Annihilate Me: Holiday Edition (4 page)

“Of
course, I
’
ll cook dinner,
” she
said.
 
“Yes, I
’
m sure.
 
I know I don
’
t cook
much—
or at all
—but once,
your grandmother taught me a good deal about cooking when I was young.
 
Yes, Daniella, I understand that was a
century ago.
 
So, am I hearing you
right?
 
You want to come?
 
You do?
 
Really?
 
Well,
goodness.
 
Christmas
in Maine it is, then.
 
I
’
ll have more details for you tonight.
 
Now, you have my credit cards, so go and
have a blast when you shop today.
 
Splurge, splurge, splurge.
 
Yes, even at Cartier, but within reason.
 
We’ll talk more tonight.”

She
hung up the phone.

“I
guess we
’
re coming.
 
They actually sounded interested.
 
They love Alex—always have.
 
But they also want to meet you.”

“I
’
m beyond
happy,
” I said.
 
“I can
’
t tell you.”

“I’ve
warned you, Maine.
 
I know those
two.
 
You’re going to take that
back.”

“We’ll
see.”

“They
want me to cook dinner for a reason, you know.”

“What
reason?
 
I can help you.”

“Because
I’ve rarely cooked for them.
 
They
just gave me a challenge.
 
They know
I can’t cook.
 
They’re putting me to
the test.
 
But I’ll show them.
 
I
’
ll
just learn how to cook a proper holiday meal beforehand.”

“There
are a lot of steps to that....”

“They’re
not going to win this one.
 
I
’
ve got this.
 
In fact, I have to get this.
 
I have to prove them wrong and set an
example.
 
I
’
ll read up on what to serve, what to prepare,
when to prepare it, and I
’
ll do
the cooking, whether I ruin it or not.
 
Probably the former.
 
If I
need to lean on you, I will.”

“One
other thing,” I said.

“What
other thing?”

“I
’
m going to ask Lisa and Tank to join us, so
you might be cooking for seven.
 
If
Tank has plans with his family, then it will just be the six of us.
 
So, plan on six or seven.”

Blackwell
held back her shoulders and looked at me with a steady eye.
 
“When do we leave?”

“On
the twenty-third.”

“That
’
s not far away.
 
I
’
ll
need to start watching those cooking shows on that food channel thing.
 
I
’
ve
watched them before, if only out of curiosity.
 
What I don
’
t want is that skinny little Italian bitch
teaching me anything.
 
I want the
fat one.
 
The contessa.
 
A fat cook obviously loves their own
food, so she’s got to be good.
 
And
I’ve heard from friends who know her in the Hamptons that she’s very good.
 
So, I
’
ll follow her lead.”

“Your
friends are right—she is good.
 
But you
’
ll need
to cook everything—from pies to the bird.
 
It
’
s
too much for one person.
 
Let me
help you.
 
Alex can, too—he
’
s a great cook.
 
We can make a mock dinner at his
apartment one night.
 
Maybe this
Saturday.
 
Just the three of us
while the girls are out with their friends.
 
We can go through the motions of what my
grandmother taught me, what your mother taught you, what Alex learned from the
family cook, Michelle, and we’ll see how it goes.
 
It
’
ll
be dry run, but hopefully it will turn out to
be moist.
”

“You
know how to cook?”

“I
’
m a Maine girl.
 
I know how to cook.”

“I
didn
’
t know that Alex
cooked.
 
His mother certainly didn
’
t teach him.”

“Are
you listening to me?
 
He learned
from Michelle, whom he considers something of a mother figure.
 
He
’
s
very good.”

She
thought about that for a moment, but then she shook her head.
 
“It
’
s on me—all of it.
 
I
’
m
going to prove to my girls that I can do this by herself.
 
When it was just me and Charles, we
always went out to eat on Christmas.
 
I hated to cook because I’m not very good at it.
 
The few times I tried
, Charles
made a visible show of eating nothing, so I
gave up because I grew tired of his insults.
 
I
’
ve
never once cooked a proper holiday meal for either of my daughters, which is
probably why they challenged me.
 
If
we
’
re doing this, I
’
m going to show them that their mother can
do it on her own and without help.”

Sweet
Jesus, she doesn
’
t know
what she
’
s in for.
 
But I needed to support her, because I
could sense how important it was to her.
 
“I
’
m proud of you,” I said.

“We
’
ll see how proud you are of me on Christmas,
when I bring out the burnt bird and the soggy pies.
 
But I
’
ll give it my best shot, and you and I both
know I don
’
t like to fail.
 
Ever.
 
I’ll ask for help from Lisa and you only
should I absolutely need it.”

“You’ve
got us.”

“That’s
fine, but I’ll only use you in an emergency.”

I smiled at
that
but I didn
’
t reply, because for a
woman who had never cooked a meal as complicated as this particular meal, there
was every chance in the world that what we
’
d be eating would be ruinous if she didn’t
allow Lisa and I to intervene.

CHAPTER THREE

In
my office, I had to deal with a few issues before I was able to call Lisa.
 
When I did, she picked up on the second
ring.

“Zombies
Anonymous,” she said.

“Aren
’
t you happy that you have caller I.D.?”

“
Indeed.
 
What
’
s up?
 
I missed you last night.”

“Did
you see Tank at all?”

“Unfortunately,
no.”

“But
I thought you were going to.”

“Something
came up, I guess.”

“If
I knew you were going to be there alone, I would have stayed home,” I said,
meaning it.
 
“You and I aren
’
t spending enough time together.”

“It
’
s fine.
 
Look, I get it.
 
You
’
re engaged.
 
You should be with Alex as much as
possible, especially after the hell you two just went through.
 
It
’
s
not an issue.
 
Frankly, I just throw
myself into writing, which these days is where I
’
m happiest.
”

“How
’
s the new book coming along?”

“Almost
finished with the first draft.”

“You
’
re an animal.”

“Actually,
most of my characters are.
 
I
’
m just driven.
 
So, what
’
s going on?
 
I rarely hear from you when you
’
re at work.”

“I
was wondering what you were doing for Christmas?”

“I
was going to ask you about that soon.
 
I know you want to be with Alex.
 
This will be your first Christmas together.
 
I was thinking of either staying here
alone and working on the book, being with Tank if that
’
s something that interests him, or going
home to see the rents.
 
It
’
s been months.
 
I probably should see them at some
point.”

“How
about spending time in Maine with me?”

“You
mean with our parents?”

“Hell
no.
 
At least not with mine.”

“I
didn’t think so.
 
What do you have
in mind?”

“You
know that Alex has a house on the Point.
 
We’d like to invite you to join Blackwell and her two daughters to
celebrate the holidays with us there.”

“Blackwell
and her daughters?”

“They’re
coming.
 
I just nailed it down.”

“What
about Tank?”

“Alex
is talking to him today to see if he’s interested.
 
We know he
’
s from the midwest.
 
He might already have plans to go
home.
 
But if he doesn
’
t, maybe he
’
ll come along with us.
 
Do you know what his plans are?”

“I
haven
’
t asked him.
 
I was hoping that he
’
d ask me.
”

“He
hasn
’
t yet?”

“Not
yet.
 
And there hasn’t even been a
peep about New Year
’
s.
 
I don’t get it, Jennifer.
 
A few weeks ago, he was all gobsmacked
and lovey dovey with me when we had dinner with you and Blackwell at Alex’s.
 
I believe he said ‘thank you’ twice when
he saw me.
 
Since then, things have
cooled off a bit.”

“Why?”

“Who
the hell knows?
 
I don’t.
 
But I’m certainly trying.”

“I
don’t get it.”

“Neither
do I.
 
He’s complicated.
 
I think he still feels burned after
being cheated on by his last girlfriend.
 
If that’s what his problem is, then I get it—the relationship
lasted five years.
 
But I’m not
her!”

“No,
you aren’t.”

“So,
I don
’
t know if this is going to
work out between us.
 
I really like
him, I
’
m beyond attracted to him,
but we both have way too much baggage between us because of our past
relationships.”

“If
he did agree to come, how would you feel?”

“To
be honest?
 
I
’
d be happy.
 
It would be a step in the right
direction.
 
If he went knowing that
I was going to be there, it would show some interest on his part.”

“This
has been a roller coaster for you two.
 
I wish it was going better.
 
He
’
s a great guy.”

“I
know he is.
 
I agree.
 
But it is what it is.
 
I can’t change him or the situation.”

“Don
’
t give up on him yet.”