Page 69 of AJ’s Fire

“It’s gonna be a great day!” he responded. Here are maps of the layout if you two want to start setting up the tables. Some of your crew already brought the grills over from the fire station. We’ll probably need an extra table over there but two at all the other locations.”

“When’d your brother get so bossy?” I muttered to AJ as we set up tables. As we got closer to the event, AJ joined Jamie at the command center, and a couple of teenagers from the center and I started setting up the food station around the grills.

We were unloading paper products when I looked up and was surprised to see Devon and Josh following behind an older couple. I recognized AJ's father and stepmother, and my heart started to race. I’d met them before, but this felt like a meet-the-parents experience, nonetheless.

As if thinking about his parents summonsed my own, I received a text.

Mom: Easter in Scarsdale.

Not a question but a statement. I ignored it, glad to have the excuse of the day's events to put off my response. I watched as AJ’s family approached the table where AJ and Jamie were clearly joking around. They talked for a minute, AJ taking a bag from Natalie and applying sunscreen to his face and arms. As if he sensed me watching him, he looked up and smiled. AJ’s stepmother looked my way too, then back at her stepson before offering me a smile and a nod.

A little while later, AJ’s father and stepmother were herded past me on the way to one of the stations. They stopped to say hi.

“Dr. Gordon, Dr. Marchetti-Gordon. It’s good to see you again. So nice of you to volunteer today.”

“Always so polite, this one,” AJ’s stepmom said more to her husband than to me. “And we’ve told you before, it’s Natalie and Cliff.”

I nodded and smiled. “Ma’am.” For some reason, calling her Natalie didn’t seem right.

AJ’s voice boomed behind me. “Hay, Nat! Dad! You’re over there.” Then he got closer. “Oh. Right. You guys remember Jackson, yeah?” AJ lifted a hand as if he was going to put his arm around me or pat my back but then thought better of it.

Was AJ anxious? It was adorable but also a little suspicious. That notion was confirmed when Dr. Marchetti-Gordon, Natalie, narrowed her eyes at her stepson.

“We were just saying hi. It’s been a while since you’ve made it to one of our July Fourth parties.”

I smiled while AJ did weird things with his hands, first putting them in his pockets, then holding them clasped together in front of him in a most unnatural fashion.

“You know, I think we worked it the past two years. Hopefully, we’ll have off this year. I really love visiting Hampstead. I think Mom wanted me to go there for my undergrad, but Dad insisted on Yale. I’ll take any excuse to see the view from that campus and your backyard. If we’re off on the Fourth, I’ll drag this guy up there.”

“Excellent. Oh, and AJ, don’t forget Josh’s graduation. I put the date on your calendar. Make sure you get the time off. I want the whole family there.” She was looking at me as if asking me to make sure AJ followed through. I would do anything to be on Natalie Marchetti-Gordon’s good side. She was the glue that held AJ’s family together, and the way things were going, it really felt like I was going to be a part of that family for a long time.

At least, I knew I wanted to be, and that’s what all of a sudden made my mother’s text so important.

I elbowed AJ.

“Graduation. Calendar. Got it!” he replied.

Natalie “Uh-huh’d” him skeptically and looked at me. I nodded my promise to make sure he didn’t forget, and holy shit, how had Natalie made me feel like AJ’s partner without saying a word?

Cliff Gordon finally contributed to the conversation. “Jackson.” He held out a hand, which I shook. “Son.” He took AJ’s next, then he followed his wife to one of the activity tables.

Without looking at AJ, I commented, “You can breathe now.”

“Oh my God, we just got called out by Nat!”

“Yeah, I gleaned that.” We both watched as AJ’s parents got farther away.

“How does she do that?” I just shrugged.

AJ took a deep breath, then went into gossip mode. “So get this.” He turned to me. “Jamie and Devon are dating!”

AJ had shared a little bit about his brother and Devon hooking up but had told me that had all ended when Devon left the city for his last semester of college, in January. “I thought that was over.”

“So did I.” He looked at me adoringly. “I guess sometimes things change.”

I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but I settled for putting pressure on the small of his back, our eyes conveying everything we couldn’t say. I retracted my hand quickly when I saw Natalie looking our way, a move I realized too late was likely more obvious than if I’d simply kept my hand where it was. I smiled toward AJ’s stepmother, my resolve growing stronger.

“I think Jamie is going to come out to them this weekend, but the Devon thing is definitely still a secret. Josh has no idea,” AJ informed me.