Family Ties Read Online Free PDF Page B

to be someone great. Otherwise, why bother? She had decided years before that she’d rather sit home alone than go out with a dud, just for the sake of going out. And everyone tried too hard on New Year’s Eve and drank too much, including Fred. Whitney thought he walked on water, which was nice. Annie’s role models for relationships were her late sister and brother-in-law, who had been madly in love until the end. She didn’t want less than that for herself or even for their kids. She had talked about them a lot to their children over the years, and there were photos of Jane and Bill everywhere. She had kept their memory alive for all of them.
    Annie got up to go check on the turkey, and Ted wandered in a few minutes later in pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, looking like an overgrown boy. At twenty-four, he was a handsome man, like his father. And when she checked, the turkey was looking good and turning brown.
    “Do you need help?” Ted offered, as he poured himself a glass of orange juice and handed one to his aunt.
    “I think I’m fine. You can help me carve.”
    “That’s good. It’s great being here. I get tired of living with three guys at my apartment. They’re all such slobs.”
    “Like your sister,” Annie said with a rueful smile as they sat down at the kitchen table.
    “Actually they’re worse than Kate.” Ted grinned.
    “That’s scary,” Annie said, as her younger niece walked into the room. Her spiky hair was standing up straight, and she was wearing a flannel nightgown with skulls all over it.
    Annie made them both scrambled eggs and then basted the turkey, as the two young people thanked her for the breakfast and devoured it.
    “It’s nice to be home,” Kate said happily, as Annie smiled at her and leaned over and kissed her.
    “It’s nice for me too,” Annie said softly. “This place is a tomb without you.”
    “You need to meet a guy,” Kate said firmly, and Annie rolled her eyes.
    “You sound like Whitney. She says hi by the way.”
    “Hi to her,” Kate said easily, and then Annie saw that she had Tinkerbell on the other forearm.
    “What is that?” Ted commented with a look of disapproval that his sister was familiar with. “A tribute to Disney?”
    “You’re just jealous,” Katie said, and then put her plate in the dishwasher. “I think Annie should get a tattoo. It would give her a whole new look.”
    “What’s wrong with my old look? Besides, it would scare my clients.”
    “I’m sure they’d love it,” Katie insisted. “Don’t listen to Mr. Clean here. He wouldn’t know style if it bit him on the ass. He’s stuck in 1950. Leave it to Beaver.”
    “That’s better than the cartoon fest on your arms. What’s next? Cinderella or Snow White?”
    “I think I should get an eagle on my chest,” Annie said pensively, as Katie grinned.
    “I’ll design it for you if you want. You could do a butterfly on your back. I did a great one for the tattoo parlor last week. They’ve already used it for two people.”
    “There’s a career goal for you,” Ted commented drily. “Tattoo artist. I’ll bet Mom and Dad would have loved that.”
    “What do you know?” Kate looked annoyed by the comment. “Maybe they would have thought law school was boring. They had more pizzazz than that.”
    “They would have been proud of you both,” Annie intervened in the discussion, and basted the bird in the oven again. “We should probably get dressed.” It was eleven o’clock by then.
    “No rush. Liz will be an hour late and act surprised. She always does,” Katie commented.
    “She has a lot to do.” Annie defended her.
    “She just can’t tell time. Who’s she bringing?” Ted asked with interest.
    “The photographer she’s dating. Jean-Louis.”
    “Oh. A frog. He can watch football with me.”
    “Lucky guy,” Kate teased her older brother. “Football is such a redneck sport.” Ted looked murderous for a minute, and then he laughed. Katie had known how to get