Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

Author:Nat Cassidy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

2

Reid thought he did pretty well. He made eye contact. He didn’t stammer. He didn’t apologize. He didn’t crack any self-deprecating jokes. He acted—and almost believed—like he belonged in this room.

They were particularly excited when he began talking about Charlie.

“A year old tomorrow?” Dulcina Arvold clasped her hands in between her ample breasts. “Oh, what a special time! I remember my own at that age like it was yesterday.”

“Very special,” Poppy Loudon agreed. She had a much harsher Eastern European accent than Camilla’s. “Being a year old is when you really start listening, don’t you think? When you begin hearing the music all around you.”

“Good lord,” Sterling groaned, pouring himself another drink, “that’s twee.”

The gymnast waved him away. “You always act like sentimentality is some mortal sin. There’s nothing wrong with twee!”

“Said the diabetic about the jar of sweets.”

“Now who’s being precious?” Arvold, ever the critic, chimed in.

“Jackson loves his similes almost as much as he loathes using quotation marks,” Camilla said to Reid, and Sterling raised a glass to her.

“That was a metaphor, sweetheart, not a simile.”

The gleeful barbs came almost as frequently as the follow-up questions about Charlie. What she was like, how she acted. Their youthful energy impressed Reid, despite the fact that the youngest among them—Reid guessed Carl Reese, the ballplayer—had to at least be in his mid-to late-sixties.

It was Reese who threw in, “That must be so hard with your wife in a wheelchair.”

Reid flinched at that. He didn’t remember telling them about Ana’s injury, but he must have, and now he felt terrified he’d gotten too comfortable and might start repeating himself like an idiot.

After a few more minutes of conversation, Teddy Wilcox slapped his hands on his rather substantial thighs and stood up. “Camilla, I’m starving. Think I might head to the pantry.”

“Oh,” Poppy said excitedly, “I’ll join you.”

Camilla’s toy also shot to his feet as if he were expected to go along with them. Camilla stopped him with a casual hand and spoke to her guests.

“You’ll do no such thing. Stay. We’ve got plenty of măruntaie. It comes from Christopher himself.” On the coffee table was a spread of artisanal-looking crackers encircling a ramekin full of a brownish dip. “Don’t go all the way to the pantry. Besides, you need to save room for tonight, you pigs.”

Christopher—so that was this companion’s name—sat back down, disinterested as paint. Reid couldn’t imagine how good his snacks must be. On the other hand, maybe he was a really talented chef? Maybe that’s what had earned his place here? Maybe that explained his passive-yet-cocky smirk?

Reid found himself looking at that smirk. Something about Christopher’s mouth …

Winston reached forward and scooped some of the dip onto one of the crackers. “No complaints from me,” he said, munching on his snack. “This is delicious, Cammy.”

“Thank you,” Camilla replied proudly.

Almost automatically, Reid picked up a cracker, as well. He pierced the jellied spread with the knife provided and smeared it onto the cracker. He felt eyes on him. They were curious what he’d think.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.