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“Smile, please. Hello! Welcome to our home.” Val held the door as Cindy, Ben, and Joel filed through. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Thank you for having us. We’ll just be having dinner tonight. Joel has an exam in the morning that I didn’t know about when I accepted your gracious invitation to spend the night.”
“Oh! Well, maybe you’ll come for Mardi Gras. The town is equal to New Orleans for the festivities without the debauchery.”
Wincing, Elizabeth didn’t mean to say anything negative and it just popped out of her mouth.
“Follow me, we’re having hors d'oeuvres in the sunroom.”
Val engaged the boys, asking them about school, the cars they drove, anything that he thought they might answer without being bored like most young people nowadays.
“Did you see your father?” he asked.
“We stopped by his new house,” Cindy said. “Lovely! They have room for horses, too, a new pastime of Chris’s.”
“Oh, is that right. I didn’t realize he rode.”
“His brother, Justin, got him hooked,” Joel replied
“Does he have enough property for horses at his place here?”
“I’m not sure. I think he has twenty acres.”
“Yes, twenty acres,” Cindy added. They entered the large conservatory Val called the sunroom. “Oh, this is lovely.”
“Help yourself,” Elizabeth said. “We have iced tea and lemonade, or if you prefer, wine or beer.”
They walked around the buffet table, choosing appetizers and beverages. The conversation was mostly answering questions asked by Val. Cindy felt guilty by being there, knowing there was something brewing between Val and Chris that she wasn’t fully aware of. She just didn’t want to make it worse.
“Did you meet Annie?” Elizabeth asked.
“We did. She’s lovely,” Cindy said, sounding sincere. “I’m so happy for Chris to have found the love of his life at last.”
The boys peeked at her over their plates, hoping she wasn’t drunk already.
“She’s my great niece’s best friend. Or one of them. Katrina is the other.”
“We met Katrina, as well. Who’s your niece?”
“Justin’s wife, Maggie Angel. They just got married before Christmas. Katrina and Dave aren’t married but they have a child together.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and Val didn’t miss it.
“Young people have a healthier attitude about such things,” Val replied, speaking to her.
Leaning forward, Elizabeth whispered, though loud enough for everyone to hear, “They have a boy with Down syndrome.”
“Betty, what does that have to do with anything?” Val barked. “Dave and Katrina love each other like nobody’s business. When you’re around them, you can feel it.”
“Wow, that’s so observant of you,” Elizabeth said, a snarky lilt to her voice.
“Well, it’s true. Think of your niece, Maggie; if you’re around Maggie and Justin for any length of time, their passion for each other is palpable.”
“I’ve known Annie forever, since she was a little girl,” Elizabeth said, leaning forward with a cocktail in her hand. “You know, she was married to a local guy here for a short time. The son of the owner of the hardware store. He’s an idiot, but they were hot for each other! Oh my, the stories I could tell you…”
“Elizabeth, that’s enough,” Val snapped.
“No, Cindy should know who her boys’ stepmother is going to be.” The look on her face was positively triumphant. “Anyway, she wasn’t in Cypress Cove for longer than an hour when they met and one thing led to another. She got pregnant that same day.”
