But nothing.
Del
I call bull.
Anton
Second.
Poe
Third. You know you can talk to us, right, Teej?
I scrape a hand down my face. I wish I knew what to tell them.
“TJ, everything good in there?” Gram’s voice rings out from the living room.
“Yep,” I call. “Be right there!”
I tap a final message out on my phone screen, because what else can I do?
TJ
If I knew what to say, I’d talk to you. But I’llkeep you posted.
I put my phone on the counter, but it buzzes right away in quick succession.
Anton
We’ve got your back. Don’t be afraid to take a chance with her.
Del
I’m rooting for you two.
Poe
Bring her to the game this weekend and my place after!
I sigh. I would love nothing more than that, but I don’t know thatshewants to come. She’s hiding away. Granted, you can blend in in a football stadium, but she’s Lucy Dupree. Gorgeous. Famous. Mysterious, thanks to her disappearance from the public eye. She’s going to stick out.
TJ
I don’t know, guys. But thanks for being here.
Poe
Just ask her!
Poe’s last message rings in my ears as I load up the tray with four hot cocoa mugs and head back to face the explosion of Christmas that’s happening in my living room.
“Oh good, TJ, there you are.” Gram holds up a popsicle-stick angel with one of my grade-school pictures glued in place of the angel’s head. “Look at this one. You made it in kindergarten!”
There’s so much joy on her face that I feel guilty for the years I’ve spent not allowing her to celebrate this holiday because it was too hard for me.
I smile at her now. “Might have missed my calling as an artist.”
Gram chuckles. “Stick to your day job, honey. You glued these sticks upside down. No one else’s looked like this.”
