Marley could feel her shoulders relax as soon as she stepped into the bustling kitchen. Looking to her right at her older sister, she found Stella scowling, her version of a beaming smile. So Marley wasn't the only one of the Harkin girls finding their Christmas morning experience strange and mildly stressful.

To say it was the complete opposite of every Christmas morning they had experienced thus far in their lives would have been a rather large understatement. It was only once Stella, Marley, and Gabbie were turned away from the living room after running down in their pajamas as soon as they woke up that the full force of the different world they were currently visiting hit Marley square in the chest.

They were told to dress and wait to be called down when breakfast was ready, leaving the three sisters to putz around their rooms for over half an hour.

What followed was an elaborate spread of every possible breakfast treat available and an hour-long breakfast of stiff conversation around an over-sized dining table that the six of them only took up a third of.

They would have eaten in near-complete silence if it wasn't for Gabbie's endless chatter.

Throughout the meal, the Harkin sisters were brought up to speed on Christmas and holiday traditions in the Hamptons.

Christmas Eve was only the beginning of the festivities and there was still an entire week of activities waiting for them, ending with a bang on New Year's.

They also found out that their two aunts, Avery's older sisters, had their own homes just down the street and were spending their mornings there. They would however be joining them that evening at the Christmas party hosted by the country club.

It was a relief when Thea finally stood from her chair, the signal that the rest of them could rise as well, and made her way to the living room.

The living room Christmas tree was somehow bigger in the morning light. Marley had only gotten a second to catch a glimpse of its enormity the night before being subjugated to half an hour of family photos.

The personal gifts Marley and her family had brought from home were scattered among the much neater looking packages, their wrapping paper sticking out like a sore thumb among the pile of color-coordinated gifts.

Thea asked to go first and handed Marley, Stella, and Gabbie three identical packages and asked them to open them together. Her smile was stiff and demure but Marley caught a glow in her eyes, something that might have even been described as excitement, as she watched her granddaughters open their gifts.

Inside the boxes were three laptops, top of the line, newly released, each a different color to distinguish them from each other.

Marley and Stella exchanged glances while Gabbie squealed and threw her arms around her grandmother, catching Thea off guard.

The Harkin family had two old computers to share among the five of them and considering their father worked as a writer for a living, it really meant there was only one ever available.

Marley knew how much these computers ran for. She knew how much used, refurbished ones ran for and she would never in her lifetime had been able to afford either.

A protestation stood at the tip of her tongue when she turned her shocked expression from her sister to her grandmother to her mother. Avery gave a small shake of her head, her eyes telling Marley not to say what she was going to say.

Following her mother's lead, Marley swallowed and managed a garbled 'Thanks, Grandma' instead.

Normal presents followed and these seemed to ease up the tension in the room but Marley couldn't stop staring at the gleaming white pristine box that held the most expensive item she had ever owned where it sat next to her.

They were excused once all the gifts were exchanged and hurried upstairs. Marley placed her new computer gently on her bed and left it behind to go hang out in Stella's room where her older sister was already setting hers up.

Gabbie soon passed by their door, her down jacket on, shoes in hand.

"Christian's volunteering at the senior center a few towns over. He says they're completely understaffed and could use help. You guys wanna come?"

She didn't need to ask twice. Marley and Stella were racing down the staircase, slipping jackets on as they flew, calling out farewells and excuses as they raced out the door. Cries to be home in time to get ready for the party followed them out to the car.

When Gabbie said 'senior center', Marley was imagining the ones she had volunteered at back in the city: small, cramped basement rooms connected to a Salvation Army overhead with tiny kitchens and barely enough room to fit five tables in the dining room.

What she hadn't been expecting was a renovated mansion that the city had bought and converted into a senior center.

The bustling kitchen was five times the size of the kitchen at the restaurant and the dining room really should have been called a ballroom.

Within a minute, Stella had an apron around her neck, tying it around her waist, looking for a job. She quickly found it and was calling out orders by the time Marley had hung her jacket up by the door.

Gabbie joined the fray, spotting Christian out in the dining room setting up tables, hurrying out to join in.

Marley had to step out of the way to avoid getting trampled by two guys holding a platter stacked high with sliced turkey as they passed by. She found herself in the refreshment corner for the staff area and noticed the coffee maker was empty. It was a place to start.

"Finish your coffee then get back to work. Now's not the time to be taking a break. People arrive in thirty minutes."

Marley knew that voice. Her hands froze while scooping out coffee into the machine and turned around.

It was the same guy from the night before. He was alternating between looking down at a clipboard in his hand and watching the kitchen full of workers move about him.

Marley glanced down at her sweater and then back to the rest of the kitchen. There wasn't a set uniform but Marley could tell the people who worked here from the volunteers by the presence or absence of name-tags. Marley didn't have a name-tag.

"Excuse me-"

"Oh. You. Again."

He finally looked up but seemed far from surprised to find Marley at the break table. He didn't notice that she was replenishing the coffee for the workers.

"I hope my advice last night was put to good use and Thea Clausen didn't fire you."

"No. She-"

"Good. How are you at hosting? I need someone out in the dining room to direct traffic."

The word hosting cleared Marley's mind and she knew exactly where she had seen this guy before. At least he wasn't yelling at her like his dad had but he had an authority about him that Marley knew very few people had ever questioned before. Marley felt like questioning it.

"Do you-"

"Great. Glad to hear it. I'll let the staff in the dining room know you're coming."

And he was gone before Marley could utter a full sentence.

She had been looking for a job to do to help out. Now she had one. She finished refilling the coffee machine and setting it to brew and restocked the platter of doughnuts before heading for the dining room.

Just like the restaurant, there was a small hostess stand right by the door. At least that part of this life was familiar.

Marley spent the next several hours on her feet, either helping seat the groups of families and elderly couples that came in or re-setting the tables after they left. A steady flow of people kept her busy and it wasn't until the sun was setting at an early hour of four o'clock that Marley found she had nothing to do.

She was about to head back to the kitchen to find where Stella and Gabbie had ended up when the guy from earlier appeared.

She had seen him make the rounds from station to station, keeping people in line, making sure everyone was doing their job. This was the first time he had made it her way.

"Good job today. Make sure you clock-out before you head home."

He was already moving away when Marley replied. He hadn't even looked up from his clipboard when he spoke to her but did once she replied.

"I would except I don't work here."

He froze and slowly turned, looking her once over and noticing for the first time her lack of name-tag.

"So you don't. My mistake. You're one of the volunteers."

"Yup."

"Well, the Ellington Senior Center appreciates you coming out to help. You worked last night so I know-"

"I wasn't working last night."

"At the Clausen residence?"

"No."

"Then what were you doing there, dressed like a server?"

He lowered his clipboard for the first time all day, at least from what Marley had observed. She decided to ignore the server comment. Her cheeks were already red from a busy day.

"I was there as a guest. I'm staying there."

"So you're one of the distant relations in town for the holidays. That makes sense why I've never seen you before. I notice-"

"Would you consider a granddaughter a distant relation?"

"You're not-"

Marley nodded when he stopped mid-sentence.

"No, you're not. My family's been acquainted with the Clausen's for years. I went to boarding school with Christian. There's no way-"

"Better believe it, my friend."

Wanting to leave on a high note, savoring the look of absolute confusion on his face, Marley started towards the kitchen. He didn't consider the conversation done and followed.

"I know all the Clausen grandchildren. Who are you?"

"Marley. Nice to meet you."

It was only manners that made him shake her extended hand. Marley could tell he wasn't aware of it and laughed to herself.

"I've never heard of a Marley before."

"Nice to know Gran speaks so highly of us. Then again, she and my mom didn't really speak for about twenty years."

"You're Avery's daughter."

"One of them, yeah."

A light of understanding finally came to his eyes.

"That explains why you were dressed like a server."

Marley shot him a glare then turned her back on him to slip on her jacket. The kitchen suddenly felt too small and about ten degrees too hot.

"You're welcome, by the way. My sisters and I didn't have to come and help out but we did because we wanted to. I can see you really appreciate it."

Marley pulled open the back door and stormed out into the freezing cold evening. Gabbie and Stella were already waiting for her by the car.

"Hey! Wait! I'm-"

Whatever he was going to say got cut off as someone from further inside the building called him back inside. The door swung shut and Marley climbed into the car with her sisters to drive.

"Who was that?" Stella asked from behind the wheel.

Marley huffed, her breath sending a cloud out in front of her face.

"I have no idea and I really don't care to find out."