“When?” he asks.
“Tomorrow.” I can’t put it off any longer, especially with our Seattle trip to see Elizabeth Ann quickly approaching.
He turns and sits down on the ledge of the windowsill. “You know how she’s going to react when you tell her.”
Pain lances my heart because I’m going to break hers once again. “I know.”
Julien grips my hand in a tight fist. “You’re not alone in this, Jay. I will always have your back.”
After everything I did, my brother is still my rock of unwavering support. “I love you, Jules.”
He takes me in a solid, back-slapping hug. “Love you, too. Now, finish up with whatever deep contemplation you were having and meet us down at the car.”
“Smartass.”
“Five minutes, tops, or we’re leaving you behind, and you’ll have to drive that POS rental.”
“It’s not that bad.” I can’t keep a straight face saying it. The rental car is ugly as sin and drives like an old man’s Cadillac. But the per-day rate was cheap, something my dwindling bank account could afford.
Julien’s grimace is Oscar worthy. “It’s so, so bad. Worse than E’s old Prius.”
I flip him off, and his laughter echoes along with his footfalls as he walks out.
Shutting the window, I secure the top latch and head downstairs—then come up short when I see Mom waiting for me, worry deepening the wrinkles around her eyes. Worry that I put there.
When I reach her, she hands me a bundled bouquet of pink tea roses she must have picked from her garden. “Give these to Lizzie with our love.”
Taking them, I kiss Mom on the cheek. “Are you sure you and Dad don’t want to come?”
She smooths out the imaginary bumps from my polo shirt and fiddles with the collar. “I spoke with Lizzie earlier. She’s going to come by tomorrow with the kids for Sunday supper.”
I perk up at that. Liz didn’t mention it when we talked this morning. I was mowing the grass when she called. We talked for a long time. It felt good, like old times. Just having her back in my life means everything, especially now.
“When I weeded the vegetable garden, I saw that the okra was ready to be picked. I’ll gather some in the morning.” One of Liz’s favorite foods is fried okra. Or it used to be. She could eat her weight in it every time we went to Ruby’s. “I shouldn’t be out too late.”
“No need to rush home on our account. We’re usually fast asleep by nine. Curse of getting old.”
“You, old? Never. You’re still as beautiful as the day I was born.”
Mom playfully rolls her eyes and shoos me out of the house.
Nicholas sticks his head out of the open passenger-side window of the SUV and shouts, “Bye, Grandma!”
From the front porch, she waves and blows him a kiss. “Bye, sweetheart!”
“You’re slower than frozen molasses,” Jules gripes when I clamber into the back seat.
I can’t help but smile because that sounds so much like something Liz would say.
“Hey, Uncle Jayson.”
I’m so thankful that Julien made sure I had a relationship with my nephews. He and Elijah would bring the boys out to visitme in California every summer. I haven’t seen Nicholas or Grant since…
No point in dwelling on things I can’t change. Things I wouldn’t change even if I had a do-over, because I wouldn’t be sitting here now, sober and no longer under alcohol’s control, if I had taken a different path.
“What’s up, big man?” Nicholas and I bump fists.
He’s grown up so much in three years. He’s no longer the gangly kid I remember.
