Page 8 of Unsaid Things
Lance’s tone held a wry edge as he said, “I don’t remember you appreciating it when I did that to your boyfriends.”
Propping herself on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, Marissa picked up her glass of water, laughing some more. “Okay, fine. Point made.” She refocused on Abby. “I’m glad to meet you, Abby. And I’m looking forward to getting to know you while y’all are here. I have to work the next two days, but we should do something in the evening.”
“Yes!” That was Gabby. “I told her we should have a girls’ night. You, me, and her. We can go to your apartment and watch movies and give each other makeovers and stuff. It’ll be so much fun!” Gabby clapped her hands together.
Marissa’s smile grew wider, and she looked from her little sister to Abby. “Sounds like Gabby’s got it all planned out for us. What do you say?”
Abby glanced back up at Lance again, who gave her an encouraging smile. She looked between Gabby’s hopeful expression and Marissa’s open one, both waiting for her answer. “Um, sure. That sounds good.”
Gabby clapped again and bounced in her seat. “It’ll be so much fun, Abby! Marissa has a great movie selection and the best makeup. When should we do it?”
“Maybe Tuesday night?” Abby focused on Marissa. “That way we won’t be keeping you up late before you have to go to work.”
Elizabeth cut in. “Nope. We have Christmas Eve traditions Tuesday night.” She pointed at all of them with the knife she was using to chop vegetables for a salad. “You’ll all be here.”
Marissa held up her hands as though in surrender. “Yes, ma’am.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “Don’t you sass me, young lady.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mom.” Marissa turned back to Abby and Gabby. “We can do it tomorrow night. Or we can wait until after Christmas. It’s up to you two.”
“Let’s do it tomorrow,” Gabby blurted. “We can’t do it Wednesday, because Christmas, and Lance and Abby are leaving on Friday, so I doubt she’ll want to do it on Thursday. Is that okay?”
Marissa nodded and turned to Abby. “Sound okay to you?”
“Sounds great.”
“Yay!” Gabby could barely contain her excitement, while Abby was nervous. She barely knew these two, and now she’d be at Marissa’s apartment for an unknown amount of time without a car of her own to escape. But one look at the happiness on Lance’s face at the fact that she was hitting it off with his sisters made her nerves seem a small price to pay. He hadn’t ever said so, but she knew he wanted her to get along with his family.
Peter took that opportunity to offer his hand to Abby, his dark brown eyes amused in his handsome face. “Nice to meet you.”
Abby smiled. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Peter and Lance exchanged nods. “Good to see you again,” Peter said.
“You too. How’s the shop?”
“Good.”
Abby followed this exchange, a little confused now. “The shop? What shop?”
Lance glanced down at her. “My dad’s shop.”
“Oh, Peter works with your dad?”
Lance nodded.
“When this one didn’t come back like he was supposed to,” Peter gestured at Lance, “I got promoted to manager. I’ve been working there since Lance left to go to college. That’s actually how I met Marissa.”
“Oh.” Abby didn’t know what else to say.
Marissa leaned forward and set her hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I run the office, so Peter and I see each other all the time.” She rolled her eyes in mock-annoyance.
Peter wrapped his arm around her waist. “Aw, babe, you know you can’t get enough of me.” He kissed her on the cheek, then she turned her head for a kiss on the mouth.
Gabby spoke up. “Eew. Virgin eyes here. I don’t need to see all the PDA from my siblings, please and thank you.”
Lance laughed, and Marissa pulled back to look at her sister, but kept her arms wrapped around Peter. “Oh, please, Gabby. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“Your dad’ll be back in with the chicken in a few minutes,” Elizabeth broke in, “and we’ll be ready to eat. Gabby, take the plates to the dining room. Marissa, you take the silverware. Lance, you help me with the drinks.”
Lance detached himself from Abby and started pulling glasses out of the cabinet by the sink, setting them on the counter by the fridge. Abby looked around at the sudden eruption of activity. “Um, is there anything I can do?”
Elizabeth winked at her. “Nothing at all, dear. You’re a guest. Go find a seat in the dining room and relax.”
She met Peter’s eyes, who shrugged. “It’s like this every time I come over, too. You get used to it after a while. C’mon. Let’s go grab a seat.” Abby followed Peter into the formal dining room, preparing herself for her first Kane family dinner. She’d had dinner with Megan’s family a few times over the years, but those were always tense, awkward affairs. This would be something else altogether.
