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“I’d better go in back,” Bridget said.
“Honey, you don’t have to hide from them. Stay here. You calm Big Mike down.”
“I do?”
He looked up from his phone and nodded his head. “Finally, someone with a brain.”
“Oh, Mike, be careful,” Roberta said, laughing.
A rap on the door ended the conversation. Bridget stayed put, sitting in her usual position at the counter, with baby Flynn playing on the floor at her feet. When Big Mike opened the door, a definite change in atmosphere entered along with Patty’s mother and father, and by the expressions on their faces, it was clear they’d heard the news.
“You! You!” she cried, pointing at Bridget. “This is all your fault.”
“Tina, what are you talking about?” Roberta said in a loud enough voice that Flynn looked at her to see what the ruckus was about. “Do you want to go back in history?”
“She was just waiting to pounce, like a cougar! The minute Tony broke up with Patty, this one was on the scene.” She pointed at Bridget with a flourish.
“Calm down,” George groaned. “I’m sorry, you guys, we were going to come to dinner and behave like two adults, but my wife has other ideas.”
“My child is heartbroken! You can’t blame her for being upset.”
“Patty tried to burn Tony and Bridget’s house down, Tina. That’s cray cray. That’s not upset.”
“She’s not crazy! She swears she didn’t do it. You’re turning your back on my kid. You’ve known Patty her entire life.”
“It’s sad, that’s true. But it was time for those two to break up. They were toxic for each other.”
“I hate that word,” Tina cried. “What was toxic about it? They’d been together all of their lives.”
“And that makes it right? Look at you two. What kind of example did you set for your girls, Tina?”
“Roberta, oh my God.” Big Mike groaned.
“It’s true. She knows George has a wandering eye. The girl who showed up out of nowhere looking for her father is proof. Yet she tolerates it so she doesn’t have to get a job.”
“Is that true?” George asked his wife.
“To an extent,” Tina said, pulling a paper towel off the roll in Roberta’s kitchen to blow her nose. “I didn’t want to start over and let some bimbo enjoy everything I worked for. I supported you, George, while you built your business. That’s a lot to throw away.”
No one replied to her.
“And now my daughter is falling apart. All for what? A man who was able to cast her aside like a piece of garbage.”
“Lord, give me strength.” Big Mike moaned. “Look, we aren’t having Christmas dinner here today, okay? There’s too much upsetting crap going on with the fire. If you cared about us, you would have called right away to see if we needed anything when it happened last night. But nooo! You show up on our doorstep like a couple of beggars, wanting dinner.”
“We’re upset, too! The cops were at the door looking for her today. They ended up waiting at the gate and grabbing her when she tried to sneak out of the house.”
George still stood at the door, looking down at the floor while his wife continued her rant.
“And we’ve spent every Christmas here for the last twenty-five years. Why wouldn’t we come over now?”
“Yes, about that, Tina. Maybe it’s time you invited us to your house,” Roberta said, still calm and cool as could be. “Like Mike said, this Christmas sucked! I’m not even blaming Patty for the whole thing, but she is responsible for the fire.”
Throwing the paper toweling in the trash, Tina returned to the living room. “We have to eat. So let me cook. What were you going to have?”
“Isn’t your kid in jail?” Roberta asked. “Shouldn’t you be getting a lawyer?”
“We already did that,” George said. “Come on, Tina. They’re right. We shouldn’t have come here.”
