Family Christmas gets hot as cousins make an impromptu deal

I had mixed feelings about spending the traditional Christmas at the Parnell family cabin this year. Sure, it was tradition and a chance to see some of the extended family — aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandma Parnell, and a bunch of my cousins’ kids whose names I couldn’t remember. The weather was usually snowy, which turned the pines and frozen lake into a winter wonderland. Oh, and the food was typically great and plentiful. No, now that I’d started college, the idea of going up to the cabin felt quaint and perhaps a bit claustrophobic. Worse, it was so remote as … Read more