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“I’m not feeling up for anything right now.” Buzz was not Buzz when she was miserably pregnant.
“Maybe next summer,” Maby replied. Then added, “Has anyone seen the star of Harry Truman High School?”
“Who?” Lucy asked.
“Christopher Lowell. He’s back and bought a place on this street. Don’t know which one exactly.” Where Maby got her information, Agatha had no idea.
“Are you still hung up on him? Aren’t you married?” Harper said.
“I am not hung up on him; I just hear things,” she said in defense.
Agatha chuckled at her sister. She had always wanted to be one of the popular kids in high school, making a point of knowing what was happening at school.
“Who is this guy trying to steal my woman?” Cliff said, pulling his wife closer to him.
“Football star. You can’t compete with him, Cliff,” Lucy answered, teasing her friend. They had been best friends before Cliff fell for Maby.
“I’ll fight him to the death,” Cliff told the room and pretended to bite Maby on the neck? Either way, it made her giggle.
Lucy laughed. “He would have no idea why you’re poking him with your weak little arms, Cliff. He had no idea who Maby was in high school. We didn’t run in the same circles.”
“I think he bought Hilda’s house. It’s been for sale for a while,” Sera said, moving the conversation away from Cliff’s wife.
Around a mouthful of BBQ, Violet said, “We met the new neighbor after school. He was a big, tall guy.”
“Is it him, Agatha?” Sera asked. Sera was the only one who knew anything about her infatuation with Chris.
“I think so, but it’s hard to tell. He’s changed since I last saw him.” Agatha shrugged.
“He looked pretty good at that press thing we catered a few years ago. Were you there, Agatha?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t remember,” Agatha lied.
Every moment had been seared into her memory.
“Then you must not have been there, wow,” Buzz said and was rewarded by Jonas sliding his hand over her mouth and whispering in her ear, making her blush.
“That’s not really my type anyway. I’m not into sports guys.” Agatha grabbed a plate and started to fill it since everyone else had already been through the line.
“I have a friend I think you would like,” Jonas said from the table.
“He is pretty cute,” Buzz added and pulled her head from her husband’s hand before he could cover her mouth.
“I know a guy at the college who would love you,” Maby said, getting into the matching game.
“Me?” Agatha questioned, leaning against the wall to eat since the table was packed. “I don’t need to be loved.”
“And then she makes me cry,” Sera said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Harrison rushed to put an arm around his wife and pointed his fork at Agatha. “Tell your mother you need love, Agatha. You made her cry.”
“Sorry, Mom. Didn’t think it would make you cry,” Agatha said, regretting saying the words out loud, even if she believed them completely.
“It’s just the day, the hormones,” Sera said, and Agatha stiffened at her words. But by then, conversation had started around the table again, mostly about Agatha and her dating life, filling in the new men in the family to what life was like in a house full of adult women. Agatha made sure that they each knew that their new loves were not as innocent as they pretended to be.
One story led to another, and before long, Agatha wasn’t even being mentioned anymore. Looking around the table, she was happy for each of her sisters and their mother; they all deserved to be as happy as they were. Not her, though. She made her own happiness, and soon she would own her house and finish her latest book. They might have needed a man to be happy, but not her.
