“People?Or Clyde Whalley?”
She shrugged in a noncommittal way.“I dunno.They just said that people are teasing them too.”
Anger flared hot inside of me.Most of the time I loved living on the island and how safe it felt being part of a small community that looked out for each other.But at times like these, when the school pond was small and even one rotten fish could poison the whole watershed, I really wondered if a bigger town or city would be better.
“It’s fine,” she sighed.“I just don’t want to see Laurel right now.”
“They’re notmadat you because of it, are they?”
Another shrug.“I don’t know.”
I pressed a kiss onto her forehead.“I won’t be late.Just one glass.”
“Sure.”She smirked.
“Hey.”I stood up, but kept my grip on her hand.“We’re going to figure this Clyde stuff out.Okay, kiddo?I promise.”
Her nod was small, as if she didn’t believe me.
“If I have to push that little bugger down the stairs for you myself, I will.You know that, right?”
That made her smile.
“I’ll be quick.”Then I headed to the front door, grabbing my navy cardigan from the coatrack before I trotted down the stairs, then back up the porch steps to Gabrielle’s front door.I didn’t bother knocking, and just went in.Naomi and Raina were already there.
Damon, Gabrielle’s fourteen-year-old son, and Gabrielle’s new man, Maverick, were playing video games in the living room.Only Maverick gave us all a wave and friendly smile hello.Damon was too engrossed in the virtual hockey game to even notice that we were there.
Once we all had a glass of merlot in front of us, and sat in our usual places at the tables, I finally broached the subject with my cousins.
“So, uh … are your kids upset with Sam?”I took a sip from my stemless glass, letting the jammy notes settle on my tongue for a moment before swallowing.
All three of them gave me confused looks.
“Why would they be upset with Sam?”Gabrielle asked.
“I guess kids are teasing them now, saying they must be freaks too because Sam had that … freak-out, or whatever, at Clyde when he wouldn’t leave her alone.Have they said anything?”
Heads shook.
“Marco hasn’t said anything to me,” Raina replied.“He just said there’s a kid in Sam’s class who is a troublemaker, and he feels bad for Sam and how Clyde treats her.Nothing about getting teased by him though.”
“I love that your son talks to you,” Naomi remarked.“Austin tells me nothing.Honor’s better, but she still doesn’t tell me as much as Sam or Marco tell you guys.”
“Laurel mentioned what happened, but nothing about being called a freak because of her cousin,” Gabrielle added.“They all love Sam and know she’s not a freak.They understand she suffers from anxiety and is getting help with it, and that she’s shy.They also know that this Clyde kid is a menace.So I doubt they’d place any kind of blame on Sam, even if Clyde called them freaks.”
While I already knew all of this, it did ease some of the worry inside my chest that the kids hadn’t mentioned anything to their mothers and didn’t seem to be affected by Clyde’s hurtful words.
Naomi reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze, her small smile encouraging.“We know how hard this has all been on you and Sam.And you’re doing a great job getting your kid the help she needs.You’re a fantastic mom, Dani.Seriously.”
My throat grew tight, and the backs of my eyes stung a little.I squashed those bubbling emotions with another sip of wine.“Thanks,” I finally croaked out.“I’m really hoping that the medication will start to help, as well as this time at the barn.She’s only been on the SSRI for a couple of weeks, and it takes time for it to start working.The nurse practitioner did say we may need to titrate up too, if it’s not enough to make a noticeable difference in her anxiety.”
“Did she feel any anxiety about going to the barn?”Raina asked.
I shook my head.“No.None.But that’s because of the animals.I had to drag her away from there tonight.She’d probably be content sleeping in a stall with one of the horses and a sleeping bag if I let her.”
They all snorted because they knew it to be true.
“Sort of off-topic, but sort of not,” Naomi said, leaning forward and picking up the nearly empty bottle of wine from the middle of the table and emptying the rest into her glass.We all smirked because even though we all probably told our kids, “Just one glass,” that was never the case.“But … Mr.Moneybags is very nice to look at.Is there, perhaps, a spark?”
