His face lights up. “Yeah?”
“Definitely. I’m here for another few days.”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “Cool.”
Cool. I’m cool Auntie Abby. I love that. I return the Wii remotes to the basket they’re stored in and follow Christopher up the stairs.
When we reach the top, he says, “Hey, maybe I can come see you next summer? You know, stay for a couple of weeks or something.”
I grin. “I would love that.” Then I remember and my face falls. “But, actually, there’s a chance I’ll be moving.”
“Oh,” he says, his eyes shifting to the floor.
Crap, now he thinks I don’t want him to come. “But wherever I end up, you should definitely come—”
My brother’s voice booms from the top floor of the house. “Christopher, essay!”
“Okay! I’m going!” he shouts back. Then he looks up at me. “Do you think you could look at my essay for me? I suck at them, and thought maybe since you’re such an amazing writer …” He gives me a smile meant to win me over.
It works. “I would love to help you.”
I help myself to a glass of water while he disappears into the mudroom to retrieve his homework. Upstairs, Kaitlyn and Graham argue about whose turn it is to brush their teeth first and Chad hollers, “Knock it off, you two!”
Chuckling, I mutter, “He got that line from your grandpa.”
Christopher lowers his voice. “Did he also say, ‘Keep going and I guarantee you won’t like what happens next?’”
I laugh at the familiar phrase. “No, that was all Grandma.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, she was a real harda— I mean tough bird.”
Christopher’s eyes grow wide. “I know what you were going to say!”
“No, I would never speak in such an unladylike fashion.”
He grins at me, then squints his eyes a little. “Can I tell you something?”
I slide into a chair next to him at the table. “Sure. What’s on your mind?”
“It’s just that—I don’t want to offend you or anything, because I’m trying to say something nice. And I don’t want you to think I didn’t like Uncle Isaac, because I did. He was always really nice and I’m sorry he died.” He pauses and takes a breath finally. “I just … I kind of like you more now. You’re better. Kaitlyn and Graham think so too. We didn’t know you were so fun, but you really are.”
“Aww, thanks, buddy,” I say, even though I’m sort of hurt.
“Yeah, before, you mostly hung out with our parents, and you didn’t really seem to want to talk to us much. But now, you’re like, playing Wii, and giving my dad a hard time, and you came to watch my basketball game.”
“Thank you. You guys are really terrific human beings and it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you.”
My brother’s heavy footsteps on the stairs have my nephew scrambling to open his binder. His words sit heavy in my brain and I try to recall the way things used to be. What was I like before? I’m not even sure I would like that person if I met her right now.
* * *
I fold my new jeans and drop them in my suitcase. In three hours, I’ll be on an airplane, and another twelve hours and one connection after that, I’ll be back in Cape Breton, where I’ll have to face reality again, and face the man and little girl I’m about to abandon.
My dad knocks at the open door to my old bedroom. “Hey, Abby, you all packed up?”
I nod and stare at him for a moment, grateful he’s still so young and healthy.
