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“You do.”
I was back to the mushing part again and I decided that was my favorite. I was weird.
“You never made stuffing with your mom?” Cam’s mother asked.
It was an innocent question, but it caused a deep ache to slice across my chest. My mom and I hadn’t been the closest two people in the world before the incident, but afterward, our relationship was nonexistent. “I don’t think my mom knows how to cook,” I said finally.
“You don’t think?”
I shook my head. “My parents aren’t into cooking dinners.”
There was a pause. “Cameron said they travel a lot during the holidays?”
“Yeah, and they kind of like doing their own thing, you know, daughter free.” I forced out a laugh, shrugging it off. “I mean, I’m okay with that. I can’t ski to save my life and being stuck on a ship in the middle of an ocean isn’t something I’m into.”
Mrs. Hamilton was silent as we added the last of the ingredients and I dug my fingers into it, liking the way it slid through my fingers. “So what do you normally do when you’re home?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t be by myself the whole time. They have a maid that usually cooks dinner for me before she goes home. It’s really nice of her because she’s not required to work during the holidays.”
“What about Christmas?”
“The same,” I admitted, surprising myself. I glanced up and found her watching me. “It’s not really a big deal. My family isn’t very close and so it’s probably better this way.” After saying that, I figured it probably wasn’t the best thing to say. “Anyway, I’m done. What’s the next step?”
“It goes in the turkey.” She smiled, but it seemed a little off. “Want to do the honors?”
“Sure.” I waited for her to turn the bird around and then I completed the somewhat gross task of getting all in the turkey’s personal space.
When I was done, I headed over to the double sink while she wrapped the turkey in foil and placed it in a roaster.
“Thank you for helping me, Avery.”
“No problem,” I said. “I’m happy to have helped.” And I really was. “It was fun.”
Mrs. Hamilton smiled at me, though her eyes were sad. “Well, honey, you’re always welcomed here for the holidays. There’s never enough hands when it comes to making food.”
I murmured thank you and finished washing my hands. As I turned, I caught sight of Cam standing just outside the kitchen. I had no idea how long he’d been standing there or how much of the conversation he overheard, but the soft look on his sleepy face told me he’d heard enough.
Chapter 19
Anyone with two eyes could tell that Teresa and Cam were close and they really did care about each other. The two of them were insane together, constantly picking on one another and causing general trouble wherever they went.
Teresa was a female version of Cam—tall, strikingly beautiful with raven-colored hair and bright blue eyes. She had the body of well-disciplined dancer and was practically bubbling over with energy.
Much to my relief, Teresa was a sweetheart. I’d been afraid that she wouldn’t like me for some reason or another, but she hugged me.
The Hamilton family were a bunch of hugging folks.
I hung out with them in the basement until Teresa and I went upstairs to help her mom get the sides ready for dinner, which seemed like the perfect moment to get away, because Cam and his father started talking about hunting and my skin was beginning to crawl.
Seeing mother and daughter working together and laughing had a strange effect on me. They were almost like strange creatures to me; the kind of family you saw on evening sitcoms. I was envious of that relationship, but in the same respect I sort of accepted that this would never be my mom and I.
While we got the dinner ready, Teresa was glued to her cell phone, constantly texting someone, which carried over to the dinner table.
“Who do you keep texting?” Cam demanded as he slopped a second heaping of yams on his plate.
Teresa smirked. “That’s none of your business.”
“I’m your brother, it’s my business.”
