After losing her job and her girlfriend, it's time for Annie Abraham to admit defeat and move back in with her parents. She has hardly been back to her tiny Montana hometown since the unforgettable summer before her senior year of college, when she...
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It's been a long time since I got behind the wheel of a car. Longer still since I've been on the freeway, but Mom entrusts me with her Honda for the forty minute drive from Deer Pines to Kalispell and it's so freeing not to rely on public transport, to not have to worry about how I'm going to get everything home if I spend too much.
"I'm after candles," Mom says, glasses on the end of her nose as she texts Dad. He's down in Texas for another week.
"In jars? Or, like, church candles."
"Both. I've got some candlesticks for the dining room so if you see any taper candles, I want them in red or green. They have to smell good, and if they're in jars, they have to be nice jars. Nothing plain."
"Alrighty."
"Also, a centerpiece for the table, perhaps. And there's no such thing as too many Christmas mugs."
"Agreed." I've driven this route so many times in my life that even though it's been more than five years since I last came to the city with my mom, I know the way without having to think about it as I leave US-93 and merge onto US-2 and turn into the parking lot of our favorite diner. One of the best parts about a Sunday in the city: a big diner breakfast to stoke us up with the energy for a day of shopping.
Once we each have a steaming plate of bacon and eggs and pancakes in front of us, a hot coffee for Mom and iced for me, Mom launches into her plan for the holiday season.
"So, I told you Nathan's coming, didn't I?"
"You did indeed. No Theo though," I say, my stomach gnawing on itself as I cut a crispy piece of bacon in half and use it to mop up a drizzle of maple syrup. My fried eggs are cooked to perfection, the whites firm and the yolks soft, and the pancakes are light and fluffy. This place may look like a dive, but they've never served anything less than heaven on a plate.
"No, but he and Rebecca have the whole Christmas period off work so he's going to bring his family up on the twenty-seventh for a couple of days. If we can persuade Nathan to stay until then, we can have the whole family together for at least a day," she says, her eyes bright at the thought of all of us being together.
"I bet Nathan can be persuaded," I say, though more of my attention is on my food than my mom right now. My breakfasts usually switch between a bowl of cereal or a couple slices of toast; I forgot how good this kind of food could be.
"Maybe. He's bringing Lily this time."
"He is?" That gets my attention. My brother's been with Lily ever since New Year's Day last year but she's only made it out to Deer Pines once in that time – last August, for Mom's sixty-fifth birthday, when Dad was stuck on a job overseas so the rest of us worked together to celebrate with her. "You think that means something?"
Mom shrugs and gives me a playful smile. "They've been together a couple years now. If she's spending Christmas with us rather than her own family, that's pretty serious, don't you think?"
