Life hasn’t been easy for her, and we’re going to have to take it slow, but…I have a whole other side of my family that I had no clue about.
My heart hurts as I think about my dad, and the grief he never got out from under about his sister running away from home as a teenager.
There’s a rap at my passenger side window, making me jump.
Cassie opens the door and climbs up.
“I’m coming in,” I say. “Rory’s at the hospital. She’s, uh, throwing herself into making sure Dani has the best obstetrical care possible.”
“Maybe she should stay there,” Cass mutters.
“Oh, no.” I gesture to the key. “Should I start this thing up? Make a great escape?”
She shakes her head—but then bursts into tears.
Fucking hell. I find some Tim Horton’s napkins, which don’t really help that much, but they’re possibly better than nothing. “What’s going on?”
“Are you and Rory breaking up?”
I close my eyes and exhale. “It’s complicated.”
“I don’t recommend a Christmas breakup.”
“How are you doing?”
“Terribly. I miss Nate.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“We’ve texted a little.”
“That’s good.”
“Is it?” She shrugs and hunkers down in her coat. “I want to move back home and make him move out.”
“You need help with that?”
She shakes her head. “He’s agreed.”
“Okay, good.”
“I can’t live with my parents, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“I love them.”
“Of course. We all love them.”
“Rory’s better with the boundaries.”
I laugh. “Maybe too much for her own good, though.”
“What does that mean?”
I sigh. “Let’s go inside.”
The kids are nowhere to be heard, and Allan is missing, too, so hopefully they’re napping, because Carmen is standing at the sink with red-rimmed eyes and a dish towel twisted in her hands. Tabitha and Mara are at the table, and everyone falls silent as soon as I step into the kitchen.
