“I’m definitely happy to see you. Anywhere, anytime.” Her voice softens.
“Good. Me too. Really happy to see you—anytime, anywhere. As long as that's settled. Then … bring it, Buckner.”
“Oh, trust me, I will.” She laughs this fake sinister laugh and I laugh along.
I love this feisty side of her. I’m about to tell her as much when my phone rings with another call.
I pull the cell away from my ear to check who it is.
“As much as I love being threatened by you, my dad’s calling on the other line.”
“Sleep with one eye open, Cody,” she says.
“Are you threatening to sneak into my bedroom?”
She laughs. “You’d better answer your dad’s call.”
“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll call you later.”
“Bye, Cody.”
I take my dad’s call, and tell him I’m on the way with the supplies.
Once I’m home, I drop everything off in the barn and head into the house.
Mom and McKenna are at the kitchen table, pictures and pieces of fabric strewn everywhere. McKenna’s laptop is open and they look like they’re determining the fate of Western civilization.
“Hey!” I say, opening the fridge and pouring myself a glass of tea.
“Hey, Cody?” McKenna says.
“Yeah?”
“Settle a decision for us.”
“Is this one of those things where I lose no matter what I say?” I ask, approaching the table.
“Only if you disagree with me,” McKenna says.
“Got it.”
“Or me,” Mom says.
“Ahhh. Just as I thought. Then I say both.”
“You can’t say both,” McKenna says.
I shake my head, sipping my tea. “What exactly am I voting on here?”
“This pink or this one?” She holds up two napkins.
I pluck them out of her hand, walk over to the window and hold them up to the light—this way, that way.
“They’re different, right?” I ask.
“Give me those!” McKenna shouts, smiling. “You’re no use. I’ll ask Luke. He’s not colorblind.”
“One is baby pink and the other is Spanish pink,” Mom explains, her face dead serious.
