“Mr. Nash. Good to see you again.” She smiled at the kids. “Come on, you two. Let’s get backpacks unpacked and homework started. Then you can have Uncle Grady time.”
“But—” Jordan started.
“No buts. Your mom’s right. Homework first.” Camila held out her hands and both kids took them without argument. She had that magic touch.
“We’ll be in the playroom,” she said to Mara. “Dinner at six?”
“Perfect. Thank you, Camila.”
They headed upstairs, Jordan chattering the whole way about a T-Rex he’d built out of Legos.
Mara turned back to me. “She’s a lifesaver. I don’t know what we’d do without her.” She picked up my water glass and refilled it without asking. “Hank should be home in an hour or so. He’s dying to see you. We thought we’d do dinner here—just the three of us after the kids go to bed. Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“You can relax, take a shower, whatever you need. Guest room’s all set up.”
I grabbed my bag. “Thanks, Mara.”
She caught my arm as I turned to go. “Whatever we learn tomorrow will be easier to deal with knowing you’re by my side. So thank you.”
“You’re my baby sister. I’m not about to let you face whatever it is alone.”
She hugged me. “You’re the best big brother a girl could have.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
An hour later,I was showered and changed, standing in the doorway of the playroom watching Jordan build an elaborate dinosaur habitat while Luci practiced scales on the electric keyboard in the corner. Camila sat at the craft table, helping Jordan find just the right tree for his diorama.
“Uncle Grady.” Jordan spotted me. “Come see.”
I walked over and crouched down next to him. “Wow. That’s incredible.”
“It’s the Jurassic period,” he said seriously. “See, this is a Brachiosaurus and this is a Stegosaurus, and they lived at the same time even though most people don’t know that.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Well now you do.” He placed the Stegosaurus carefully next to a plastic fern. “Do you have dinosaurs in Willet Cove?”
“Not the alive kind.”
“That’s what I thought.” He looked up at me, his expression thoughtful. “Do you like it there?”
“I do.”
“More than Los Angeles?”
“Yeah, it’s my home now.”
“Why?”
How did I explain it to a six-year-old? “It’s quieter. Simpler. I can see the ocean from my house.”
“That’s cool. I love the ocean.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Jordan went back to arranging his dinosaurs, apparently satisfied with that answer.
