“So, you’re in your grandma’s old cabin, and you’re buying up a shop’s worth of power tools.Is there a remodel on the docket?”
Zoey offers Bruce a potato chip while answering, “I wouldn’t say a remodel exactly.More like a revamp.And a clean-out.I’m just here to sort through Minnie’s stuff and make the cabin prettier for sale.”
“I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, but didn’t your grandmother pass close to a year back?”Not my real questions.More like …
Why did you stay away for so long?Why haven’t you been here my whole life?
“She did.Someone should have come down here sooner.But my mom is really busy.She has a popular morning show on the radio up in Denver.Kinda hard to take a vacation.Still”—Zoey hesitates, fiddling with the pickle on her plate—“from the little she’s said about it, I think living here was a not-so-great childhood.I guess Minnie was kind of reclusive.”
She meets my eyes after that last bit, her honeyed eyebrows rising.
I nod.“Didn’t see her around town much.”
Zoey sighs as she scratches Bruce’s giant block head.“When I realized Mom might never come here, I decided to volunteer.”
“Really?Just like that?”
Zoey grimaces.“To be honest, I was also looking for a reason to get away from Denver.After the incident.”
“The incident?”I force myself not to lean forward, instead picking up my sandwich.One huge bite keeps my mouth full and too busy to pester for more details.
Zoey chomps down on a chip and stares off into space.I wonder if I’ve lost her attention or if she didn’t mean to let that slip.Still, I want to push her.I want to know all there is to learn about Zoey Gunner.
To distract myself, I reach under the table to slip Bruce a piece of roast beef from my sandwich.A fed dog is a good ally.
“Okay”—Zoey returns her attention to me—“I’ve decided.The embarrassment has dimmed enough that I’m willing to tell you what happened.”
Anything calledthe incidentis bound to be a good story, and Zoey just agreed to share it with me.
Stifling my cheer, I recline back in my chair and give her a nod to continue.
“I have four brothers,” she starts.“They’re all big brutes, but they love me, and I love them.”
Sibling love is something I can relate to.
“I’m the youngest.The baby of the family, they say.Isay they need to get their heads out of the Regency era.Just because I’m younger and a girl doesn’t mean I need four bodyguards poking their noses into every aspect of my life.”Zoey huffs, emotion coloring her cheeks.
“Makes sense,” I offer.
“Right?”She munches on another chip before continuing, “Anyway, I thought I was used to their overbearing version of love.My whole life, they’ve done their best to be good brothers.But I feel like the fact that there’re so many of them tips their helpful acts into bonkers town.”
My body shifts forward in anticipation.
“Like, there was one day, before school, I realized I was out of tampons.And I needed them, obviously.But my parents were already at work.Plus, I was thirteen.So, I couldn’t drive myself to the store.”
The noises of Main Street fade away as Zoey’s voice pulls me into the story of her past.
“Abram is the most responsible.I feel like he was born to be a dad.Or a drill sergeant.Maybe both.Anyway, I figured at eighteen, he’d be the one least likely to laugh.”She shrugs and eats another chip, drawing out the drama of the tale.“I was right.He told me to finish my breakfast and that he’d take care of it.But next thing I know, I’m alone in the house.”She waves her hands as if we were sitting in her kitchen, empty, silent house around us.“All four of my brothers disappeared.The bus was going to show up in, like, ten minutes, and I was sure I’d have to stay home sick.”
My lips pinch in a grimace, as I don’t find the story amusing anymore.Did all of Zoey’s brothers really abandon her just because they were squeamish about buying feminine products?
“Then, I hear the screech of tires on the driveway, and when I look out the window, I spot all four of the Gunner boys climbing out of Abram’s car, each one weighed down with shopping bags.”
Humor returns fast.
“Now, I know guys can be clueless about menstruation.If Abram had come back with a few extra boxes or the wrong brand, no big deal.But no.He recruited the rest of my brothers, and they drove to the closest drugstore and bought as many products as they could carry.”
“They didn’t,” I whisper in horrified wonder.
