Page 20 of Holidating
I guess I can’t put it off any longer. “Well, first I’d like to say that I understand why you didn't fill me in on the whole Price situation ahead of time."
"Because it's weird and embarrassing?"
"Yeah. My situation is pretty bonkers. But there's no way that you're not going to notice. So I'll just come out and tell you that my mother left my father for..." I take a deep breath.
"A woman!" Abbi guesses.
"No way." I snort. “That would have been so much better, seeing as my dad doesn’t have any sisters."
Abbi is silent for a second, and I can practically hear the cogs turning in her brain. “Wait,” she gasps a moment later. Her voice is hushed, like she's afraid to voice this suspicion aloud. “She left your father for his... "
“Brother,” I say heavily. "My uncle Jerry is now my stepfather."
Abbi clutches her chest. “Holy crap. That's some serious drama.How did it happen? Wait—never mind. I don’t really need to know. But was this recently?”
“Four years ago my uncle got into a serious snowmobiling accident. He was always the wild man of the family. My dad is a nerdy architect, a studious kind of guy, right? And Uncle Jerry is a mixologist, a ski bum, and gave me my first hit off a bong.”
“I hope you weren’t five years old,” Abbi grumbles.
“Nah.” I laugh. “I was in high school. But anyway—he gets into this accident—which was his fault, by the way—and he had all these broken bones and three surgeries. My mom is a physical therapist, and he needed a lot of help. So she took him on as a pro bono patient. His rehab took months.”
“Oh.” Abbi sits with that for a moment. “And they spent a lot of time together.”
“Yup. They didn’t just jump into the sack. Apparently they tried to be very civilized about the whole thing. One night my mother just turns to my father in bed and says,Mickey, I need a divorce. I’ve fallen out of love with you and in love with someone else.”
Just saying this out loud makes me want to shudder for my poor dad. “He had a whole life with my Mom, and she just torched it because Jerry was—quote—more fun and life-affirming.”
“Ouch,” Abbi whispers.
“Ouch,” I agree.
“I can’t even imagine what that did to your family. Did your dad and his brother get along before that?”
“Not really. My dad was the serious one and Jerry was the screwup. They’re five years apart in age, too, so Mom left him for a younger man. Now Jerry and my mom live in the house where I grew up. Jerry basically just moved into my dad’s bedroom.”
Abbi groans. “No wonder your dad is a wreck.”
“Yeah.” Not that he’s dealing with it very well. He moved out more than two years ago, and he’s still boiling with anger. When my sister suggested he go to therapy, he flat-out refused.
“Will they both be at this party tonight? Your, um, uncle and your mom?”
“You bet. Jerry would never miss a party. He probably invited half the upper valley. There will almost certainly be a special cocktailfor the occasion, and he’ll give a long speech about how the drink is perfect for my sister’s personality, or some shit. He likes the spotlight.”
“Okay,” she says gamely. “We’ll smile through it and make a point to drink something else.”
That was pretty much my plan too, and I shoot a grateful look toward the passenger seat.
“You’re very special, Weston. I never met a guy before who was his own cousin.”
I snort. “My family tree is twisted, that’s for sure.”
“Do you have grandparents?”
“Strangely enough—or not, depending on your viewpoint—my grandpa on my father’s side has gone a lot deafer since this whole thing went down. His way of dealing with the chaos is not to hear a lot of it. And never to wear his hearing aid. Can’t say I blame him.”
“Oh, that poor man,” Abbi says. “What a mess. No wonder you don’t like the holidays anymore.”
She’s right—I used toloveChristmas. But the holidays are just a chore now. On the stereo, the a cappella group is singing “Jingle Bells,” and I’m just not feeling it. “It’s like I’m numb to Christmas,” I mumble. “But Lauren would shoot me if I skipped this party. And so would Stevie—that’s my little brother. He’s eager to meet you.”
