Rest in Pieces by Katie Graykowski Read Free Book Online Page B

cabinet, opened it, pulled three plates down, grabbed three forks and knives from the drawer in front of them, and went to the table. He set the plates down, a fork and knife on either side, and then grabbed a handful of paper napkins from the basket in the middle of the table. He placed one under the knife.
    “Good job, Buddy.” Ben nodded.
    Max rolled his eyes up to meet Ben’s. “Mom makes me do it a lot.”
    He made it sound like I beat him regularly, lock him in a closet, and only let him out to set the table.
    “Moms can be like that. Mine made me make my bed every morning and take the trash out.” Ben clapped a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Moms can be tough.”
    I pulled two glasses out of the cabinet, filled them with ice from the door in the freezer, and then pressed the water button, filling them with water. I brought them to the table and set one in front of Max and the other in front of my plate. “Yep, we moms are a mean species. It’s a wonder you lived through having one.”
    “I know.” Ben grinned. “Does the ability to look at your child and know what they’ve done wrong come automatically or is there some practice involved?”
    “Yep, it grows in the womb along with the baby. So do the eyes in the back of our heads, the ability to spot a lie a mile away, and hurling shoes to get your attention when you’re too far away to feel the full weight of the mommy death glare. Motherhood is a package deal.”
    “Sounds like it.” With his fork, Ben stabbed one of the three Fred Flintstone sized beef ribs and put it on his plate.
    Max took one and they turned to look at me. Not that I wasn’t a fan of giant–sized beef products, it’s more that I was a chicken kind of girl.
    I checked out all of the meat options. Chicken, turkey and sausage along with a mountain of brisket. That was a lot of dead animals. I picked up a white Styrofoam container and popped off the lid. “Cream corn…cool.”
    I poured a huge glob of corn onto my plate, along with some turkey. Using my knife, I cut off a hunk of chicken. I opened the remaining three Styrofoam containers to find squash casserole, potato salad, and coleslaw.
    “I thought after dinner, we could kick the soccer ball around, if you’d like.” Ben watched Max.
    “Sure.” Max’s face lit up. “We’ve got a game tomorrow afternoon against the Strikers. They beat us last year.”
    “What position do you play?” Ben used a paper napkin to wipe his mouth and then he took a sip of his beer.
    “Midfielder.” Max said around a huge bite of meat. I would have chided him for talking with his mouth full, but I’ve been known to do the same thing, so it seemed hypocritical.
    “I don’t know much about soccer, maybe you could teach me?” Ben nodded.
    “Sure.” Max tone was all importance.
    “What time is your game?” I’d forgotten about it.
    “I think it’s at four. Why?” Max was gnawing on the rib bone. It seemed that Fred Flintstone–sized meat brought out the caveman in my son.
    “Haley’s teaching me to shoot tomorrow morning. You’re going to the park with Reese and Riley and Landon. Landon’s grandmother’s watching you. Y’all are picnicking.”
    “Cool.” Max grinned. He had a crush on Riley.
    “You’re learning how to shoot a gun? Why?” Ben wiped his mouth again, sat back and looked at me.
    “Honestly, I’m not sure. My friend Haley seems to think I need to know how to handle a gun. She’s taking us to someone’s house. I can’t remember his name, but he has a gun range in his house. His butler is a gunsmith.”
    I’ve always wanted a butler, but I’ve never understood what they do, besides opening the front door. Do they just wait around for someone to knock on the door? People rarely come to my door, so my butler would be pretty bored.
    “Daman Rodriguez.” Ben’s eyes narrowed and five lines popped up on his forehead.
    “Yes, I think that’s right.” I scooped up a forkful of creamed corn and popped it in