Once she finished, I asked Val, “What are you typing?”
“Taking notes for my brother-in-law, Daniel. Camilla’s husband. He used to be a cop, but now he’s a detective. I don’t know if this”—he waved his phone—“is enough to warrant an investigation, but we can try.” His dark brown eyes were dead serious, but he gave me a soft smile. “Because you’re family now, Chen. Like it or not, we show up for family.”
Tears sprung to my eyes, and I pulled them both into a hug before I knew it. The sorrow in my chest still ached, but hearing an outward proclamation of someone claiming me asfamilysoothed it more than I thought possible.
The morning sunlight through Anthony’s window continues to burn my sleepless eyes as I watch Amantha scoop things into my duffel bag. I wonder if cleaning becomes second nature once you become a mom.
“You don’t need to do that,” I say. “I can move my own stuff to the futon.” But a flood of exhaustion sends me rolling over and shoving my head under a pillow.
“Kate freaking Chen. Get up this instant.”
“You know your mom voice doesn’t work on me, right?” I mumble.
I receive a slap to the behind.
“Get your butt out of bed!”
I pop from beneath the pillow with a laugh. “Fine, Mrs. Spankerson, sheesh.” Gosh, I love my best friend.
“Good. And also, Julia is coming over.”
I sit up. “Julia?”
“Don’t worry, she told me to tell you that she’s Switzerland. She adores you as a friend and is committed to keeping your relationship separate from hers and Brandon’s.”
I blow out a long sigh. “Okay. But why is she coming?”
“Dunno. She says she has something for you. She’ll be here in about an hour and a half.”
An hour later, Anthony’s room is put back together and waiting for him, my stuff litters the office futon, and I stand blow drying my hair in Amantha’s bathroom while flicking through social media.
My phone vibrates with a text.
TANNER: Hey, I hope it’s okay that I’m texting you. Your mom said you might have had a change of heart, and that I should reach out? I’d love to talk things over, if you’re willing.
Bitterness floods my tongue.
I’m irritated at my mom, sure, but what stings is that I feel trapped in the past. Like the time Brandon and I spent together in Marisol Bay didn’t even happen. This time-warping text threatens to erase every touch, every joke, every kiss…
I slam the phone down. Tears work their way to my eyes, and I soon clutch the vanity counter because of my sobs. Amantha finds me, wordlessly bracing me with a hug beneath a sheen of her own emotion. She holds me for a long while, then gently takes the blowdryer off the counter. Directing it down my long strands with a brush, she finishes the task I couldn’t.
The blast of heat and rhythmic strokes help to ground me. I’m somewhat composed in a pair of wide-legged linen pants and a cropped shirt by the time Julia rings the doorbell.
At the sight of me, Julia’s naturally large eyes grow into worried blue lakes.
“Oh crap,” she says, flapping her hands like she’s swatting flies. “I’m sorry to have pushed this visit on you, Kate. I shouldn’t have come. Please, forget I was ever here.”
I crack a smile at her antics. “Stop, Julia.”
She stalls after a few steps away.
“My life imploding is not your fault. Get in here,” I say.
“Okay.” She takes a deep breath like Amantha’s living room is a pool she must cannonball into. “I’m coming in.”
We aim for the living room, but Amantha redirects us to her dining room table, announcing that this pow-wow now requires the rest of the ice cream Val brought home last night.
We’ve barely sat down with bowls of ice cream when the front door opens again. Val enters with a gym bag and an impressive amount of sweat slicking his muscle tank.
