“Yeah.” Thank fuck. Elizabeth crashed hard. She literally passed out in my arms while I was holding her this morning. It’s the first time she’s slept, truly slept, and I haven’t had the heart to wake her. “What are you still doing up?” It’s past midnight and on a school night.
Charlotte inhales like she’s about to say something, then exhales it all out as a sigh. She picks at the cuticle of her nail. “It’s just…”
“Just what?” I gently urge.
Her face tips up, the ring of copper rimming the green of her eyes striking, even in the dim light. “I was so mean to him. To Uncle Jayson.” Her lips wobble. “I didn’t mean it.”
Jesus, these kids with their bleeding, compassionate hearts. Just like their mother. Just like Ry.
“I know you didn’t, and he knows you didn’t. Jay and I couldn’t stand each other most of the time. But we had something in common.” I wipe away her errant tear that escapes. “We both love your mother. It made us enemies, but it also made us friends in a weird sort of way, and I know he wouldn’t want you to feel sad. Jay loved you and Chris and Marcus unconditionally.”
“I was mad at him,” she admits. “He hurt Mama. And Daddy.”
“He didn’t mean to. Jay was battling demons of his own. It took him a long time to get better. People make mistakes. They shouldn’t be condemned because of them. Your dad never stopped loving Jay. Neither did your mom.”
She nods, absorbing that. “I was afraid when he came back.”
“Why?”
She gnaws on her bottom lip. “I was scared that you’d leave us. That Mom would choose him.”
Well, shit. How do I navigate this? I’m used to dealing with cutthroat businessmen and politicians wanting something in aquid pro quo. I’m not used to dealing with the fragile heart of a sixteen-year-old girl.
“First, I’m not going anywhere. Second, even if your mom chose him, it would be okay because she would be happy. That’s all me, Ry, and Jay ever wanted.”
She frowns. “I wouldn’t be happy if Grant started dating someone else. I’d kick his ass. Then I’d kick her ass.”
I chuckle. “You may be the one to start dating someone else.”
She vehemently shakes her head. “Nope. Not happening. I don’t want anyone else.”
I could tell her that what she wants now may not be what she wants five years from now, but I know when to keep my mouth shut. Teenage love is a powerful force that gives you tunnel vision and defies sensible logic. Then again, who the hell knows? She may be right. Look at Elizabeth and Ry. They knew since the third grade they were soulmates, just like Jay and I knew from the first moment we saw her that she was ours.
Footsteps come shuffling down the hallway. Stop. “Guess I’m not the only one who can’t sleep,” Chris mumbles and plops down beside Charlotte. “I’m going to suck tomorrow at practice. I’m so effing tired but wired at the same time. I even tried readingWar and Peacewhile listening to wind chimes on my Calm app.” He reclines back and manspreads an entire half of the sofa. “Beer is supposed to make you drowsy.”
Charlotte scrunches her nose in distaste and pushes his knee away when it touches hers. “That’s just stupid.”
Reaching across the back of the couch, I lay my hand on top of his head when he looks over at me. “Since giving hard liquor to minors is illegal, how about hot chocolate?”
Charlotte perks up. “Homemade?”
“Is there any other way?”
Charlotte already has a small pot out when Chris and I get to the kitchen. He makes a beeline for the pantry and comes back out holding a carton of powdered cocoa and a bag of marshmallows.
“Grab the vanilla extract,” he tells Charlotte.
“You grab it.”
I do the biggest eye roll known to man. They live to get on each other’s nerves. I hope they grow out of it. “Charlotte, please get the fucking vanilla since you’re standing right there,” I say with exasperation.
She giggles and opens the cabinet in front of her where Elizabeth keeps the bottles of spices and herbs. “I should start a swear jar.”
I kiss the top of her head. “You’ll be a millionaire by tomorrow.”
I don’t like the smile that spreads across her face. She knows damn well that she has me wrapped around her little finger. The only reason why another car isn’t sitting in the driveway next to the Hellcat I gave Chris is because Elizabeth would kill me.
With their arguing apparently done, they work together, eyeballing measurements and making a mess of the pristine kitchen Meredith worked hard to clean when she dropped by this afternoon. I forgot how much that woman loves to talk. My ears are still bleeding.
