AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I took a deep breath, got my phone, and called my parents. I happened to believe a healthy distraction was the universal cure for all forms of anxiety and stress. It didn’t hurt that I kind of enjoyed aggravating Sebastian. Just a tiny bit.
36
Sebastian
Kenzie’s parents arrived two hours earlier than they were supposed to. They pulled up in a beat up Volkswagen that looked like it had survived one too many bar fights. Kenzie clapped excitedly and rushed outside to meet them. I followed behind her, trying not to show my reluctance. I waited in the front entrance while she gave a jumping hug to a small man with a belly to match the top of his rounded car. He had a grizzly beard, a gray combover, and wasn’t much taller than Kenzie. He was also wearing some atrocity that looked like the love child of cargo pants and jorts with high socks and fresh sneakers.
I sighed. Of course Kenzie’s dad looked like that.
Her mom was taller than both of them by a few inches. She was actually knitting something while she walked, and she barely took her hands from her work to hug Kenzie back. Her mom had aggressively dyed black hair, silver eyebrows, and she was wearing some kind of flower-print smock. Yes, a smock was the best description I could give it.
“You’re knitting!” Kenzie said. “What is it?”
“I didn’t have much time, but I was trying to make some warm socks for your boyfriend. What size feet does he have?” She happened to notice me at that moment. Her eyes trailed from my face to my feet, then got wider. “Oh boy,” she said with a touch of a northeast coastal accent. “I better get the backup yarn out of the trunk. Pop it for me, Hal.”
Hal put his hands on his knees, bent down, and did an old man’s approximation of twerking. “How’s that, Harole?”
Kenzie’s mother laughed and swatted at the air like this was an old, fond routine. “Oh Hal,” she laughed. “The trunk, sweetie! Pop the trunk, not your tush!”
I blinked a few times, then found Kenzie was watching me and beaming. I couldn’t help smiling a little. At least they seemed nice. In their own way.
Jasper quietly came up behind me. “Sir, are these the guests?”
“Yes,” I said. “Unfortunately.”
“Shall I help them with their things?”
“No. Go get dinner started early, if you can. Maybe we can wrap this thing up ahead of schedule since they’re early.”
“Of course, Mr. St. James.”
“Your parents are really named Hal and Harole?” I whispered when Kenzie came inside and her parents were trailing behind. Her dad had his hands in his pockets, which I now noticed were a little too tight fighting for either his comfort or the comfort of anyone with functioning eyes.
“And you’re named Sebastian. Last time I heard that name, it was given to a crab. My parents were born in a different time. What’s your excuse?”
“I’ve never even heard the name Harole. Where is that from?”
“My mom had three sisters. There was already a Carole and a Cheryl, so they called her Harole.”
“That makes sense,” I said. It did not. “Why are they two hours early?”
Somehow, Hal had caught up at this point. “If you’re not early—”
“You’re late!” Kenzie jumped in and the trio of them all laughed like it was a truly great joke.
“Wow,” Hal said. His hands were still in his pockets, but he bent back with surprising flexibility to take in the high ceilings, then pivoted around and let out a long whistle. “Wonder what the air conditioning bill is like in this place with those ceilings!” He snorted and jabbed Kenzie with an elbow.
“The kitchen is… ah,” I trailed off.
“Wonder what’s upstairs,” Hal said as he and Harole trotted upstairs as casually as they might start a guided tour.
I lifted my palm toward them, looking to Kenzie for some kind of help understanding.
“They really like touring places,” she said, shrugging. “They are super nosy. You probably should follow them. My dad likes to borrow things small enough to fit in his pockets.”
“Does stealing shit run in your family?”
“It does, actually. But it passed over me, thankfully. Unless you count your heart,” she added. She emphasized the corny joke with batted eyelashes.
I rolled my eyes and scoffed. But I heard Hal make a horrified sound and jerked my head up the stairs.
That was just what I needed. I ran up after them and heard Kenzie trailing behind at a considerably slower pace. When I got to the hallway, I saw Hal looking up and down the hall with a baffled look on his face. “All these lights are on? Every single one of them! Does he have any idea what his electric bill is going to look like?”
I somehow survived the next hour of following Kenzie’s parents around the entire house while they poked, prodded, and inquired about every square inch of my place. When the tour was finally over, Hal and Harole sat down on the couch in my living room. By then, the smells of whatever Jasper was cooking had drifted out to greet us. Harole hadn’t put down her knitting equipment yet, and the… beautiful pair of maroon and honey mustard colored socks were almost finished.
