Family Ties

Ah, well, I thought, she can’t be good at everything. Besides, she was really cute when she was in a good mood, so I couldn’t stay annoyed with her.

Back at home we were chopping vegetables in the kitchen when we heard Wren at the front door. I looked at my watch: almost six o’clock. Trip had only been home about thirty minutes himself. Wren came through from the dining room and stopped in her tracks. She actually rubbed her eyes and blinked at us.

Christy brandished a stalk of broccoli. “Surprise! We’re cooking dinner.”

“Oh, thank God,” Wren said tiredly. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“You want some wine?” Christy said. “Will you pour her a glass, dear?”

I hid a grin and told myself not to compare her to her mother. Not to her face, at least. I filled a glass and handed it to Wren.

She sipped first before she took a longer drink. Then she set the glass on the table and sagged to a chair in exhaustion.

“Hey, at least you’re half-finished with exams,” I said to cheer her up.

“Christy and I still have all ours left.”

“That’s something, all right,” Wren said. She put a hand to her head. “I think my brain turned to mush sometime this afternoon.”

“Dinner won’t be for an hour or so,” I said. “You wanna go soak in the tub till it’s ready?”

“Think I will.”

“Why don’t you keep her company,” I said to Christy. “Take the wine and have a little girl-time.”

“What’re you doing?” Christy asked in a whisper.

“Telling you to take care of your friend.”

“It’s okay,” Wren said. “You don’t have to.”

I gave Christy a stern look and nodded toward Wren. Do it. Now. Go.

Okay! her own look said. “Don’t be silly,” she told her. “I’d love to. I have some lavender bath oil. And I’ll wash your hair for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“That’d be nice. Thanks.”

I went back to work on the vegetables. Trip appeared a few minutes later and grumbled about being kicked out of his own bedroom.

“Chill, dude. Have some wine. Fresh bottle in the fridge.”

“I need something stronger.” He went to the liquor cupboard. “You want anything?”

“Sure, I guess. Whatever you’re having.”

“Right. Two Jack and Cokes, coming up.” He mixed the drinks and handed one to me. “Need to give you a heads-up,” he said after a long sip.

“Oh?”

“Wren wants to talk about New Year’s tonight.”

“Okay,” I said neutrally.

“I’ll save the longer story for dinner, but the short version is that we have a cabin in Lake Tahoe for the week after Christmas. She wants to invite you and Christy. I told her it’s up to you, but you know her.”

“That’d be a big step,” I said.

“I told her what you said, that you’re trying to take things slow, but she’s… well… ‘horny’ isn’t the right word, but it’s close enough.” He took another sip of his drink. “She misses Christy, and I know it isn’t just the sex.”

“It’s the intimacy.”

“Yeah, probably. You’d know better than I would. Oh, that reminds me.

We got together with Mark and Leah over Thanksgiving.”

My eyebrows shot up.

“I’m pretty sure Wren had been thinking about it for a while, but she sprang it on me last-minute. Kind of annoying, actually. I was tempted to say no, just to teach her a lesson. But I didn’t want another fight like we had after the wedding.” He shrugged. “Still, I need to talk to her about discussing things with me before they’re about to happen. You know?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway,” he continued, “everything turned out okay and we had fun, but I thought you should know.”

“Why?”

“I get the feeling she’s keeping it in reserve to throw in your face if she needs to. So don’t tell her I told you. Okay?”

“Mum’s the word.”

“This may sound crazy,” he went on, “but she really wants your approval, at least about this. You know how she is. She wants to do everything herself, control everything. Drives me crazy sometimes, but…” He shrugged. “What can I say? I love her.”

“The hot sex doesn’t hurt.”

“No kidding,” he admitted with a grin. “She did fine with our little get-

together with Mark and Leah, but I get the feeling she’s trying to do the same thing with you and Christy.”

“And that won’t work. Christy isn’t Leah.”

“Not even close. So I thought I should give you a heads-up about Lake Tahoe. Give you time to come up with an excuse or something.”

I thought about it for a moment. “Okay. Thanks.”

“So…,” he gestured with his half-empty drink, “what’s for dinner?”

“Lemon-pepper tuna steaks and steamed veggies.”

“Christy’s idea?”

“Mostly.”

“Any chance you can get her to start eating meat?”

“Tuna is meat,” I said with a laugh. “So’s chicken.”

“Yeah, but I’m dying for a steak. From a cow. But Wren always fixes things that Christy will eat. I’ll be honest, it’s starting to bug me a little.”

And it bugged me that he was annoyed with my girlfriend. Still, I understood his point.

“Start a date night,” I said. “Take Wren out to a restaurant. Eat steak.

From a cow. See a movie or concert or something. Have fun.”

“That isn’t a bad idea.”

“Food for thought,” I said with a grin.

He nodded absently and then smiled. “Nice one.”