Best Served Cold

27: The Consequences of Stealing Toast

The table was set and dinner was dished up – a beautiful pasta – the smell alone was enough to make your mouth water. We were all seated at the table like the night before the only difference was that the extra three people made for numerous conversations. Jane’s twin brother Damien, his wife Angela and their daughter – Thomas and Jordan’s cousin – Sophia who was about my age, maybe even younger. Sophia and Julie seemed to really hit it off which was funny since she was like a girl version of her cousin.

I had to occasionally steal myself from conversations to scold Jordan about pretending to drop his pasta on the floor – it appears that the earlier conversations were forgotten and he was back to his usual flirty self. By the end of dinner Thomas had been dobbed in once again for knocking Julie up which only seemed to entertain everyone else but Thomas who had decided to just pout and play with his food all night.

I was on wash up duty with Julie and Sophia which included the clearing of plates and wiping the dishes that Jane washed. I was sitting on the stool wiping the plates as Julie sat next to me with the cutlery and Sophia seemed to be enjoying herself tasting the wine as she jumped up to sit on the bench top.

“So Julie how are you enjoying the family? Is Thomas doing your head in yet?” Sophia asked as she kicked out her feet and sipped the wine – obviously picking up on the tension between the two.

“The family is great.” Is all she answered back, catching my attention. I would have expected her to listing all the ways she could kill him.

“Yeah well it just goes to show. The Wilder men are cursed.” Sophia gulped the rest of her wine and filled up another glass. Maybe someone should take that bottle off of her.

“They’re not cursed, stop teasing Soph.” Jane interrupted as she drained the sink and wiped her hands.

“Oh yeah they are. And this is proof.”

“Cursed, really?” Julie cut in seeming more than tired.

“Yeah just ask Jane.” She shrugged. Sophia’s nose picked up and twitched “Do you smell chocolate? I smell chocolate.” She jumped off the bench and went in search of the chocolate.

I laughed thinking of just much she is like Thomas, it was a little scary.

“So…” Julie leaned in, her attention full of Jane. “Please explain.”

Jane rolled her eyes and leaned back, pushing her red hair out of her eyes. “Apparently everyone one of the Wilder men seem to have these… interesting starts with the girls they end up falling in love with.”

“Interesting starts?” I cut in. Now she had my attention.

“Yeah. Thomas and you” she nodded to Julie “having a child together before you’ve really gotten to know each other, Jordan and you” now moving her attention to me “meeting while your currently dumbing your fiancé – and yes honey I know about that.”

“Oh where not…” I started but Jane quickly cut me off.

“I know my boys better then they know themselves. Trust me on that.” She smiled.

“So what about you and Tyson?” Julie asked getting straight to the point.

“Tyson showed up on my door step.”

“Like literally?” I questioned wondering how that happened.

Jane chuckled and nodded. “I was young and wanted a baby before I got older and I couldn’t. Back then IVF wasn’t common or really up to the standards it’s at now. They made a lot of mistakes – which means that the candidate I picked wasn’t supposed to be in the mix.”