“I’m not mad ...” I say, circling the correct answer. “I’m just unsure of what to say.”
“Have you emailed him back yet?” Phoebe asks, typing on her phone.
“No, I was hoping you’d help me, remember?”
“You know you can’t show these emails to your students anymore, right?”
I set down my pen. “Yes, obviously. I’m going to tell them Callum didn’t want me to share our emails, but I can summarise and give them updates.”
Phoebe licks her lips as she nods. “There’s my devious sister. I missed her. Tell her to stay a while and plan a trip with me.”
“Phoebe . . .”
“Are you telling me Grandma wouldn’t want her three beloved granddaughters to go meet Martha’s family together?”
“Madi wouldn’t be able to get the time off work anyway,” I say.
“No, she’s in,” Phoebe says, flashing her phone screen to show her and Madi’s text thread. “She’s asking if you can go during March break ...”
“Wait,” I say, tucking my hair behind my ears. “Wait, okay. This is insane, right?” I look at Rhett, who’s grinning ear to ear. “You’re fine with this?” I ask him. “You don’t mind solo parenting for a week?”
“I go back to work in April, so, it seems only fair,” Rhett answers, shrugging.
“I—”
“Madi’s asking if you want an aisle seat on your own or a middle seat between us?” Bee looks up, then tilts her head. “She gets a discount through work, it’s a good deal. Four hundred a ticket.”
Damn, thatisa good deal. “Okay, yeah ... But why am I in the middle seat?”
“You’ve got the narrowest hips.”
I’m pretty sure that’s not true but I still find myself agreeing. “Okay, yeah, middle is fine.”
“So you’re in?”
I look at her, pausing for a long second. “Yeah, I guess I am ... Why not, right?”
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Time Capsule Belonging to Martha Bennett
Date: February 17, 2025
Hello Callum,
I don’t know if I’ve ever been called a ‘good egg’ before, but I think I like it. Thank you. Your response was very kind. I will try, as you say, to go easy on myself. But it does appear as if you’re the one doing the stalking now and not the other way around? I’m curious what your TikTok reposts are like ... care to share?
Your sister sounds very cool. Unfortunately, between her shop and your brother’s hair, I think you might be the boring sibling. Tough luck. I’m sorry to hear about your messy breakup, though, and glad to hear your sister got you through it. Sisters are good at that! I wouldn’t call my breakup with my college boyfriend messy (it was more like a business meeting?), but my sister helped me too with piles of ice cream and a documentary marathon.
I sent your star signs over to Madison, who is a wannabe astrologer. Her exact response was ‘great combo’ and then something inappropriate I should probably not share. I’m a Virgo Sun, Libra Moon, and Aquarius Rising.
You’re right, Montreal is really beautiful! You should definitely visit someday, if you can. I get to see Phoebe every few months. My dad loves driving and hates missing out on time with his grandson, so I’ll often catch a ride with him on the weekends occasionally, and she comes here every once in a while too.
As for the twin thing, I mostly avoid telling people because it often comes with annoying follow-up questions. Like, do you have twin telepathy? (Not even a little.) Do you feel each other’s pain? (No, but when Phoebe was in labour, I had the worst food poisoning of my life and momentarily thought so.) And, did your mother dress you the same as kids? (No, thank god.)
In other news, Madison, Phoebe, and I are planning a trip to England in a month’s time. We’ve always wanted to go, and Bonnie left each of us some money, so now it’s possible. No pressure, of course, but we were thinking we could pay Lambley a visit? We thought it might be nice for all of us grandkids to openthe time capsule together. If not, no worries at all.
