“What in the world is going on in here?”
Kelsey and Hannah both stopped and turned to their mother, who stood at the edge of the living room, her arms crossed and her face wearing the expression that meant yelling was on the horizon.
“Nothing,” Hannah answered. “Just messing around.”
Mom looked to Kelsey for confirmation. Kelsey shrugged. After a long look at them both, a look that required no words to make its meaning clear, she said, “Hannah, go downstairs and get Clue. And tell Dad and Duncan to come up. We’re going to play a game.”
Clue was one of the few games Dad and Duncan could play together without their shared, and completely insane, competitiveness destroying the experience. They’d almost come to actual blows the one and only time they’d all tried to play Settlers of Catan together.
Hannah smirked at Kelsey and sauntered to the basement door. As she grabbed the knob, she turned to Kelsey and mouthedfucking bitchbefore she bounced down the stairs.
“Don’t cover for her, pix,” Mom said when Hannah was gone. “Tell me what that was.”
Contrary to what Hannah thought, Kelsey was not a snitch. Not as a child, and certainly not now. “It wasn’t anything, Mom. Just messing around.”
“Hmpf. Okay. You want to help me make cocoa?”
“Sure.” Mom clearly wanted this to be a memorable family weekend. Fondly memorable, not something to work out in therapy. Now that she was here, Kelsey was determined to help her get it.