“You have to do all of the stories at the library now!” She leans in conspiratorily, attempting to whisper in the way all young kids do. “The person who usually does it is so boring!”
“I’m sure they are trying their best,” I reply, trying to hide my laugh.
She scowls at that. “They should probably pick a different path. That’s what mommy says when someone isn’t very good at something.”
I can’t hold my laugh in at that. I can totally see Thea attempting to frame it in a kind way and Chloe seeing straight through that. “Well, I think this might be part of my path. I’ll be back to do storytime next week, okay?”
She nods, satisfied with my compliance. And I really do think Ethel might have been right about volunteering. Sassafras has given so much to me… it might be time to give back to the town that raised me.
Keeping my mind off of Cole will be an added bonus.
The entire Bardot crew—well, those of us in Sassafras—has assembled to move Thea, Chloe, and Hank out of their apartment. I will admit, I’m pretty sad to lose my little buddy across the hall. But when a pipe burst in their apartment, Jules went all caveman on everyone, insisting that they move into his house.
Honestly, it made me wonder if he orchestrated the entire thing just to have Thea closer to him on a daily basis.
We’re all waiting outside of Louie’s when Jules and Thea pull up. Jules looks downright giddy, causing me to be evenmore skeptical of his intentions. I’m also not sure how much is actually salvageable inside the apartment, but there’s an unspoken Bardot family rule that when one of us calls, all of us answer. So here we are, on a lovely spring day, doing everyone’s favorite activity: moving.
Jules introduces Thea and her family to Mom and Dad. To absolutely no one’s surprise, our mom, Elaine, has zero chill when meeting Thea. I think she’s so glad that one of us boys has broughtsomeonehome, it wouldn’t matter if that person was actually a blow-up doll at this point.
Not that Thea is like a blow-up doll. She’s actually really great and I’m happy for my twin. Happy and… jealous? Yeah, I’m fucking jealous of him too.
I watch, trying to shake that feeling off, as Mom gives Thea a giant bear hug telling her, “I always wanted a daughter.”
“I’m telling Bex you said that,” Gabe shouts.
Mom lets go of Thea, turning to wag a finger in Gabe’s face. “Gabriel. You will say nothing unless you want me to dethrone you as my favorite son.”
Everyone knows Anders is her favorite son.
“Everyone knows Anders is your favorite son,” Jules chimes in, apparently drawing upon our twin telepathy.
Mom faces me. “I think Benoit is my favorite son right now,” she says with a wink.
“Benoit?” Thea questions. “Your name isn’t Benjamin?”
I give my parents a pointed look because this is a question I’ve answered most of my life. I was the child they decided to give the uber-French name to—it’s my burden to bear. “No,” I answer. “But that’s a very common assumption.”
“It’s not an assumption,” Thea replies. “That’s what Cole calls you.”
My head immediately snaps to Thea at that. “Cole talks about me?”
I hear it. I hear the desperation as soon as the words fall from my lips.Andso does everyone else because they are all currently staring at me with varying degrees of interest. Mom looks absolutely feral.
“I mean, ha! Yeah, that Cole. She always calls me the wrong name. Silly really…” I trail off, shoving my hands in my pockets and praying to the universe that someone, anyone, will take pity on me and end this conversation.
I’d even take an unexplained natural phenomena at this point.
A freak tornado. An on-land shark attack. A sharknado!
Instead, I get Chloe. The most honest, vocal four-year-old I’ve ever met.
“You kind of look like Kristoff when he realizes Anna went on an adventure without him,” she helpfully points out.
“Enough of that, Princess Chloe!” I scoop her up, heading inside the building in an attempt to get away from this conversation. “Let’s get your things, shall we? I heard you get to stay at JuJu’s house.” I throw a wink over my shoulder to a blushing Thea.
She hasn’t quite accepted it yet, but I already know that she and Jules are inevitable.
After a long day of moving, I’ve stopped by the coffee shop to check in on progress. The more I think about it, the more I’m glad that Cole is talking to Thea. Not only because she’s talking about me, but also because both of them need a friend. They are opposites in so many ways.
