Read Online A Long Thaw by Katie O’Rourke - Free Book Online Page A

pulls her coat tighter around her body and follows him.
    When they get back to the apartment, Abby’s sitting in the living room with a man she introduces as Ryan. Juliet shoots her an amused look, but Abby’s avoiding her eyes.
    Ryan shakes hands with Jesse, then Juliet. ‘The famous Juliet,’ he says, bowing his head.
    ‘Famous?’
    ‘Oh, yes. Abby’s been telling me all about you.’
    Abby shrugs, admitting to it.
    ‘And there is quite the family resemblance,’ Ryan continues, ‘which makes me think Abby’s a little bit conceited.’ He lowers his voice, pretending to tell a secret. ‘She went on and on about how pretty you are.’
    ‘She did not.’ Juliet blushes.
    ‘She absolutely did.’
    ‘Juliet has always been beautiful,’ Abby says.
    ‘You should see her before she puts on her make-up.’ Jesse sits down and puts his heavy boots up on the coffee table.
    ‘I have,’ Abby says, folding her arms across her chest.
    ‘We were going to order a pizza,’ Juliet says, to change the subject. ‘Did you guys want to join in?’
    Abby and Ryan look at each other and wordlessly come to agreement. The girls go into the kitchen to find the number.
    ‘Next week is Thanksgiving,’ Abby says, trying hard to sound casual as she rifles through papers in a drawer.
    Juliet agrees that it is.
    ‘The family is going to be at Nana’s. You know they’d love you to come.’
    ‘He’ll be there?’ Juliet asks.
    Abby nods.
    ‘Have fun.’
    ‘I could stay here,’ Abby offers, pulling out the list of take-out numbers and shutting the drawer with her hip.
    Juliet shrugs. ‘Thanksgiving has never really been a big deal for me. Growing up, we used to go to my aunt Camille’s sometimes. Others we just stayed home. Just another day. Don’t worry.’
    ‘They’re going to ask about you,’ Abby says.
    Juliet sighs. ‘Well, I’m not going to ask you to lie. It’s bad enough that I’ve been keeping his secrets. You shouldn’t have to.’
    ‘You sure?’
    ‘Maybe I’m a coward. I don’t want to see Nana’s face when she finds out. But it might be a relief to have it all out.’
    Abby reaches out and squeezes her hand quickly. It feels like the pulse of a single heartbeat.
    After the pizza has been ordered, the four of them sit in the living room. After a period of polite chit-chat, an awkward silence swells.
    Abby claps her hands. ‘We should play Apples to Apples!’
    ‘What?’ Juliet asks.
    Abby gets to her feet and walks to the coat closet.
    Ryan rolls his eyes, smiling. ‘It’s a board game. Her favourite. You have to have four people to play so she’s always trying to rope other couples in.’ He flinches a little, obviously realizing his use of the term other couples.
    ‘It’s the best game,’ Abby says, as she walks towards them with the box in her hands. ‘It’s like word association but there’s no strategy. It’s totally arbitrary.’
    ‘“Arbitrary”. That’s Abby’s favourite word.’
    Abby sits down and sets the box on the table. ‘Is not.’
    ‘No? What is it, then? “Petulant”?’ Ryan leans back with a look of utter fascination.
    Abby screws her lips into a knot at the side of her face and seems to consider this as if it’s an important question. ‘That is a good one,’ she says. ‘There are so many.’
    ‘“Dichotomy”. “Philanderer”. “Xylophone”.’
    Abby scrunches her nose. ‘It would definitely be an adjective.’
    ‘Now this is an odd game.’ Juliet laughs.
    ‘What’s your favourite word, Juliet?’ Ryan asks.
    Juliet looks up at the ceiling. ‘“Zucchini”,’ she decides.
    ‘That’s fun,’ Ryan says. ‘I like “bikini”, myself.’
    Abby lifts the lid to the game’s box. ‘How about you, Jesse?’ she asks, with a sort of forced civility.
    Jesse makes a face at them all and shakes his head. ‘Look, I don’t play word games, okay? And I don’t play board games either.’ He waves his hand at the table dismissively.
    ‘Oh.’ Abby