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His driveway was packed with vehicles, including his brother’s truck. From outside, she could easily hear the banter and laughter coming from inside his home, and through the partially steamed windows, she could see a multitude of people passing throughout the house.
As she walked up her driveway, she noticed a boatload of young children noisily playing in his backyard. The dog howled and ran along with them.
Elizabeth entered her house. Her curiosity about the children playing caused her to spy on them through her sliding glass patio doors. They seemed easily amused, chasing each other around the yard, all six of them.
Every now and then, a beautiful, dark-haired, olive-skinned woman would step out onto the patio and address the kids. They would turn their attention to her and then continue on with their playing. Before she knew it, an hour had passed by, and she still stood staring out her patio doors.
This is ridiculous, why am I standing here watching these kids?
She spun on her heel and headed toward the master bathroom to shower. When she finished, she took a blow dryer to her unruly curls, applied some makeup, and slipped on a pair of navy dress pants, a cream colored, silk blouse, and medium-height, navy heels. Standing in her walk-in closet, she stared into the full-length mirror and wondered why she had elected to put on dress clothes on a day she wasn’t even planning to leave the house. Perhaps it was out of habit. As a child, her family’s holiday attire was formal, unlike how the children next door were dressed. They were wearing jeans and sweatshirts.
If not for the noise of the kids’ yelling and laughter, there would be total silence in her house, and silent holidays did not bring back good memories. With another glimpse of the children, she recalled how Max invited her over.
Elizabeth knocked on Joe’s front door. She glanced around, and transferred the wine bottles from one arm to the other. Upon second thought, she decided to try and slip away unnoticed.
Too late.
The beautiful woman with the long, wavy, jet black hair she’d seen outside earlier answered the door. “Can I help you?”
“Uhm, hi. I’m Elizabeth, I live next door.”
The woman smiled and opened the door for her to pass through. “Hello, I’m Joe’s sister, Angelina. Please, come in.”
The woman took Elizabeth’s coat and hung it in the entryway closet, and then led her through the living room where a bunch of men, including Nick, were watching football and yelling at the TV set.
They entered the kitchen as Joe leaned over the oven door to retrieve the humongous turkey from inside. He placed the bird on the stovetop and continued with the meal preparations, his back to them.
Angelina cleared her throat. “Joe, Elizabeth is here.”
Joe stood silent and still for a moment, causing Elizabeth to again second guess herself. This was not a good idea. His shoulders rose with the deep breath he took before he spun around and caught her gaze. He was surely going to ask her to leave, and she couldn’t really blame him.
“Elizabeth,” he said as he gave her a nod and stared as if waiting for her to say something.
For a brief moment, she didn’t quite know what to do or say. She still couldn’t believe she had brought herself over to his house full of guests, and on a holiday. “I brought some wine.”
He just looked at her.
She struggled for words to fill the awful silence. “Max invited me over,” was all she could think to say before her cheeks heated enough to cook a twenty pound turkey without the help of an oven. She shifted her gaze to the floor. Did I really just say that? A seven-year-old invited me. She’d never been good with social encounters, and evidently wasn’t getting any better.
“Here, let me take the wine. I’ll open it so it can breathe,” Angelina said as she plucked the bottles from her hands.
The woman glanced at her brother. “I’ll set another place at the table.” She took only a second to disappear into the dining room.
“I shouldn’t have come,” Elizabeth said as she quickly turned to exit the kitchen.
His hand wrapped around her wrist. “No, don’t leave. You’re more than welcome to stay. You just kind of caught me by surprise. We’re about ready to serve.”
Something about the warmth of his hand blanketing her wrist made her want to stay. He released her, and continued with his dinner preparations.
Unsure as to what to do with herself, she joined Joe’s sister, in the dining room and helped her finish setting the long mission style table. The woman’s warm smile never faded as she gave a quick rundown on all those present, starting with the men yelling at the television set in the living room, Nick’s wife, Maria, and then the kids. Using Angelina’s brief descriptions, Elizabeth worked to place a name with each of the faces she’d seen.
A few minutes later, everyone took their seats at the table. Joe sat at the head of the table with his son seated to one side of him and his daughter on the other. Elizabeth sat next to Max. After all, as he noted, she was his invited guest.
Tony, Joe’s dad, led a brief meal prayer, and then everyone started digging in like there was no tomorrow. The noise level increased to about 100 decibels in sixty seconds. The banter was nonstop as the family laughed and talked while they passed plates of food to one another. The parents attended to their kids’ plates, then to their own.
Elizabeth sat silently taking it all in. Her own childhood holiday memories were nothing like what she was seeing here. All she remembered was eating turkey at a silent, cold, formal dining room table.
Angelina fixed her dark, curious gaze on Elizabeth. “So, Joe tells me you recently moved here from New York.”
