Read Online Curtain Call by Liz Botts - Free Book Online

tell you? We bought a farm south of town. It’ll give the little ones plenty of room to roam.”
    Flecks of mashed potato sprayed out of Duke’s mouth, enhancing the absurdity of his statement. Luckily the conversation turned to the purchase price on the property and renovations Duke and Grandma planned on completing themselves.
    Just as I thought things were winding down, Grandma smacked the table, making us all jump. “I know what I forgot to tell you,” she said, then waited for all of us to give her our full attention. “I’m going to be a TV star.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about, Grandma?” Harlow asked, her voice tight as she handed Britney another spoonful of mashed potatoes, which the little girl pushed away.
    Grandma smiled in Harlow’s direction, but her smile seemed off to me. Sort of a combination of triumph and condescension. “If you’ll recall, girl, you can’t bring me down,” Grandma said. Hayley gasped, and I wondered if she was remembering Grandma’s bridal shower. I was pretty sure that’s where all the animosity between the two of them had started. “I have been hired to star in a car commercial for Hoyt Toyota. My besties, Ethel and Millie, will be in the commercial with me.”
    â€œBesties?” Harlow muttered. “What are you, thirteen?”
    â€œMom, that’s so exciting.” My mom shot my dad a pained look. Her eyes seemed to say what we were all thinking: now Grandma would be unleashed on the tri-state viewing area. “Let’s have dessert to celebrate.”
    â€œOh! I almost forgot,” Grandma said. She leapt up from the table and hurried out of the dining room. For an octogenarian, my grandmother was remarkably spry.
    Hayley and I exchanged worried looks. So far Grandma’s career announcement coupled with her ‘volunteering’ to be a guest star in my senior project had frazzled my nerves. Anything else might push us all into the range of insanity.
    Dad cleared his throat and leaned toward Duke. “So, um, what might Wanda want to share with us?”
    Duke smiled, displaying his perfect white teeth. Tonight they looked really shiny. So shiny that I felt captivated by their glossiness.
    â€œHow do you get your teeth so shiny?”
    Everyone looked at me, and I realized I had spoken out loud. Before I could react, though, Duke clapped his hands, apparently delighted.
    â€œThank you so much for noticing, Hannah,” he said. “I have been using Vaseline. I think it really makes me stand out, don’t you?”
    My jaw dropped. I could feel it unhinge. How do you answer a question like that? I might have shrugged or possibly nodded in response, but I was doing my level best to keep any comments to myself. I did not want to be the center of attention tonight, and I did not want to get into a conversation about shiny teeth with Duke.
    Still grinning, Duke dropped his voice and in a confidential tone, he said, “You should use it for your next show. It totally helps keep your lips from sticking to your teeth too. Take Grandpa Duke’s word for it.”
    Hayley choked on her drink and started to laugh. A moment later she was laughing so hard, pop sprayed out her nose. “Ow, it burns,” she said between gasps of laughter.
    Across the table, Britney stared at Hayley with wide-eyed wonder. Oh , that poor girl, growing up in this family , I thought.
    Duke didn’t seem to mind Hayley laughing at him, presumably because he thought she was laughing at something he had said, not actually at him.
    Before anyone could say anything else, Grandma came back into the dining room holding a small bundle. Whatever was wrapped in the hot pink blanket was alive because it squirmed in Grandma’s arms.
    She peeled the blanket back to reveal the snuffling snout of a pig. “This is Fenwick,” she announced, gazing down fondly at the creature. “He’s our newest