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Tristan looked around the pristine house worthy of a magazine spread, right down to the grand piano no one could play. It was all for show. The show was too much for him today.
Without another thought, he strode over and grabbed Quinn’s hand. “You want to get out of here?” He had a colleague from work who had invited him over for dinner with the promise of noisy children and enough food to feed a small country and clog all his arteries. It sounded perfect to him.
Quinn nodded, grateful.
“Great. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
They walked out together, his parents calling after them. He paid them no heed. He planned on doing that a lot more, going forward.
“Do you think we can take Aunt Calista some food later?” Quinn asked on the way out the door.
Tristan smiled at her. “We will do whatever you want.”
“Can I get out of this dress?”
Tristan laughed. “Yeah, kiddo. Now let’s go do Thanksgiving right.”
She leaned into him. “I’m thankful for you, Uncle Tristan.”
He kissed her head. “Right back atcha, kid.”
Quinn smiled up at him. “I think this will make Aunt Calista happy.”
He thought so too. More and more, he was kicking himself for ever forgetting that all he ever wanted to do with his life was make Calista Monroe happy.
CALISTA
I PEERED THROUGH MY OTOSCOPE into the ear of nine-month-old Jesse, who had an impressive set of lungs on him, and he was a kicker. Not that I blamed him. I wouldn’t like it if some random lady was shoving something in my ear either. On Thanksgiving Day no less. Especially when it was so red and bulging. “Little guy definitely has an ear infection,” I informed his parents, Cami and Noah Cullen. Yes, like the vampires. Except the only sparkling thing about them was their charming personalities. Even if Cami, who was a few years younger than me, remembered all my high school antics.
I stood, placing the otoscope back where it belonged, and stepped away from a flailing Jesse.
Cami held him close to her and gently bounced him, trying to comfort him. “I was really sorry to hear about your brother-in-law. I took their family pictures last year.” If only she knew how those perfect family pictures still hanging on the wall at my sister’s house were all just a facade.
“Thank you,” I said as graciously as I could, considering what a louse Jonathon ended up being.
I remembered Stella mentioning how excited she was to score a photo shoot with Cami. Cami was not only a famous photographer, but she also ran a business called The Ex-Files, according to Stella. It was so unusual; I had to look her up after speaking to my sister. Cami’s services included cropping exes out of pictures and even manipulating some of them in hilarious ways, such as replacing the ex with a very handsome celebrity. Genius. If only she could make them vanish from memories, that would be more than helpful. Especially since Tristan, unbeknownst to him, was infiltrating my mind more and more. The dang man was an exceptional, doting uncle. I figured he would be, based on our previous relationship, and how enamored we’d both been with Quinn when she was born. Of course, Quinn had gushed about him over the years. But to see it all up close and personal was a much different ball game.
Admittedly, he was making it harder than expected to ignore him. Don’t worry, I was still living up to my principles, but it was a challenge. Especially when the night before he’d told Quinn she could pick out a kitten at the shelter this weekend and keep it at his ranch. Or when they kept tossing Reese’s Pieces, my favorite candy, into each other’s mouths from far across the room. It was pretty adorable, and I loved hearing Quinn giggle. Unfortunately, it reminded me of when her uncle and I would play that game. Except we had different rules if one person missed. Let’s just say it involved a lot of kissing and I missed on purpose a lot.
It made me wonder if he was doing it deliberately. Like he wanted me to remember the good times between us. It made no sense, given I was only a bad habit to him. Maybe I was just imagining things. Why would he care?
Cami smiled at me. “I’m sure your sister and niece love having you back home.”
Quinn did. I wasn’t sure about Stella. She didn’t seem to appreciate the reminders that she was still a mom and should act accordingly, or at least try to be present in her daughter’s life. Was that too much to ask? I got that she’d been through a lot, but so had Quinn. And Stella was only going to do more damage to her if she kept on the way she was. I didn’t want my sister to have more regrets.
“I love being with my niece,” I answered truthfully.
“Does she know what a legend you were in high school?”
There was that word legend again. “I’m probably more infamous.”
Cami laughed and spoke to her husband, Noah. “This woman here left thousands of business cards hidden all over our high school stating Calista Monroe was here. They are still finding those cards today.”
Noah chuckled. “That’s clever.”
I had to take a lot of extra shifts at the Mexican restaurant where I waitressed to buy those cards, but it was worth it. Quinn had even found a few at the school. Totally a proud aunt moment.
“That’s not even the best one,” Cami gushed over the sound of her crying baby. “She once got everyone in the school to bring watermelons and place them randomly in the classrooms and the halls.”
