Inferno by Casey Lane

night.  Ethan was there, and we just kind of hit it off,” I finished with a shrug.
    “You know my Ethan owns Ardor with Sebastian,” she said with pride.
    I couldn’t help but smile at her.  “Yes ma’am, I do.”
    “Where do you work dear?” asked a thin, elderly woman with graying hair.  I think she is Ethan’s Aunt Mary. 
    “I’m a Junior Associate at Bridgestone Marketing.”  The woman pursed her lips and looked confused so I elaborated.  “I develop advertising campaigns for local businesses.”
    “So you sell things.  You’re a salesperson,” she said confidently.
    “No, I don’t sell anything.  I help businesses sell themselves.”  She still looked like I was speaking a language she couldn’t understand, and I was getting frustrated. 
    A petite girl, with dark hair in a pixie cut, sitting across from me laid her hand on the woman’s arm to get her attention.  “Aunt Mary, Alexis makes ads, like in the newspaper and on TV,” she said with a wink at me. 
    “Oh, that’s wonderful.  You must be very creative,” Aunt Mary said kindly.
    “I like to think so,” I replied.
    “As you can see,” Elle said motioning around the yard, “we’re a big family.  It can be a lot to take in, if it gets to be too much, you just let me know.  I don’t want the first girl my boy brings home chased away.”
    I laughed and said, “I’m use to big families.  Yours is actually more subdued than I’m accustomed to.”
    “You have a big family too?” she questioned.
    “No, not me, but I spend a lot of time with Makayla’s family,” I said as I pointed her out.  “They are loud and rambunctious and completely chaotic.  I love them to death,” I said with a grin.
    “Do you have any siblings?” asked another one of Ethan’s aunts. 
    “I had a brother, Philip, three years younger than me.”  My smile slipped from my face and I began twisting my hands, hidden under the shelter of the table.  No one noticed.
    “What do your parents do for a living?  Do they live around here?” she asked.
    “My dad was an architect.  I think that’s where I get my creative side from,” I said wistfully.  “My mom was a secretary at a law firm.  I’m originally from Ohio, but moved here to attend college.”
    “Well, when your family comes to visit, you’ll have to bring them over for dinner,” Elle declared with a clap of her hands.  “When will they be here next?”
    “Mama…” the girl across from me cautioned.
    “What?  We’re going to be family.  I want to meet them,” she said.
    “Mama, I don’t think…”
    I gave the girl a small smile of gratitude for her attempt to redirect what she obvious realized was a distressing subject for me.  “It’s ok,” I said to her.
    Turning to Ethan’s mother, I took a calming breath.  “My family died.”
    My revelation was met with gasps from around the table.  Elle reached for my hand, squeezing in a show of support. 
    “All of them?  How?” Aunt Mary whispered.
    “I was at college my junior year.  I had just gotten back from winter break.  Philip was a senior in high school and played on the basketball team.  He had a game that night, and while my parents watched from the stands, it began to snow.  By the time they left the gym, the roads were a slushy mess.”  I paused in an effort to control my emotions, and Elle gave my hand another squeeze.  “A tractor trailer hit a patch of ice and lost control, swerving into my parent’s lane.  It was a head on collision.  Both of my parents died at the scene.  My brother held on for three days before he passed.”
    “Oh, you poor baby, you’re all alone,” one of the ladies at the other end of the table said on a sniffle.
    I looked across the yard at Makayla and with a sad smile answered the woman’s statement.  “No, I’m not alone.  I have a wonderful family that loves me.”         
    The dark haired girl stood up and announced, “I’m thirsty.