The 2014 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection (15 page)

A Bradford Holiday Meeting

A Bradford Holiday Meeting

            “What’s going on?”

            “How the hell should I know?” Trevor asked, not bothering to look away from the game as Jason sat down on the couch next to him.

            “Because it was your wife who called this meeting,” Jason said, handing him a beer.

            “What meeting?” he absently asked, shaking his head in disgust at the lame plays they got away with in the NFL.

            “Your wife called a family meeting,” Uncle Jared said as he walked past them, stealing his son’s beer as he went to claim the spot on the other side of him.

            “Greedy bastard,” Jason grumbled, getting up to get more beer. Not that Trevor cared as long as everyone left him alone so that he could enjoy his first kid-free game in years.

            “Any idea what this meeting is about?” Uncle Jared asked, grabbing one of the large bowls of chips that Zoe had laid out for the game.

            “No clue,” he muttered, wondering when his uncle had become so damn chatty.

            “I’m more curious about why she asked us not to bring our wives,” Jason said, sitting back down next to him with a fresh beer.

            “Because,” Zoe said as she walked in the room with another bowl of chips, pausing only long enough to place the bowl on the coffee table and shut the television off, “I have a deal to make with you.”

            “What kind of deal?” Trevor asked, sighing heavily as he sat back, knowing his wife well enough by now to know that things would go a lot quicker if he didn’t bitch about his game and just let her get to the point.

            “Well,” Zoe said, smiling hugely, “as you know I’ve been taking this cooking class and-”

            A collective groan cut her off as all three men absently placed their hands over their stomachs, each reliving the horrors of the last time she’d taken a cooking class.

            With a glare, she, unfortunately, continued, “we’ve been learning how to make our favorite holiday side dishes. So, I thought it would be fun if we held Thanksgiving and Christmas here this year.”

            “My wife always handles the holiday cooking,” Jared pointed out with a touch of panic as Trevor sat there, wracking his brain trying to figure a way out of this mess without his wife taking her disappointment out on him and his poor defenseless cock.

            Zoe smiled hugely. “That’s another reason why I’m suggesting this. I thought that it would be nice if Aunt Megan got a chance to relax and enjoy herself for once.”

            “Ummm,” Jason said, clearing his throat, obviously searching for the words to save them all, “it’s umm, a lot of work. It usually takes all of us to get the meal ready.”

            Zoe waved that away, “I have a plan to get everything ready on my own.”

            “I see,” Uncle Jared mumbled, shifting nervously on the couch next to him.

            “It’s also a lot of food to make, sweetheart. I’m not sure that-”

            “I can handle it,” Zoe said with a sweet smile that had him squirming, because now he had no other choice.

            He had to point out that they’d rather ingest battery acid than to eat her cooking. He opened his mouth to do just that when she said the one thing that would guarantee their cooperation.

            “In exchange, I will disclose the name and address of the buffet restaurant that I discovered last week,” she announced with a triumphant smile.

           
Shit
.

            Stunned, he sat back and stared at his wife. She couldn’t be serious. She really expected them to agree to eat whatever biohazard concoction she came up with in exchange for a chance to eat at a buffet?

            “What kind of buffet?” he asked, knowing that a new buffet suddenly popping up without one of them finding out was damn near impossible, not with today’s technology.

            “It’s probably a buffet that we’ve already been banned from,” Jason pointed out, sighing miserably next to him.

            “It’s brand new,” she said, smiling. “It’s also open until midnight tonight. It serves American cuisine, high quality food and has an amazing dessert selection,” she finished with a satisfied sigh that had him slowly standing up.

            “
You went to a buffet without me?
” he demanded in outrage. “That’s grounds for divorce!”

            “Probably,” she agreed with a careless shrug as his uncle and cousin came to their feet to glare down at the small woman that dared to play with them.

            “We took you into this family and this is how you repay us?” Jason spat in disgust.

            “Calm down, boys,” Uncle Jared said, keeping his attention on Zoe. “She’s gonna tell us the name of the restaurant and where to find it, because she’s a good girl.”

            “I will,” Zoe said, nodding in agreement, “for your promise that I’m in charge of all the holiday cooking this year.”

            “We can’t do that, Zoe,” Uncle Jared said softly with his most charming smile while they stood there glaring furiously at the little traitor.

            “Oh, but I think you can,” she said, still smiling that damn smile that made his cock happy and his stomach twist in fear, “because if you don’t, I’m going to call Uncle Ethan and tell him instead.”

            “You wouldn’t!”

            “Oh, but I would.”

            “
We can just Google it
,” Jason snarled.

            “Not if it hasn’t made the Google searches yet,” Zoe pointed out smugly.

            “Why don’t we take a few minutes to calm down and let these two discuss this,” Uncle Jared suddenly said, throwing him a meaningful look as he nodded towards the kitchen.

            Jason, jaw tightly clenched, nodded once in understanding.

            “That sounds like a good idea,” Jason said smoothly as he headed for the door with his father following after him, leaving Trevor standing there with his smug little wife and the knowledge that it was now up to him to do whatever it took to get the name and address of that buffet restaurant.

Part II

            “What’s the name of the restaurant, sweetheart?”

            “Will you make sure that I get to cook Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner?” she asked, watching his expression through narrowed eyes.

            He opened his mouth, but abruptly shut it and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

            “Okay,” she said, nodding thoughtfully. “I understand.”

            “You do?” he asked, sounding surprised and for good reason.

            She’d never given up this easily before.

            Then again…..

            She wasn’t exactly giving up now.

            “It’s okay,” she said, smiling as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek. “Watch your game, sweetie,” she said with a warm smile as she stepped away, trying not to laugh at the confused expression on his face.

            “I think I’m going to grab something to eat and go upstairs and read for a little while,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile as she walked towards the kitchen.

            “Is everything okay?” Jason and Uncle Jared asked, getting to their feet as she pushed the kitchen door open.

            Time for phase two, she mused, biting back a smile.

            “Everything’s fine,” she promised with a smile as she made a show of taking a plate out of the cabinet and carrying it over to table. “Why don’t you go join Trevor for the game?” she suggested as she walked over to the refrigerator and started pulling out the generic paper brown bags that she’ placed in there a little less than a half hour ago.

            “So, you understand about Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner?” Uncle Jared asked, shifting anxiously right along with his son.

            “Oh, I understand,” she said, smiling, “Don’t worry about it.”

            “We love you, Zoe,” Jason mumbled distractedly with a frown as he watched her unload several white carryout containers packed with food.

            “Yeah, we really do……,” Uncle Jared muttered, licking his lips hungrily as he watched her pop open the top off the container holding fried chicken. “Wh-what’s that?”

            “This?” she asked, feigning innocence as she picked up a large chicken breast and placed it on the plate.

            “Yes,” both men said, licking their lips as they watched her every move.

            “Oh, just some food I picked up from the buffet,” she explained with a careless shrug as she added a big scoopful of mashed potatoes on the plate.

            “T-that’s from the buffet?” Jason asked, shifting closer.

            “Mmmhmmm,” she said, adding corn, cornbread stuffing and green beans to the plate.

            Uncle Jared swallowed hard. “C-can we have some?”

            She pretended that she didn’t hear him as she placed the plate in the microwave and made up a second plate with the rest of the food. When the microwave beeped, she pulled out the plate and placed the second plate in the microwave and started it.

            “I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” she muttered thoughtfully as she opened the last container and scooped up a big spoonful of cranberry sauce and placed it on top of the food since there was no room left on the plate.

            She grabbed a fork, picked up her plate and headed for the living room door. She paused at the doorway and looked over her shoulder, “You boys don’t mind sharing a plate, do you?”

*-*-*-*

            “Open the goddamn door!” he shouted, banging on the door.

            “Are you going to let me cook?” came the smug reply from behind the safety of their bedroom door.

            “No!”

            “Then I’m afraid that I can’t do that!”

            “Open the door!” he demanded, licking his lips, eager to savor the taste of that incredible fried chicken that she’d given him.

            “That’s my chicken, you bastard!” came the shout from downstairs that had him glaring at the door.

            She’d done this to them on purpose…..

            She’d given them a taste of heaven and got them hooked, leaving them desperate for another taste. God, he could still taste the herbs and seasoning on his tongue. He needed another piece, just another piece and everything would be okay.

            “Zoe, baby, please…..,” he groaned, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead against the door. “I-I just need one more bite.”

            “Can I cook Thanksgiving dinner?” she asked around what sounded like a bite of his fried chicken dinner!

            “No!”

            “Then sorry, can’t share,” she said, not sounding sorry at all!

            “Damn it, woman! Open up!”

            “What the hell are you doing?” his uncle demanded, suddenly by his side. “Break the goddamn door down!”

            Sighing heavily, he shook his head. “I can’t. It would scare her,” he said, pushing away from the door.

            “
Then beg
!” Jason snarled.

            “It won’t work,” he said, dropping his head in defeat.

            “Then what will?”

            “You know the answer to that,” he said, rubbing his hands down his face.

            “Our wives and children will never forgive us,” Jason said with a resigned sigh.

            “No,” Uncle Jared said, gesturing for Trevor to do what needed to be done, “they won’t.”

Part III

            “You have no one to blame but yourselves,” Megan bit out as she glared down at the three men slumped on the couch.

            “Weak,” Sebastian said with a disgusted snort and a shake of his head as he walked past them on his way back upstairs where the rest of the children were playing Monopoly. “
So
weak.”

            Haley bit back a smile as Jason glared at the boy. “You wouldn’t have said that if you’d tasted that chicken!” he snapped at the boy.

            Sebastian paused by the couch as he grinned that Bradford grin down at his “uncle.” “Mom brought us there five times before she even mentioned it to you and three times since. Unlike you, we know how to enjoy a buffet without getting banned,” he said, smugly turning and walking away with a jaunty whistle as Trevor and Jared were forced to restrain Jason from throttling the boy.

            “That’s because you’re a lightweight, you little punk!” Jason shouted after the boy, who simply shrugged.

            “This is just sad,” Megan said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a tired sigh.

            “She played us,” Jason grumbled, sitting back against the couch even as he glared at Sebastian’s retreating back.

            “And now we’re screwed,” Jared, muttered pathetically.

            Megan sighed as sat down on her husband’s lap. “She wouldn’t even let us bring dessert. At least we could have filled up on dessert.”

            “I offered to help her cook, but she told me that she was all set,” Haley said with a tired sigh, wondering if she was going to end up hanging out in the emergency later before she was forced to cook enough to feed an army to make up for this.

            “She’s been in there since five this morning,” Trevor mumbled defeatedly as he gestured lazily towards the locked kitchen door.

            “The wait is the worst,” Jared said, pressing a kiss against his wife’s cheek.

            “It wouldn’t be so bad if we had a television,” Jason pointed out with a frown as he looked around the living room. “Where exactly is the television?”

            “She made me put it in the kitchen last night so she’d have it today while she cooked,” Trevor said, sighing heavily as he continued to stare at the locked kitchen door where the sounds of a movie playing drowned out the terrifying sounds of Zoe cooking.

            “Maybe someone should go see if she needs help,” she suggested, not really sure if she wanted to see what was going on behind those closed doors.

            “She doesn’t want any help,” Trevor said, closing his eyes and dropping his head back in defeat.

            “It can’t hurt to ask,” she said, not really sure that was true.

            “She’s not going to let you in there,” Trevor said, not bothering to open his eyes. “She’s locked herself in there and even drawn the blinds closed. She wants to do this all on her own.”

            “I’m going to go ask,” she mumbled, but she didn’t move, too terrified that Zoe would accept her help.

            “Maybe we should send one of the children,” Jason suggested, which had her moving her feet, because as terrified as she was, she couldn’t stomach the idea of one of the children being subjected to this horror.

            Swallowing back her fear, she walked up to the kitchen door, took a deep breath and knocked.

            “Who is it?” Zoe asked after a slight pause.

            “It’s me,” Haley said, wondering if it was too late to come down with a debilitating illness that would save her from this meal.

            “Good!” Zoe said, and before she could react or run, the kitchen door was opened and she was yanked inside where her world was turned upside down.

*-*-*-*

            “Shhhhh,” she said, pressing her hand over Haley’s mouth as the small woman took in the activity in the kitchen. “I’ll explain everything. Just don’t say anything.”

            Haley nodded, her eyes wide as she stared at the men and women cutting, chopping and cooking. Cautiously, Zoe removed her hand. “What is going on here?” Haley whispered.

            “Thanksgiving dinner?” Zoe said, biting her bottom lip as she took Haley’s hand and pulled her out of the way as one of the men walked past her carrying two mile-high apple pies.

            “I see that, but why are they here cooking?” Haley asked, as Zoe pulled her towards the kitchen table where she’d set up a little area for herself so that she was out of the way of the caterers.

            “Because she saved our boss’s ass,” a man carrying a fifty-pound bag of potatoes said with a smile and a wink as he walked past them.

            “Well, there is that,” Zoe said, gesturing for Haley to sit at the table where there was a lovely selection of snacks and appetizers for her to enjoy while she sat back, relaxed and watched movies.

            “What did you do?” Haley asked, sitting down as she picked up a mini éclair and nibbled on it.

            “I saved the caterer some money,” she said with a shrug as she sat down next to Haley.

            “I see,” Haley murmured thoughtfully as she gazed back at the busy caterers working. “And how did you sneak them in here without anyone finding out?”

            “The kids and Aunt Megan.”

            “They’re in on this?” Haley gasped.

            “Yes,” she admitted sheepishly.

            “And the reason you’re keeping this from the men?” Haley asked, reaching blindly for a stuffed mushroom.

            She could have made something up, could have given her a hundred and one excuses, but in the end she admitted, “Because it entertains me to screw with their heads.”

            “So, you’re planning on letting them think that you cooked all this?” Haley asked, gesturing to the array of delicious looking platters covering the counters.

            “Yes.”

            “Nice,” Haley said, nodding approvingly as she took a bite out of the stuffed mushroom and smiled. “Very nice indeed.”

*-*-*-*

            “It looks good,” Jason leaned in and whispered. “Really good.”

            “Then you eat it,” Uncle Jared bit out.

            “
You
!” Jason hissed back.

            “
Someone eat before you hurt my wife’s feelings
!” Trevor hissed, ramming his elbow into Jason’s side.

            “You eat! She's your wife!’

            “I can’t! Someone’s going to have bring everyone to the emergency room later,” Trevor bit out, gesturing towards the women and children devouring the insane amount of food that Zoe managed to cook.

            “I can do that!” Uncle Jared bit out.

            “It’s my job so shut the hell up and eat before you make my wife cry!”

            “Fine!” Jason snapped back, but he didn’t move to pick up his fork.

            For several minutes they sat there, glaring at the food that was most likely going to send them to the ICU.

            “Cowards,” Trevor muttered.

            “Rot in hell.”

            “Bastards.”