Always Remember

misses the Bay.”
    “Her family? Yes. The Bay? No.” Alec shakes his head. “Jen ’s too big for a small town like Lilac Bay.”
    “That better not be a reference to the size of my ass, Johnson,” Jen ’s voice calls down from the top of the stairs. A smile creeps onto my lips.
    “You bet it was,” Alec replies, winking at me. “That thing could block out the sun and cause the next eclipse, Mason.”
    “You’m a cheeky little donkey shit, Alec.” She laughs, preceding Lexy down the stairs. “Watch it, or my ass might just sit on you and squash you.”
    “I ’ll take that,” I mutter, wrapping my arms around her waist when she reaches me. She puts her hands on my shoulders and leans forward, gently pressing her lips to mine.
    “Dinner is ready,” she says, looking into my eyes.
    “Can we not go straight to dessert?” I ask, running my hands over her hips, noting her tight jeans.
    She purses her lips. “No, we can ’t. And if that’s the dessert you’re expecting, you’re gonna be well disappointed. Lemon meringue pie.”
    “Is it homemade?” Alec pipes up.
    Lexy nods. “Yep. Mum made it this morning.”
    I look at Alec, and he looks at me. I let Jen go, and we both shoot off towards the stairs. Our feet pound against them as we run, and he pushes past me into the kitchen.
    A large lemon meringue pie is sitting on the side on one of Mum’s glass dessert plates. I lick my lips a little. Mum makes the best lemon pie – and she learnt that from Gram.
    “Reckon there ’s any chance Lexy will ever be able to make a pie like that?” Alec asks hopefully, sitting at the table.
    “I reckon there ’s more chance than Jen being able to do it,” I reply, sitting too.
    “Rule one, lads.” Dad looks at us across the table. “Never underestimate a woman ’s ability in the kitchen. They’re either really good or really bad, and neither are anything to be mocked.”
    Jen grins at me, taking her seat. “Well, I can cook. If it comes in a packet.”
    “I’m worse than that.” Lexy shrugs a shoulder. “I guess we need lessons, ‘cause I can barely scoop ice cream into a bowl.”
    “Even I can do that.” Jen laughs.
    “But you live alone. I still have Mum cooking for me.”
    “So do I,” I remind her. “And I can cook.”
    “You can cook?” Jen raises her eyebrows. “Why didn’t I know this?”
    “There ’s no need to sound so surprised.” I grin. “I learnt from Mum. I need a lot of food you know.”
    Dad smiles. “We went away for the weekend when he was eighteen, and he was only worried he wouldn ’t be able to eat anything but crap food, so he asked Emily to teach him how to cook.”
    “I remember that!” Lexy cries, smiling widely. “Watching my womanizing big brother with an apron on and cooking in the kitchen was probably the highlight of my life.”
    “An apron?” Alec smirks.
    I pinch my top. “No way am I messing up these clothes, mate.”
    “ You’re such a girl.” Jen nudges my arm. “You can cook me dinner one night then.”
    “Fine.” I grin as Mum puts a large bowl of pasta in the middle of the table. “I ’ll cook you dinner tomorrow night.”
    Jen looks at Mum. “Should I be worried?”
    Mum smiles. “No, love. He’s actually a very good cook. He could teach his sister a thing or two.” Her eyes glide towards Lexy, and my sister pokes her tongue out at me.
    Alec grabs one of the spoons in the pasta bowl. “I don ’t think I’d trust Bing to make me toast.”
    Lexy snorts. “Yes, Alec, because you ’re Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen.”
    “I burnt it once, Princess! Once!”
    “I’ve been known to burn toast on occasion,” Dad pipes in. “It’s easy to forget about.”
    Lexy puts her fork down. “You do your toast in the grill. Alec was using a toaster set to the third setting. How do you burn toast on the third setting?”
    “Actually,” Jen muses. “It’s possible. One piece of toast will go more than two pieces.”
    “I made two pieces,” Alec mutters, stabbing his fork into his pasta.
    “Oh, well, then, ha!” Jen laughs. “You suck.”
    “Says the ready-meal queen.”
    “At least I can make toast without burning it.”
    “I made Lexy spaghetti and meatballs once. That was edible.”
    “After you’d burnt the spaghetti.” Lexy laughs.
    I grin. “It ’s a good job I can cook. If I couldn’t, I think Jen would probably have me starve.”
    “No. You ’d just be eating an awful lot of ready meals which, aren’t