“Shotty!” Lee called, pushing me out of the way as he yanked open the front door and hopped inside.
“That was rude, Lee,” Katherine told him, but her nephew wasn’t listening. Lee was already fiddling with the radio, flipping through the stations until he found something he liked.
“It’s okay,” I assured Katherine, and slid open the back door. “I’m fine sitting wherever.”
Alex and I ended up in the middle seats, while Nathan took the far back. Like usual, Isaac was a no-show. Once we were all buckled in, Katherine pulled out of the school parking lot, turning in the direction of the highway. It was a fifteen-minute drive to the mall, and as everyone piled out after parking, Katherine gave us some instructions.
“Remember, kids, Zack and Benny have a soccer game tonight so we have to be quick. Everyone needs to be back here in half an hour with your gifts or you’re walking home. And please,” she said, sighing, “no inappropriate presents this year.”
Lee was gone before Katherine even finished speaking, and Alex hurried off so he had time to stop at his favorite video-game store after picking out his brothers’ gifts. Not knowing the layout of the mall and still clueless about what to get Cole, I followed along with Nathan.
“In here,” he said, strolling into an electronics store. He led me through the rows of TVs, computers, and other gadgets with purpose, as if he knew exactly where he was going. He did. We came to a stop in front of a sleek, voice-controlled radio.
“Cole’s been eyeing this all year,” Nathan said. “He wants to install it in the car he’s been restoring.” He turned over the price tag. “Dang. I was hoping this would go on sale since the new version came out.”
“How about we go in on it together?” I suggested.
“Jackie, I can’t even pay for half of this,” he said. “Besides, I still have to get something for Danny.”
“Don’t worry about it, Nathan,” I said, thinking of the credit card in my wallet. “Just pay for what you can.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do that, Jackie. That’s not fair.”
“I have more than enough,” I told him. When he still didn’t look convinced, I added, “Besides, you’re totally helping me out. I had no clue what to get for Cole when we got here today. I can’t take all the credit.”
“Are you sure?” he said, glancing back down at the price tag.
Grabbing the box off the shelf, I nodded my head. “Absolutely.”
***
The next morning, someone knocked on my door before my alarm went off.
“Come in!” I called, sitting up in bed.
“Morning, Jackie,” Nathan said, stepping inside. In his hands was the present we’d bought for Cole, already wrapped up in blue wrapping paper.
“Morning, Nathan, what’s up?” I asked.
“I just came to tell you that I’m not running this morning. My mom always makes blueberry pancakes when it’s someone’s birthday, and we watch them open their presents.”
“Presents in the morning?” I asked, jumping out of bed.
“Yeah,” he said with a frown. “Still don’t have something ready for Danny?”
Yesterday, after we purchased the sound system for Cole, Nathan bought Danny the first season of his favorite crime show, The Blood Trails, which I recognized from the nights we both couldn’t sleep. But the gift that I wanted to get for Danny was something I couldn’t buy at the mall, and I had planned on arranging it after school.
“No,” I told him, throwing open my closet. “Is there a printer somewhere that I can use?”
“Sure, there’s one in my room,” Nathan told me. “See you at breakfast.”
I rushed about the room changing out of my pajamas and packing my bag for school. Then I turned on my computer and waited for it to wake up. Once it had, I pulled out my credit card and bought Danny’s gift before rushing to Nathan’s room to print it out. There wasn’t time to make a birthday card and I didn’t have a gift bag, so I folded the piece of paper in half and headed down to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Jackie,” Katherine greeted me as I came in. She was standing at the stove flipping pancakes and directing George on how to squeeze fresh orange juice. By the looks of it, he was successful at getting more juice on the counter than in the pitcher.
“Morning,” I said back.
Danny and Cole were already sitting at the table, a pile of presents in front of them. Standing right next to them were Zack and Benny, fingers itching to tear open the gifts.
“Happy birthday, guys,” I said offering them both a smile.
“Thanks, Jackie,” Danny said and grinned at me for the first time ever. Cole merely nodded his head.