Sunday night dinner had been a staple at the Hayes family household since Daisy was a kid. It was their mother’s way to make sure she got to see her kids as they got older and made less time for her. The rule was if you were in Red Maple Falls then you damn well be at the dinner table come five p.m. or there’d be hell to pay… in the form of a major guilt trip that would make you never want to miss dinner again. It had been years since Daisy was a regular at Sunday night dinner. Living in New York had been her ticket out, but she’d missed it, especially when her roommates had been out doing their own thing and she’d been left alone.
She was actually happy to see her entire family in one place other than a hospital. Though, without her grandparents, it didn’t feel right. In all the years of Sunday night dinner they had only missed a handful.
The house seemed extra quiet tonight, quite a feat since the entire family was there, including the dogs.
Lady, a senior golden cocker spaniel, stayed close to Hadley’s side like always, but Hadley’s other dog Marshmallow and Matt and Shay’s dog, Bubbles, were currently chasing each other around the coffee table. Rex, Tommy’s dog, chewed on a bone in the corner.
“Hey, baby sis.” Cooper wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her close.
She rolled her eyes at the sentiment. “I’m not a baby and haven’t been for a very long time.”
“You’ll be in a nursing home in diapers and still be my baby sis.”
“That’s not going to happen. We seem to come from some really good genes.”
Cooper nodded, his blue eyes dimming. “I always thought so until recently.”
“I know what you mean. I always assumed grandma was indestructible then she was taken out by some black ice.”
“She’s not down for the count,” he said. “She has a lot of fight left in her.”
“It’s still scary to think…” Daisy paused, an unexpected tinge of emotion burning her throat. “She’s not going to be around forever and that’s a lot to grasp.”
Cooper took a deep breath and let it slow. “I try not to think about it.”
“Is it me or is it uncomfortably quiet here tonight?” Hadley asked, taking a sip of beer from her pint glass. Her blonde hair that she recently cut back into a bob was tucked securely behind her right ear.
“I thought it was just me,” Daisy said.
“Definitely not,” Kate said, joining the conversation. “I keep waiting for Grandma to pop out from the woodwork.”
Mason walked over, handing Cooper a beer. “You sure she’s not up there? She’s sneaky like that.”
“Like that time you climbed out your bedroom window to meet up with Claire Fowley, and she was standing at the edge of the driveway waiting for you,” Hadley said to Cooper.
“Who is Claire Fowley?” Sarah, Cooper’s wife asked as she shifted their beautiful eleven-month-old son onto her other hip. Theo reached up, grabbing her black hair, and tugged. Sarah unwrapped his little fingers from the strands and pushed her hair behind her shoulders.
“Nobody,” Cooper said, flashing the Hayes signature smile.
Sarah laughed. “Nobody my butt.”
“None of us liked her,” Kate said.
“Didn’t like who?” Matt asked, walking over with his son in his arms.
“Claire Fowley,” Kate responded.
“She was nothing but trouble that one. What brought her up?”
Hadley shrugged. “Grandma.”
A very rare silence fell between them. Everyone seemed to be wrapped up on their own thoughts, all too scared to say them out loud.
“She’ll be fine,” Daisy finally said. “She is fine.”
“Of course she is,” Matt said. “She’s not going anywhere until she sees every one of you walk down the aisle.”
“Then lucky for us she will be around for a while. I have no plans to marry anytime soon,” Daisy said.
Kate took a sip from her glass of wine. “I heard you and Nick had a little bit of a heated discussion at the brewery the other day.”
Daisy sighed. Forget the town; there was nothing sacred in this family.
“Thanks Cassie!” Daisy called out to her soon to be sister-in-law who was helping her mother in the kitchen.
She poked her head out, her auburn hair falling in her face. “For what?”
“Ratting me out.”
“About you and Nick? Please. Something tells me that was only the first of many heated interactions.”
“You’re still a snitch.”
“I’m okay with that.” Cassie winked then disappeared back into the kitchen.
Daisy turned back around, and every pair of eyes was on her like crows circling roadkill. “What?”
“Anything you want to tell us?” Matt asked. As the oldest, he made it his job to know everybody’s business, and when he wasn’t the first to know he got cranky. He hated being out of the loop almost as much as he hated big cities.
“No,” she said, refusing to acknowledge the subject.
But she should have known her siblings had other ideas, all of which centered around poking and prodding.
“Must be weird seeing him after so long,” Hadley said.
Daisy rolled her eyes. She hadn’t really missed New York but now she was feeling this sudden urge to head back there. “It was fine.”
“Is that why you snuck off with him while Grandma was in surgery?” Hadley asked.
“What is this? Grandma isn’t here so you have to fill her shoes?”
“I’m just curious,” Hadley said.
“Me too,” Cooper added.
Daisy turned to him with narrowed eyes. “Traitor!”
“What? I’m sorry. It’s just the poor guy has been hung up on you for years. Shit like that doesn’t just go away.”
“Not to mention you two were attached at the hip since you were eleven,” Kate added.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Daisy said with finality in her tone. Not that it mattered. Her family were like vultures with roadkill dangling in front of them.
“So does that mean there is something to talk about?” Kate asked, eyeing Daisy over her wine glass. “After you left my place yesterday I couldn’t help but notice you and Nick walking out of The Happy Apple together.”
“And the truth comes out,” Matt said.
“How many outings have there been exactly?” Kate asked.
Daisy turned a death glare onto Kate. “Don’t you have a husband to bother?”
“Sorry, but he’s talking bikes with Dad.” Caleb could talk bikes all night, and since her dad was currently in the market for a mountain bike, that conversation was guaranteed to continue well into the next few weeks.
Daisy threw her arms up in annoyance. “You are all impossible.”
“Cut Daisy some slack,” Sarah said. “She just got home. Are you trying to chase her off back to New York already?”
“I knew I loved you for a reason,” Daisy said with a smile for Sarah.
Sarah nudged her with her shoulder. “I got your back.”
“Dinner’s ready,” a pregnant Shay said, walking over to the table with a basket of bread.
“Let me get that.” Matt went to grab the basket from his wife who pulled it out of his reach.
“It’s a basket of bread. Don’t start with me.”
Daisy laughed. She wasn’t around for Shay’s first pregnancy, but her siblings and Shay filled her in on how Matt was more overbearing than usual, coddling Shay like she was a fragile piece of china about to break—something that drove Shay absolutely nuts.
“I’m just trying to help,” Matt insisted.
“No, you’re trying to keep me from doing anything. If you had your way I’d be on bed rest for this entire pregnancy.”
“Anyone have any popcorn? This is getting good,” Cooper said, taking a seat at the table.
“You’ll spoil your dinner,” Tommy said, causing everyone to laugh. It didn’t take long for Tommy to join in, hamming it up for the attention.
The kid reminded Daisy so much of herself when she was his age. He loved the attention, but he also was very grounded and respectful. Sarah raised him well, and Daisy would think that it’d be only a matter of time for Cooper to undo years of Sarah’s hard work, but to Daisy’s surprise, Cooper was a good dad. A great dad actually. Something she never would ‘ve believed unless she saw it with her own eyes. It was another reason why she was happy to be home for a little longer than a few days.
“Tommy is right,” Jonathon Hayes said. “No popcorn until after dinner and no show either.”
Carol Hayes came into the dining room, carrying a large roast, and placed it in the middle of the table. “Bon Appetit.”
“Looks delicious, Mom,” Matt said.
Daisy sat next to Tommy and nudged his shoulder. “How are the lines coming?”
“I’ve been practicing in front of Rex.”
“I used to practice in front of Dylan.”
Tommy’s eyebrows rose and his nose crinkled. “The donkey?”
“Practicing in front of a Donkey is not much different than practicing in front of a dog. Besides, he was my best audience.” Daisy smiled, remembering all the times she’d drag her trunk filled with costumes to the barn and perform as if Dylan wasn’t a donkey but a crowded theater. “If you want to, come by tomorrow we can go out to the barn and practice with him.”
Tommy turned to Sarah with full on puppy dog eyes. “Mom, can I? Please?”
Sarah laughed. “If Daisy doesn’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
Everyone sat down at the table, plates were passed, drinks were poured and then a silence fell. The sound of forks hitting the ceramic plates was the only noise in the usually noisy dining room. Daisy hadn’t been home for a Sunday night dinner in a while, but even she knew something was off.
Carol placed her napkin on the table then flattened her hands against the oak surface. “That’s it.” She pushed up from her seat and everyone turned to look at her. “Grab your plates and meet me in the kitchen.”
“Is everything okay?” Matt asked.
“Just meet me in the kitchen. All of you.” She didn’t explain further, grabbing her own plate and walking away.
Daisy looked to her siblings, but they looked just as confused as she felt. One by one they followed with plates in hand.
In the kitchen Carol took down a stack of Tupperware and handed it out to everyone. “If your grandparents can’t be here with us then we are going to have to go to them.”
“Will the hospital be okay with all of us there?” Daisy asked.
“Quite frankly,” her mother said, “I don’t care. We have a tradition in this family, and I’m not going to let a little hospital stay side track that. So go on, pack your food up and let’s get going.”
Thirty minutes later, they were all squeezed into Betty’s hospital room, eating out of Tupperware. Laughs floated in and out, causing nurses to stop by and join in the conversations.
This was the Sunday night dinner that Daisy remembered.