He moved closer to a wall and seemed to be inspecting it.
“Are you seriously checking the quality of my wife’s work?”she asked and chuckled, knowing Janie would get a kick out of proving her painting prowess to Solo’s dad.
“Maybe.” He pulled back and lightly punched her arm. “You can tell her how impressed I am though.”
“Maybe you can tell her yourself when she comes home.” Even as she said it, the joy in her heart deflated, and the words sounded hollow and empty. “Ifshe comes home.”
Her dad punched her a little harder. “That’s not the kind of positive thinking your mom taught you.”
Solo moved past him and headed back to the kitchen for the food. “I like talking about Mom, even though it’s hard. We don’t do it enough.”
“I keep waiting for it to get easier.” Her dad picked up their plates and followed her back to the dining room. “So I can think about celebrating the years I got to spend with her instead of mourning the ones that the Big C took from us.” He shook his head and sighed deeply. “Over three years…”
Solo didn’t fill in the gap. She didn’t need to because she had that crippling ache too. It was only now that she was separated from Janie that she could truly appreciate her dad’s loss and how it differed from her own grief.
Her phone buzzed in her sweatpants, and she almost ripped the pocket in her hurry to pull it out, hoping it was Janie.
Woody got the early release of 2K25. We’re coming over. OK.
Gabe wasn’t Janie, but it always made Solo happy to hear from her. Though she wasn’t looking forward to explaining how she’d messed up their plan to get her wife back.What about Lori?
Busy with a new horse coming in. Be there in thirty.
“Janie or Gabe?” her dad asked. “It’s got to be one of them to put that goofy grin on your face.”
“Huh?”
Her dad gestured in her direction. “Your face. It’s goofy, so that,” he tapped her phone, “has to be one of the two most important women in your life.”
Solo shrugged. She wouldn’t admit that out loud, but he wasn’t wrong so she couldn’t protest. “It’s Gabe. The gang wants to come over to play the new NBA game.”
He rolled his eyes. “You have a hoop in the back yard. Why don’t you get some fresh air and play for real?”
Solo laughed. “I’m not a kid anymore, Pops. I can play video games anytime I want.”
“Do you hear how that sounds?” He pointed behind her. “And what about the wall?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “It’ll keep,” she said, glad of a delay that might mean Janie got to see it for real. “And the triplets’ll enjoy the company.”
Her dad grumbled. “As long as you don’t get rowdy and start cussing. You don’t want the girls learningthosewordsthisyoung.”
Solo frowned and shook her head. “You know I always appreciate a good dad moment, but it’ll be fine. They all know they can’t swear in front of my babies. They’ll be on their best behavior.”
A giant glob of cottage cheese flew past her eyeline and landed on her dad’s forehead. The three girls erupted into their gorgeous giggles, and Solo had to bite her tongue to keep herself from joining them.
“I can’t say the same for the triplets though,” she said before she clasped her hand over her mouth.
Her dad wiped the dip from his face with a napkin and tried for a stern look. He failed miserably and broke out into a chuckle. “You need to get moving on that replacement nanny, kiddo. These kids are trying to break us, and I reckon they’ll succeed if we don’t get some professional help soon.”
“We will, but I’m not rushing it,” Solo said. “I have to make sure we get the right person, someone who’s going to stick around this time.” She’d just refocused on her cell to respond to Gabe when a message came in from Janie. Solo’s heart jumped against her chest, and her hands shook as she opened it. She’dsent countless texts, photos, and voice messages, and Janie had responded to only a few. This was the first time Janie had initiated a conversation. She closed her eyes briefly, hoping that it wouldn’t be something bad after last night’s fiasco.
We need to meet. My mother came to the office.
So Janie was working today too. She clearly hadn’t been lying about their new gorilla client. Maybe that explained why Janie’s mom was there, unless there’d been a family emergency, and that’s why Janie was reaching out.
Solo flipped to her favorites tab and hovered her finger over Janie’s icon. She wanted to talk, to hear Janie’s voice, but she remembered something Rae had said about taking a breath and not always going with her initial reaction to the things going on around her. If Janie had wanted to talk, she would’ve called. Solo flicked back to messages.Sure. When?xxShe looked at the simplicity of her response and swallowed. If Janie wanted to meet today, should she say yes and blow off the gang? That was her first thought, so was she supposed to take a breath and reconsider? Gabe and the gang would understand. This was her life she was trying to hold together. Of course it took priority over a stupid video game.
The message delivered and showed as read immediately. Solo’s heart raced a little faster, just like it had when they’d messaged each other while she was still in the service. The time difference made it difficult to message in real time, but when they’d managed it, Solo had bounced on her chair and waited, holding her breath, while the three gray dots wiggled across the bottom of the screen, showing Janie was responding. The memory rush brought a mixture of emotions with it that Solo didn’t have time to “process,” as Rae called it.
