“That’s weird. Probably just a wrong number.” I shrugged and put my phone in my pocket. “Okay, Rose, I’m not judging your attempt at baking. It actually looked good.”
“I know, weird. Help me make sure it doesn’t burn. So, want to talk about Luke?” she asked, opening the fridge to pull out a soda.
“Nope.” I stuffed a ranch-dressing-covered baby carrot into my mouth.
“I didn’t think so. But I’ve talked to him, and I think you should give him a chance. He thought he was doing the right thing. None of us will give you any crap after you forgive him and get back together and get married and have more cute babies.”
“Why are you all so sure that we’ll get back together?” I was kind of freaked out that my family had not only forgiven Luke so quickly, but they all seemed to think it was inevitablethat we’d get back together. I got up and headed to the fridge in search of something to drink.
“Duh, because it’s Luke. Luke and Lily are like peanut butter and jelly. And I was always the pickle on your sandwich.” She stuck her tongue out at me when she caught my eye.
“You’re not my pickle, Rose, you’re my best friend, and I’ve missed you so much.” I hugged her around her neck, swinging her side to side, and she hugged me back, wrapping her arms around my waist like she always did. We pulled apart just as our brothers started filing through the door at the rear of the kitchen.
I grabbed Rose’s hand. “Aw, back inside so soon? Rose and I wanted to play catch with you guys.”
“Yeah,” Rose added, “we wanted to play too.”
Then we said in unison, “Forever and ever and ever.” Suddenly our four tall, macho brothers turned around and ran back outside. We high-fived because we still had it going on.
Mom, who had just entered the kitchen from the living room, got mad. “Rose, Lily, stop scaring your brothers. I never have all my babies together, and you just ran them off with your scary twin act.” We used to go allShiningtwinson them regularly, and they would always run off, much to our amusement.
“You have to get over it because we’re not all here.” Rose laughed. “Woman, do you have so many kids that you can’t tell when one is missing?”
“You’re all here, aren’t you? Violet, Asher, Caden, you two brats.” She pointed at me then Rose as she went down the list, naming us all. “Levi and Jude. Shoot, I did forget about Holly. Don’t tell her,” she mumbled as she turned around and left the kitchen.
“She’s a crazy woman.” Rose rolled her eyes. “Hey, do you want some of this lasagna?”
I headed back to my barstool and sat. Rose was by thechafing dishes my mom had set up on the counter making room on the table for the crumble.
“I’m waiting for the apple crumble,” I said as I stuffed my face. I was stress-eating my way through the hors d’oeuvre platters. When one is stress eating, bite-sized food is a must, along with dessert of any type. “Where is Holly anyway?” I asked through a mouthful of quiche. They were tiny, perfect for stuffing the whole thing in.
“Check her blog or her Instagram. She posted this morning. She’s in Washington, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.”
I shuddered. My younger sister Holly was athletic. She loved running and climbing things and going on long hikes that lasted for days with zero opportunity for a shower. I basically hated all that stuff. I required frequent access to snacks and a television to properly function.
“All that walking? Yuck. I’m tired just thinking about it.” I stuffed a blanket-covered pig into my mouth. “Though, I’m tired all the time lately. Calla is against sleeping more than three hours in a row.”
“Want me to come stay with you tonight?” Rose offered as she sat in the stool next to mine.
“No thanks. I don’t want to get used to that kind of thing.”
“I don’t mind helping. I’m off all summer too, remember? Being a kindergarten teacher is the best thing I ever did. Summers off!” She took a bite of lasagna and reached out a hand for a high-five.
Laughing, I smacked her palm. “No thanks. We have to get used to it being just the three of us.”
She sighed. “It’s not just the three of you and it never will be. Why are you so stubborn? Just let me help you.”
“You’ve helped me enough. You were there for my bed rest. Between you, Jane, Mom, and Violet, and Trevor stopping by and helping, I was never alone.” Trevor had been Will’s partner on the police force. His son Mikey was Dylan’s best friend. Hopefully, he would drive down sometime over thesummer, and the boys could get together. Trevor was from this area anyway, somewhere near Portland. The boys could have visits whenever Trev visited his family.
“Lily, I heard you talking with Mom and it’s all a bunch of crap. You don’t have a problem with us helping you. You want to learn to do everything by yourself because you’re scared. Luke left you, then Will died, and you lived far away from all of us. But now you’re back, and let’s talk odds. You have two parents and seven siblings. Plus, Gram, Jed, Auntie Delphine, and our cousins, and of course, there’s Jane, and don’t forget Luke is back. Unless the house blows up during a Sunday dinner or something wacked like that happens, we won’t all be taken out at once. You’ll always have at least one of us to lean on. Think about that and chill out a little bit.”
I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn’t help it. I felt anxious when I thought about all that I had lost. “You’re probably right,” I conceded. “But I don’t need you to spend the night. We’ll be okay.” Telling Rose she was right was the best way to end a disagreement. She could go on and on and on until she got her way.
“Have it your way. But promise to call if you need me, no matter what time it is. You are nightmare prone, and I don’t want you freaking out in the middle of the night when Gram’s house starts all that weird creaking and her neighbor’s asshole dog starts howling at the moon.”
“Fine. Deal,” I agreed. “I need to leave now anyway. If I can find my baby and wrestle her away from Violet. It’s almost bedtime.”
“What about my apple crumble?” she pouted.
