“I appreciate that.” I laugh, reaching for their hands. “But I wanted this to be something I accomplished on my own.”
Tessa gives me an unimpressed look. “Like the A-frame? Iknow you’re the queen of stubborn, but we’re your family.”
“You didn’t tell us it was falling apart.” Millie sighs, disappointed. “He was our Gramps too. We would’ve loved to help.”
Guilt burrows its way behind my rib cage. “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you.” I pause to think about it. “Okay, maybe I didn’t want to tell you. But that’s because you all would’ve givenme an out, and I think I knew that if you did, I would take it. I’d throw in the towel and let Mom and Dad sell the place.” My throat constricts around the words. “And I wanted to fix it so badly. For Gramps. You know how much he loved that cabin.”
A long moment of silence passes between us. Isuspect we’re all thinking about Gramps now, picturing him in his reading chair, sock-covered feet propped on the coffee table, a book in his hands, a steaming cup of tea nearby.
“We loved it, too, though.” The edges of Tessa’s lips curve down. “I have a lot of amazing memories there. Remember when we helped him turn the living room into a life-size Candy Land board?”
Millie smiles fondly. “Nobody wanted that bowl of licorice.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Looking back, I can see how stubborn that was—trying to take everything as a personal mission. When, really, they should’ve been there too. It could’ve been a project that brought us closer instead of putting distance between us.
“You know, Fabes,” Millie says, squeezing my hand. “You can absolutely do this on your own. Iwholeheartedly believe in you. But the thing is, you don’t have to. Why carry all the weight when you could split it with us? That’s what family is for.”
I try to stop my lips from quivering. “But you all never ask for help. Ifeel so messy compared to you two.”
“Oh, Fabes. We ask for help all the time.” Tessa leans her head on mine. “Remember our caravan of cars when everyone helped me move to Chicago?”
“How about when I made Mom and Dad come stay with me when I had the flu for a week?” Millie says.
Tessa nods. “Or that time in college when the entire backstage crew got mono, and you all spent the weekend building the sets with me?”
A soft laugh seeps out of me. “Still wondering how theyallgot mono.”
“I blame Rick, the cheating bastard,” Tessa grumbles.
Millie laughs, wrapping her arm around me. “The point is, we all help each other. Right?”
I nod, and Tessa pulls out her phone, opening the Notes app. “So tell me, what still needs to be done?”
I wave her off. “You really don’t have to—”
She sits up and gives me a sharp look. Tessa in serious mode is a little scary. In a good way. Itry to tame my smile. “Look,” she says. “I have five days here. Hand me a paintbrush, I’ll paint the shit out of something. Hand me a power tool, I’ll look up how to use it, then power-tool the shit out of it. You hear me? I’m not taking no for an answer.”
My smile bursts free. “Yes, ma’am.”
Millie sits up, too, copying Tessa’s expression. “What she said!”
Laughter trickles between us, and as I list what the A-frame needs—burrowed under a quilt, wedged between my sisters—the tension bleeds out of my body. The knot in my chest loosens, and I feel lighter than I have in years.
Chapter 36
Theo
I’ve been coming to the Branch since fifth grade. It was the baseball team’s favorite spot to grab dinner after a game, I had my first kiss in the bathroom hallway one Friday night, and my first drink at the bar the day I turned twenty-one. This place is full of memories, but all I can recall as I sit here with Maddox are the ones that include Fable.
Like when she fell into my lap, completely rerouting the course of our relationship. Her birthday, when I got to hold her in my hands and spin her around the dance floor. Last week, when she ordered soft pretzels even though she doesn’t like them, just so we could dance again.
She’s everywhere here. Ishould’ve told Maddox to pick a different place for dinner.
The solid oak door creaks open behind me, and my heart skips a beat.Maybe it’s her. Turn around and see.
My thoughts must be written all over my face, because Maddox glances behind me and shakes his head with a sympathetic half grin.
We’ve just finished putting out a fire in a shed outside of town, so with my sweat-stained clothes and the smell of smoke clingingto every inch of me, it’s probably for the best that I don’t run into her right now.
