Falling for My Ex's Uncle novel · Chapter 31 of 32

Chapter 31: Christmas

"Yes," I said. "On one condition."

"Name it."

"Lorrie comes. I'm not sitting at that table without a witness."

"I heard that!" Lorrie yelled from the picnic table. "I'm bringing a casserole! It's going to be aggressive!"

On Christmas Day it snowed.

Ward Parkway looked like a card, all stone and ivy and white lawns.

Wick parked at the curb where he'd parked in May.

He sat with his hands on the wheel and didn't move.

"You can still not go," I said.

"I know."

"I'll eat the casserole in the truck with you."

"It's a green bean casserole with three cans of fried onions on it," Lorrie said from the back seat. "Nobody's eating it in a truck. It's a centerpiece."

Wick laughed.

Then he got out of the truck.

Brice opened the door before we knocked.

He was wearing an apron that said KISS THE PITMASTER, and he'd tied it wrong, so it hung off him sideways.

"I know," he said, looking down at it. "It was the only one in the drawer."

"Take it off," Lorrie said. "It's cursed."

He took it off.

The house was half empty.

There were pale squares on the walls where paintings had been, and boxes stacked in the front room with Hal's name on them in marker.

Hal was living in a hotel downtown, out on bail, with a monitor on his ankle.

Nobody said his name all day.

The dining table was still set for twelve.

Brice had taken away eight of the plates.

"I cooked," he said.

Lorrie and I looked at each other.

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