25
Starlee
There’s something about a devious plan that puts Katie in motion. If I have any questions about her superpower, they’re long gone. Everything is exactly as she wanted. The spiked eggnog, the three handsome rangers, and Sierra falling for it like a kid on Christmas morning.
Dexter, Jake, and I avoid one another until she’s good and occupied, her laughter echoing off the high, tin-plated ceilings.
“I hear you’re the one that had the idea for a party,” Gertie says. She’s a thin woman that looks like she knows her way around a car engine. It makes sense; she owns the gas station down the block.
“I thought it would be fun to see everyone.” I cast a sly glance at Dexter in the corner talking to Della from the diner. I’m not sure, but I think she’s trying to hustle his apple pie recipe from him. “You know, we all get so busy.”
Figures cross the yard and there’s no mistaking the identical forms approaching the porch. I fight every urge to run across the room and meet them at the door. “The twins came?” Gertie asks. “I sure do miss them. I hope everything’s okay with them back home.”
“Me too,” I say, already vibrating about having them all here at once. They look good, taller maybe, if that’s possible. George wears jeans and a blue sweater that makes his mega-watt smile seem brighter than normal. Charlie has on a hoodie and a flannel, layered up. His cheekbones hit the edge of his glasses and I think his face looks thinner—leaner, really. Not in a bad way. In a very, very sexy way, actually.
As my body reacts to just seeing them, I check on Sierra to make sure she’s not watching, but she’s holding a large glass of eggnog and engaged in a conversation with a man around her age with an unnaturally sharp jawline.
Katie walks by and I grab her by the arm. “Seriously, where did you find these guys? Some kind of hot ranger pin-up calendar or something?”
“There’s a certain breed that goes into the national park ranger program. Most are hippies with backpacks filled with Birkenstocks and granola bars. But then there’s this whole other group…” She smiles over at her boyfriend and he raises an eyebrow in return. “They’re just looking for some nature and adventure.”
They’re all too old for me and I have no interest anyway, but for Sierra, they are definitely the perfect distraction. “Thank you for inviting them.”
“I hate what’s going on with you all. Think of it as my Christmas gift.” She winks. “A group gift.”
I’ve never admitted to Katie that I have feelings for all the guys equally, but she seems to know and it doesn’t bother her. It’s one of the reasons she’s so easy to be around. She doesn’t judge.
I start to walk toward the twins and she grabs my arm. “I also left you all a little holiday treat in the back room. Don’t forget to check it out.”
I swallow at the suggestive twinkle in her eye but tuck that information away for later. The twins are surrounded by friends, including Tom who is shaking both their hands, and Leelee who immediately foists food on them. They’re not rude but I feel their eyes come back to me over and over again as I wait patiently for them to escape.
“It feels good to have them back here.” Dexter leans against the wall next to me.
“It does. I know they’re okay—they’re big guys and not the little kids they were when they came here—but it still makes me nervous.”
His fingertips discreetly brush against mine. “Do you think my sister is drunk enough for me to keep talking to you?”
“Drunk on hot guys and eggnog. Yep.”
“Those guys were your idea?” His forehead furrows. I’m not sure he likes seeing his sister hit on like this.
“Katie’s, but I approved. She needs to relax. That’s half her problem.”
“I’ve been wanting to come over here all night. Tell you how much I like that dress.”
I smooth the skirt of the red dress I’d found down at the thrift store in June Lake with my hands. It’s a little much. Glittery sequins cover the top and the skirt is short, but it was only ten dollars and seemed like the kind of festive outfit perfect for the night.
“Thank you.” Jake watches us from across the room and the boys finally break free from my grandmother and head our way. “I think it’s safe to socialize, don’t you?”
He nods and pushes off the wall. Right before the boys reach us, he leans in and says, “By the way, don’t forget what I said about the next person that kisses you.”
A shiver runs up my spine. Him. He’d made a promise and Dexter isn’t the type to renege.
That, along with everything else, makes me think tonight is going to be a very good night.
The problem with being in the same room as the wayward sons and a bunch of other people isn’t so much sharing them—I’m happy everyone is mingling and socializing—it’s my body’s hyperawareness of them. Keeping track of one boy is distracting enough. Four? I feel like live wires of electrical currents are racing through my system.
As the night progresses, though, the adults settle into their own social circles, sitting around tables sharing food and drink. Sierra and Katie are lost in their own conversation, the men around them engaged and focused.