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Soon Mom called them to the kitchen, and his dad asked them to bow their heads for prayer. TJ sent a surreptitious glance at Melody as Dad said grace. Her eyes were wide open, her chin raised. As usual.
He swallowed back his concern. It was God’s job to speak to Melody’s heart. Not his.
A few minutes later, everyone who had made it tonight sat at the spacious kitchen table devouring the dinner. His oldest brother, Victor, was married with three kids and didn’t live locally anymore. Ben, his next older brother, couldn’t make it from his rural property east of town where he lived with his wife. They were still adjusting to a new routine with their baby. Azalea was born the week before Christmas, making the holidays extra special.
TJ’s baby sister Joy had gone back to Grand Valley State University near Grand Rapids last week for her final semester of college, and she was joining them from the iPad on the China hutch, griping about missing out on the tasty food.
TJ loved his family. There were lots of cousins, both first and second, aunt and uncles, and two sets of grandparents to round out the holidays. But Family Fun Tuesdays were for the Jacob-and-Arlene-Halversons only—and Melody.
“So. TJ.”
“Yeah?” He looked at his mom, his soup spoon almost to his mouth, laden with gloriously cheesy broccoli cheddar soup. Somehow his mom knew how to make food taste incredible while also keeping it healthy. She claimed today’s spread was dairy-free. He’d never known his mom to speak a falsehood, but he found her statement hard to believe.
The look on her face as she waited for his attention—and the item pinched in her long, delicate fingers—froze him into ice as solid as the coating atop Lake Michigan.
“Who’s your plus-one going to be?”
He thawed in an instant, rising to his feet in an attempt to snatch the wedding invitation from her hand. “Give that back to me. I can’t believe you went through my coat pockets, Mom! I’m not a kid anymore.”
“But you’re twenty-eight, forever single, and not a girlfriend in sight. Any mother would be concerned. I was searching for a love note or some such encouragement. Please give me hope. You do have a date for Karly’s wedding, right?”
His face warmer than comfortable, TJ gave up on his pursuit of the invitation. She’d pulled it out of his reach and handed it to his father, anyway. He sank back down at the table, his appetite robbed.
Couldn’t they leave him alone? His eyes sought out Melody’s almost without intention, and she gave him a sympathizing look. She knew how he hated their goading about his relationship status.
“What about Stella Ryland?”
TJ slumped his head. Even his dad was chiming in? He usually left the badgering to the women in TJ’s life.
“Oh, she’s gorgeous,” his mom gushed. “And I did see her checking you out at church last week, TJ.”
Melody choked on her soup and reached for a cloth napkin, apparently entertained at the idea of someone “checking out” TJ. He glared at her, and she only chortled harder behind the napkin.
“Please stop.Please.” TJ’s eyes toggled between his parents before Joy’s voice called out from the iPad.
“I know! Delia would just die if you asked her to be your date.”
TJ leaped to his feet and turned off the iPad despite Joy’s pleas for mercy. Delia Carpenter was the sweetest lady to grace the streets of Silver Lake City, Michigan on her daily summer walks. TJ had accompanied her more times than he could count when he was younger.
She was also seventy-five years old. He’d gone with her to help her roll her walker over the bumpy joints in the cement sidewalk.
“You guys had your fill of fun yet?” He faced them by turn, fisting a hand on his hip. They were all laughing at him. The nerve. See how they liked it when he didn’t show up for dinner next week. Or Sunday lunch, either. How would they like that then?
“Oh, dear, I think we’ve upset him.” Mom smiled sweetly and pointed at his chair. “Sit back down, my darling. We’ll figure this out for you. Melody, any ideas?”
No. He wouldn’t stand for the woman he loved suggesting other dates for him. He stared at her, begging her silently not to join in his family’s unwelcome jest. But Lucy leaned over, whispered something into her ear, and Melody bit down hard on what he knew would have been a glorious smile. Her face smoothed into disciplined soberness—which was all an act. He knew she preferred laughter to tears in all things, but she’d learned to fake it as a teacher.
“I have a serious idea.”
Everyone leaned forward with bated breath. Everyone but TJ, who dropped into his seat and shoveled three gulps of soup into his mouth before his appetite got completely ruined for the night. The hot liquid scalded his tongue, but he didn’t care.
“Esmeralda Caliente.”
The three of them had taken Intermediate Spanish senior year, and TJ mentioned once that he liked how romantic the language sounded. The next day Lucy and Melody presented him with his very own fake girlfriend—a balloon on a stick with yarn for hair. They were so original as to name it “Hot Esmeralda” and then told him he could now croon his sweet nothings in Spanish. He didn’t even know what had become of Esmeralda.
“Low blow, Melody Reed. Low.” As the room dissolved into laughter, TJ shook his head at her.
“Sorry,” she gasped around her giggles. “I couldn’t help it.”
