Ah, sibling rivalry. Depending on the day, they were either the best of friends or the worst of enemies. And Lord, did they push each other’s buttons. Kind of like what me and my sisters had done our whole lives.
The three of us pulled up to the back of the main house, and Ella was out of the golf cart, bright green hat left behind on the seat, before I had even come to a complete stop.
“What’ve I told you about that, Ella Jane?” I yelled.
“Sorry!”
The little shit didn’t sound sorry at all, but I couldn’t hold it against her. She had places to go and woods to explore.
“I put some new flags out there last week,” I called. “Let me know how many you find.”
My only response was a wave, and then Ella disappeared into the brush.
“Looks like it’s just you and me.” I climbed out of the golf cart, Ava close behind. “You sure you don’t wanna go out there with her instead of helpin’ inside?”
Ava shrugged. “I don’t like gettin’ dirty. Plus, I like hearin’ what y’all talk about.”
My lips tipped up on the side. I remembered being her age—too young to be considered an adult, but feeling too old to do the kid stuff. Stuck in this strange in-between where you weren’t quite sure how you fit.
I hooked my arm around her shoulders and tugged her into my side. “Well, I like havin’ you in there with us, so that works out just fine with me.”
She beamed up at me, and I felt like I’d won the lottery. Not many people looked at me like that, and I wasn’t sure how much longer my nieces would, but I’d take it while it lasted. These amazing kids never saw me as the grand sum of all my failureslike everyone else did, and it was a hell of a reprieve from what I had been facing for years.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MAC
As soon asAva and I walked through the back door, I knew something was off. For one thing, there were no scents—no chicken or pot roast, no cinnamon hanging in the air from an apple pie baked earlier in the day.
And then there was my momma’s voice, strong and clear—the tone one she’d used on us girls only a handful of times in our lives. The one that said she meant business, and now was not the time to push.
“Dammit, Richard, youwilllisten to what Dr. Snyder said, or so help me…”
“Now, sweetheart, I said I would, and I will,” my daddy said, his tone the schmoozing one I absolutely loathed. “But can’t we start next week?”
My brow furrowed, remembering what Edna had said the other day about seeing Daddy coming out of the clinic. Maybe somethingwaswrong and it wasn’t just a man cold.
Ava and I rounded the corner into the kitchen and found my parents facing off at the eat-in island. Momma stood, hands on hips, in front of where Daddy sat, glaring down at him. As for him, he was the picture of ease, totally unperturbed by Momma’s ire.
“Momma? Daddy? What’s goin’ on?”
Momma’s head snapped up to me, her eyes flying to Ava before she closed them on a shuddering sigh. She brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head. “Sunday supper. I completely forgot.” She let her arms drop to her sides. “We’ve been at urgent care all afternoon.”
My eyes shot to my dad, running over every inch of him, as if I could sleuth out whatever ailment he had. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, honey.” Daddy waved me off. “Nothing at all.”
Momma glared down at him, her mouth pressed in a firm line. “It’snotnothing, and if you don’t start treatin’ this as the big deal it is, we’re gonna have an issue.”
“Okayyyy.” I darted my eyes between my parents, picking up the obvious clues that some real shit was going down. “How about I call Rory and Will and see if they can bring something for supper?”
Momma breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded, before leaning down and whispering to Daddy, her tone low enough that I couldn’t hear.
I turned to Ava. “Why don’t you go on upstairs and see if Gran’s awake from her afternoon nap yet.”
Ava’s eyes met mine, worry and uncertainty swarming in them.
“Papa’s fine.” I squeezed her hand and lifted my chin toward my daddy. “See? He’s over there arguin’ with Nana like usual. Go on now.”
