Page 3 of Love at First Slice
2.Abby
Change was inevitable. I knew that. In my heart of hearts, I understood.
But that didn’t mean it sucked any less.
Friendsgiving was going to be so different this year, and I couldn’t get myself to even try to fake it. Or try to see the good stuff. I was terrible when it came to change!
The one holiday I not only loved but loved to host had all gone to shit.
And why?Because Tabby got a boyfriend! Because Tabby’s way-too-big-heart was nice and invited her stupid, new-to-town boss to Friendsgiving! I knew I was being a brat. It wasn’t fair; Tabby had done the right thing. I just couldn’t wrap my head around just how different everything was going to be this year. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get myself to think about anything else as I chopped cabbage at my mom’s kitchen table.
At the same table where I had eaten dinner throughout my childhood.
Seriously, what is wrong with these two men? Can’t they just stay home alone one night of the year?Nope. Guess that wasn’t possible. I sighed.
My attention moved toward the huge window in my parents’ kitchen that faced the backyard that had been the background of my childhood. Mami had pulled all her veggies already and planted the bulbs that would brighten the planters she kept out there come spring. But right then and there, it looked as empty as I felt.
“Why do you look so grumpy?” My oldest sister, Connie’s, voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“What?” I turned to find my sister staring right at me. I had a feeling she’d been doing that for a long moment. Shit. I was so stuck in my head about my friends and the new plans, I’d forgotten she was sitting next to me shredding carrots for the escaveche my family liked to eat for Thanksgiving that went with the panes con pavo.
“You look grumpy,” she repeated slowly. My brows bunched, probably making it worse. “What’s up? Isn’t this your favorite time of year, Abundance?”
“Don’t call me that.” I swatted her, and Connie’s lips twitched.
“Okay, Abundancia!” she mocked, using my actual full name.
“Shut up, Concepción,” I argued in the same mocking tone, knowing I was going to win. I loved my parents, but they had given us the longest, worst names ever. Just ask my sister Prudencia, which translated to prudent, and our brother, Salvador. Though Sal’s name was a little easier.
“Fine!” she groaned. “We’re even.” She laughed then turned contemplative. “But seriously. You get to be free from all“—she waved around my mom’s kitchen, making my lips twitch—“this crazy mad house for Thanksgiving. What’s up?”
“I heard that,” my mom’s voice sounded from the living room.
“I didn’t whisper,” Connie smart-mouthed. I could practically hear our mom’s eyes roll. “You get a jail free cardfrom the family craziness… What’s up? Why do you look like that? Is it work?” The concern was clear in her voice. As the oldest of four, Connie had always been a caretaker-slash-third parent to us. Even now, when I was closer to thirty, she was still worrying.
“No. Work’s fine,” I muttered. I loved my job at the ski resort.
“Okay, so if it’s not work, is it money?”
“I’m good.”
“You sure? I have some?—“
“Geez, Con, I’m good, but thanks.” That was my sister. We could always count on her.
“The girls?” she asked, and I was about to say no but stayed quiet.
“Tabitha has a boyfriend,” I shared, my voice quieter than usual.
“I saw.” She smiled. “They came into the diner,” she shared. “She introduced him to me.” She worked as a cook there. “He’s a good-looking guy. Older than I would have expected her to be with, but they looked good together.”
“Hmm.” I grunted.
“I like the way he looks at her.” That made me look back in her direction. “He looks at her like she made all the stars shine with her smile.” Connie wasn’t wrong. Brew and Tabby were definitely sickeningly in love.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “They met at the masquerade party.” I reached for a napkin from the middle of the table.
“Damn. I should have gone to that! Everyone I’ve talked to said it was amazing.”
