet at one point,” Bea said. “Or at least the threat of one.”
“And then?” Joey prompted.
“Then Meg called Mom a diva,” Bea said.
Joey gasped. “She actually said that?”
“Which was true,” Stella added. “But probably not smart to say out loud.”
“And Mom said Meg was a control freak,” Bea continued.
“Which was also true,” Stella said. “And also not smart.”
Joey sat back, whistling low. “Honestly? I’m impressed. Most families just passive-aggressively avoid each other until the holidays.”
Joey whistled. “Did anyone throw food?”
“No, but Margo stood up and walked out,” Bea said.
“She just... left?” Joey asked.
“Put her napkin down really slow and said something about them being better artists than adults,” Stella said. “It was brutal.”
Joey winced. “Ouch.”
“Then Tyler tried to fix it by saying they were all just ‘passionate people’ and Mom started crying and Meg started opening wine bottles like she was putting out fires.”
“Luke looked like he wanted to disappear,” Stella added.
Joey slowly folded another napkin. “So... did anyone actually figure anything out?”
“If by ‘figure out’ you mean ‘everyone left still pissed off,’ then yeah,” Bea said.
“They didn’t even fake hug goodbye,” Stella confirmed. “Just grabbed their stuff and bounced.”
