Page 20 of Next in Line
I point at my niece who smiles with a decidedly murdery smile. Zion’s face falls. “No fair…Kinsley is good at everything.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Every dog has his day, man. Don’t give up.”
The kids finish their cake and take off upstairs to where my mom has redecorated all our old childhood bedrooms into themed playrooms for the kids. Whenever we’re all here, they always play upstairs and make an epic mess. They love it.
“So Sammy, what are your birthday plans tonight?” Mom asks, slipping a forkful of white cake into her mouth.
“You’re looking at it,” I reply, lopping one more bite of cake off the cardboard tray.
Erin’s eyes narrow on me. “You’re not going out for your birthday?”
“Nah. What’s so special about thirty-one? It’s just one year closer to forty. Plus, I have some business proposals I need to finish for Uncle Terry. I want him to approve them before he takes off in six months.”
“Sammy,” my mom says in her scolding voice. “It’s your birthday. You should go do something fun. You work too hard.”
“I went ice fishing today. That was fun.” I shrug.
My sisters all look at me with sad eyes, but Tracey is the one who speaks up. “I hate how you ice fish alone all the time. And you’re alone in that log cabin you bought in the country, too. It’s depressing.”
“And a little pathetic,” Erin adds.
“You’re turning into a hermit,” Holly chimes in at the end. “Or one of those rural weirdos from Tracey’s murder podcasts.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “I like my acreage, and I like my cabin. People who live in town can be lonely and murdery too…it’s not the country that makes someone homicidal. And for your information, I wasn’t alone when I went ice fishing today, so get off my back!”
“You weren’t alone?” Mom asks, looking at me with fear in her eyes. “Who were you with? It wasn’thim,was it?”
“No,” I reply with an annoyed growl. “God, no. It wasn’t him…it was just a girl.”
“What girl?” Holly chirps.
“Just a chick who’s new to ice fishing and needed some help.”
“You took someone who wasn’t Dad out ice fishing?” Tracey asks, her jaw dropped.
“Yes,” I reply, my shoulders tensing at their overreaction. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“You never take anyone ice fishing,” Holly states, and I swear I can see the anger rising up to her eyeballs. “I’ve asked you to take me hundreds of times, and you always say no.”
“Well, it wasn’t a planned thing,” I argue and fork my last bite into my mouth. “It just sort of…happened…twice.”
“Twice?” my sisters all exclaim at once.
Just then the doorbell rings. In a flash, I splay my hands out on the table and push my chair back loudly. “Please, for the love of all things holy, let me get that.”
I hear my sisters gossiping behind me as I stride down the hallway to the front door. When I open it, I’m shocked to see Miles on the other side with a big, toothy smile. “Happy Birthday, dick stain.”
I squint against the setting sun behind him. “Thanks? What are you doing here, man?”
Miles punches me in the shoulder playfully. “You weren’t at your place, so I figured you were here. Come on, I’m taking you out.”
“Where’s Kate?” I ask, looking behind him at his empty truck.
“She’s saving us seats at Pearl Street Pub. We got a table.”
“Damn, I haven’t been there in forever,” I state, rubbing my jaw excitedly. Miles and I used to frequent the bar after work until I got busy with Tire Depot and he got busy with Kate.
“You’d better not even think about going there with someone else,” he retorts seriously. “I know I’ve been distracted, but Pearl Street Pub is our place, and I’ll fuck up anyone who tries to go there with you and take my place.”
