Sonia’s children, Kylie and Allie, wrap themselves around their mother’s legs.
The redhead named Brooklyn approaches.
Hudson places his hand on my shoulder and gestures toward the redhead. “Willa? I’d like you to meet my sister, Brook.”
Oh. Brooklyn. Hissister.
She extends her arm, “It’s nice to meet you, Willa. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You have?”
She giggles. “I have.”
Our attention is drawn down to Allie. “Hi, Hudson.” Allie says rather shyly. A slight blush sweeps across her pretty face.
“Hey Alligator.” He runs his hand over the top of her head. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“You didn’t come to my birt-day party, Hudson.”
Hudson moves down, squatting in front of Allie. “I’m sorry, Alligator. I had to work.”
“Okay.” Allie’s voice is soft, shy.
“I’ll make it up to you. Why don’t I buy you girls some ice cream?”
That gets them going. Both girls scream “ice cream” at the top of their lungs, drawing attention from everyone around us.
“Willa?” I turn to see the redhead.
“Yes?”
“I’m so glad I finally got to meet you.”
ChapterSixteen
HUDSON
My sister gave me a heads-up.She saw Sonia and the girls earlier and learned that Willa would be joining them. Since I tell my little sister almost everything, she gave me a call. She knows the story about Willa and me. How we met at the baseball game, the shit show from the garden party, and the fact that she wouldn’t do brunch. Brooklyn understood things that I hadn’t quite grasped yet like what it’s like to deal with women like Monica Fitzgerald and our mother. “You need to give her time. Do things with her that don’t include the snobs in our family.”
She meant our mom.
“Or your exes.” I never dated Monica. She wanted to and often insinuated that we were a couple or destined to date, but that never happened.
The second I saw the text from Brook, I dropped what I was doing, hopped in my car, and drove here in the hopes I didn’t miss her.
Now, we’re sitting in a large booth in Adler’s Cosmic Café together. The café is a recent addition to the planetarium and one that was sorely needed. The designer they hired did an amazing job incorporating the old with the new. The room is almost entirely windows above and below. They chose cool blues and grays throughout, but there are punches of color here and there. The focus is the windows so no matter the day, the time, or the weather, it’s like you’re in the middle of it. I’ve got the say, the best time to sit in the café is after dark. It’s fucking spectacular then.
My sister is giggling at something one of the girls just said and I smile. I can’t remember having a better time. I know Sonia. She’s a good friend, one I’ve had for years having gone to the same private primary school. Trust me when I tell you, her girls are just as sweet as she is.
Willa’s sitting across the table from me, chatting with Kylie. She looks so beautiful; I haven’t been able to take my eyes off her. She’s wearing another funny T-shirt today. This one is dark blue with orange letters that readsI’m An Accountant. To save time, let’s just assume I’m never wrong.
I wonder where she finds them? I wouldn’t mind having one or two myself. Since I haven’t been able to think of anything interesting to say, I ask, “Where did you get your shirt?”
She glances down, blushes to a hot pink shade that I find extremely attractive for some odd reason, then she tugs on it. “Oh, um, I ordered it from the internet a long time ago. It’s old.”
“Where?”
“Um, I think it’s a site called Accountees dot com.”
