She did a great job with my sew-in weave, and technically, she honored my request for something conservative with long sleeves that fell to my knees. She told me this was the dress she wore to funerals, so I figured it would be perfect since we’re around the same size.

But I should’ve tried it on when she gave it to me yesterday, rather than just a few minutes before we needed to get on the road at the crack of dawn this morning. It hugs every single curve I have like a second skin and shows off way more cleavage than I’m comfortable with—especially for a family get together.

I was so excited to finally leave Angel Pond for the first time since August. But I’m already feeling nervous and uncomfortable when Colin Fairgood and his wife Kyra come out to greet us themselves just a few seconds after a housekeeper walks off with our coats and overnight bags.

I relax a little, though, when they escort us into the formal two-story living room where the party’s being held, and their three children of various ages just about lose it when they see Waylon.

“Cousin Waylon! Cousin Waylon!” they yell, running straight over to him.

To my surprise, he picks them up and swings them around over his tall head—before squatting down to answer their questions about why he didn't come on his motorcycle this time.

“It was all my fault,” I tell them. “I just wasn’t up for a nine-hour drive on the back of a bike.”

“Why don’t you get your own motorcycle then, so you don’t have to ride on the back of Cousin Waylon’s?” their little girl demands. She has curly blonde hair and blue eyes like her father, but her mother’s wide nose and mouth.

“Josie Bernice, what have I told you about asking people nosy questions before you’ve even introduced yourself?” her mother asks.

And that makes me relax a little more. Kyra Fairgood might walk across several televised stages in glamorous dresses every year to accept accolades for her songwriting work. But she’s a regular mom. And just as nosy as the folks in Angel Pond.

“We were really surprised when he said he was going to make it for the first time this year,” she tells me after Griffin Latham arrives and Colin and Waylon go out to the foyer to greet him. “And we had no idea he was bringing a date.”

I cringe, more than a little mortified. “I'm so sorry for showing up unannounced.”

“Don't be,” Kyra insists. “We’re just glad to have Waylon join us this year. And that he’s finally seriously dating someone…”