“Isn’t she one of the members of your book club?” Miranda passed the platter of roast beef.
“She is. Which means I won’t get bored.”
Mitch dumped a healthy lake of gravy on his mashed potatoes and pot roast. “Cuz, if you need a book club assignment to keep you from getting bored on a date, you clearly need to revisit the definition of date.”
“It’s a PG function, son,” Uncle Pete said.
Baffled, Norah looked around the table. “Did I step into a Twilight Zone episode set back in high school?”
“Wishful has an annual Valentine’s dance,” Aunt Liz explained. “Here, have a roll.”
Norah took one and passed the bread basket to Cam on her right. “Really?”
“Since we don’t have a lot of the things people in big cities do for the occasion, we make our own fun,” Sandra said. “Old school style. It’s a nice change from the winter doldrums.”
“I’m afraid most of my knowledge of school dances comes from John Hughes movies.”
“You never went to a high school dance?” Cam looked appalled.
“I’m sorry, have we had any conversation that would lead you to believe that I did anything normal in high school?”
“Not even prom?”
“It may shock you to know that high school boys found me intimidating. Apparently the fact that I didn’t feel the need to hide my brain was a turn off.”
“Bless your heart. We need to rectify some of these holes in your life experience.” Cam lifted her hand and adopted a hopeful expression. “So will you and your devastatingly attractive brain be my valentine?”
Charmed, she repressed a grin and pretended to consider. “And what exactly would that entail?”
“Drinking probably spiked punch—”
“Definitely spiked. Tucker’s coming,” Mitch said.
“—and dancing under crepe paper banners and construction paper hearts in the community center gym. It’ll be completely cheesetastic, nostalgic, and—”
“Perfect.” Norah kissed his cheek. “Though we’ll all be up early on Saturday for work.”
“Ah yes, your mysterious plan. And when are you going to let us in on the rest of it?”
“On Saturday. Everybody knows what they need to know. The rest is a surprise.” And she was still working out some of the details.
“So not even a clue as to what you were doing in Oxford today?”
“Not a one.”
“Cam hates surprises,” Sandra said. “I used to have to hide his Christmas presents at friends’ houses because he’d get into the closet and peek under the wrapping paper. As if I wasn’t going to be able to tell he’d untaped the end.”
“I was eight!”
“I caught you doing that at thirteen.”
“Well it was an important year. I had to know if I was getting the new Nintendo.”
“And did you?” Norah asked.
“Eventually. After I caught him snooping, I decided he’d have to wait until his birthday for that one,” Sandra said.
“I thought she’d returned it. And after I’d saved my allowance to buy two games so that I could play on Christmas Day.”