Find love with my sister and our cousin at a family reunion, Grandpa’s ranch butted up against a big swatch of National Forest. He used to say he didn’t know for sure where his property stopped and the federal land began, so he never farmed too close to the forest. Every August, Aunts, Uncles, and every flavor of cousin from first or second to those once or twice removed descended for a weekend family reunion that required a scorecard and a degree in genealogy to sort out how everyone was related.
Depending on your clan, the annual Gallagher-McGee Family Reunion was referred to as the Camp Grandpa’s, Camp Reunion, or simply as Camp. Though my sister and I had started college, it was still a mandatory weekend of family together time. Worse, my sister and I (along with a few other cousins) were expected to arrive the day before the reunion started to help set up the camping area.
Ever wondered what it’s like to be the brother of the hottest girl in school? Well, that’s me. Worse, Maggie was a party girl with a reputation for being easy. I went through school hearing about her party exploits. I can’t complain. Her generous bustline, tight, tiny ass, and reputation for being a flirt kept me safe in high school. Though two and half years separated Maggie and I, because I had started school earlier than most and skipped a grade, we went through high school in the same grade. I felt like the runt of our grade and would have been easy fodder for every bully in school had Maggie not looked out for me.
“Hey bro,” she would say, sliding up alongside of me in the hallways whenever I looked in trouble. “How’s it going?” The guys hassling me would back off, seeing me as a way to get to closer to my sister. In exchange for her protection, I became her built-in excuse-maker. Any time our parents wondered where she was, I would make up a quick lie about how she was at the movies with a girlfriend before texting her the name of the movie and its synopsis in case Mom or Dad would quiz her the next day. Maggie and I grew up as a team, getting along as well as oddball twins separated by a couple years instead of minutes. Maggie was the popular, hot chick with reddish, auburn hair who loved to party while I was her nerdy, misfit little brother.
The family reunion camping area at Grandpa’s had been transformed through the years into a well established campground that was only used once a year. There were a dozen camping sites, each with electricity and running water. A few sites even had concrete slabs poured to accommodate those family members who had upgraded from tent camping to RVs or pop-up trailer tents.
My troubles began as soon as Maggie and I showed up to help mow grass and ready the camp because that’s when I first laid eyes on Holly Gallagher. Holly had missed the last three reunions when her parents allowed her to attend the preseason cheerleading camp. Now that she had graduated high school, no more mandatory cheerleader, and she was back. Those three years had been good for her, transforming her into a full blown woman. I gaped, slack-jawed, the first time I saw her and Maggie was right there to call me out on it.