Flat-Out Love

“Matt! I can stay wherever I want to. I’m an adult.”

“You’re not acting like it.”

“Why do you care where I stay?”

“Ah, a lovers’ quarrel,” Celeste said dreamily from the back seat.

“Shut up!” Julie and Matt yelled together.

Trying to ignore his driving for the rest of the ride home was the only thing keeping her sane right now. God, he was so grouchy sometimes. Temperamental. She couldn’t keep up with his moods.

He pulled into the driveway and opened her door, moving to help her get out.

“I can walk just fine,” she said, although her legs were noticeably shaking. She batted him away.

“Forgive me for not wanting you to collapse on the pavement,” he said.

Julie shuffled behind him and Celeste as they walked up the front steps and watched Matt struggle with the finicky front lock. “Wait a minute.” She turned back to the car and then looked at Celeste. “Where’s Flat Fi

Matt froze and also turned to his sister.

Celeste clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh! He’s in the car.” She started to walk back down the steps and stopped.

Julie looked at Matt and saw it register with him, too. “No, Celeste,” he said softly. “He’s not.” The surprise in his voice was obvious. “Flat Fi

Celeste kept her back to them and squeezed her hands.

Matt continued. “We left the house so fast that we forgot.”

“I never forget. Never,” she said.

Julie shivered. She realized that Celeste had not only left the house, but had gone all the way to South Boston, gathered Julie from the beach, and returned home. All without Flat Fi

“That is not fair to him!”

Matt moved toward his sister, but Julie grabbed his arm. She didn’t want him to rescue her again. “Kiddo? You can take a day off when you want. So can he. It’s not a big deal. Some things you need to do without him.”

“Besides, it’s sleeting and awful out today.” He was clearly trying hard to sound nonchalant. “He would have hated the trip.”

Celeste unclenched her fists. “I imagine that he would have.”

“Speaking of sleet, you need to come in the house, Celeste.” Matt got the door lock to open. “Or I’ll have two icicle girls to attend to.”

Celeste whipped around, her long blond curls sparkling from the sleet. “We wouldn’t want to overwhelm you, now, would we? Two feeble, dim-witted females such as Julie and myself couldn’t possibly take care of our delicate bodies. We might have to be carried to the fainting room and revived with smelling salts.” She walked back up the stairs and into the house.

Matt looked at Julie, dumbfounded. “Did she just roll her eyes at me?”

“Yes,” she said, pleased. “Yes, she did.”

“Why don’t you go take a hot shower, and I’ll start a fire.”

Thirty minutes later, Julie was bundled up in long underwear and fleece. She scooted closer to the fireplace and stuck her toes as near to the heat as she could without igniting her socks. Matt jabbed a log with an iron poker, sending sparks flying.

“Thanks for the soup,” Julie said.

“I’m gifted with a can opener. What can I say?”

“Still. Thank you. And for the water and the orange juice. I feel a little better.”

“Good. I’ll order di

“The fire feels nice. How come you guys don’t light more? You have all these beautiful fireplaces in the house.”

He threw another log onto the already high flames. “Mom doesn’t like the smell much. Since she’s not here, I thought I’d take advantage. The house will air out by the time she gets back.”

“Where are your parents? They can’t be working today.”

“They went up to Stowe for a few days. Vermont. We have a house there,” he explained.

“They didn’t bring you and Celeste,” she said softly.

He shook his head. “No, they did not. What about you? What happened with your father and California?”

“He canceled the trip. And then he blew me off for di

“I can’t believe you spent Christmas alone. Why didn’t you tell us? You should have stayed here. My parents are going to be furious with you.”

Julie shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s embarrassing. Don’t tell Erin and Roger, please? And Fi

“Julie, you kind of already told him. I think you have brain damage from that dip in the Atlantic.”

“Oh. I did, didn’t I?” Julie reached behind her and grabbed a pillow so she could lie down. “How did Fi

“I don’t know. He said something about a song. That all you need is the water. Then something about freeing yourself. Fi

So much for her cryptic quote. She propped herself up on her arm. “I might skydive.”

“Sure you would.”

“I might,” she insisted and flopped back down. “With the right person. Depends what you mean by skydive.”

Matt laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothin’. Hey, Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry your parents left you here alone. That’s not very nice.”

Matt jabbed the fire with an iron poker. “No, it’s not very nice, is it? And I’m sorry your dad left you alone. That’s also not very nice.”

“Thanks.” Julie closed her eyes. She was exhausted.

“Tired, huh? Why don’t you sleep for a while?”

She heard Matt get up to draw the curtains and then felt him cover her with a wool blanket. Matt was so consistently inconsistent, she thought sleepily. He was always catching her, and wrapping her up, and then being evasive and a