I tilt my head and look up at him. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”
He raises his hands, a spoon and bowl in each, and then continues to eat.
“I just need you to help with the setup. If you can help with that, I can get the baking done. Plus, I know Riley and Hailey want to help me. Addie is busy setting up for The Salty Dog.”
“Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
I stop writing and look at him. “Man, if I’d known you’d doanythingfor me, I would have put out the first day I came back.”
He winks. “Yeah, well, now you have some catching up to do.”
“That I do. You should invite your dad and Amy.”
He chews slowly while he thinks about it. Milo is sitting down next to him looking up, while patting Rowan’s leg over and over for a taste of the cereal.
“I don’t want to take away from your day,” he tells me through a mouthful.
“You’re not. I want you to invite him. I mean, that is unless you’re not ready. I also don’t want Addie to feel bombarded. Okay, maybe it’s not a great idea.” I continue to write.
Rowan drinks the milk in his bowl and then looks at me. “I’ll talk to Addie and Mom. I would like to see him, have him visit, but I want to make sure they’re okay with it first.”
“That’s fair.” I look at him with a smile. “I can’t wait to see where your relationship with him goes.”
He smiles at me. “Me too.”
sixty-one
ROWAN
“Anyone home?”I shout out from the entrance of my mom and aunt’s home.
I don’t hear an answer, so I close the door behind me and walk through the house.
“Hello?” I shout again.
“We’re in here,” my aunt exclaims from the sunroom toward the back of the house.
I stride into the warm, sunny room where my mom and aunt are painting. My mouth curves into a smile when I notice their focus is on each other as they paint.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
My mom doesn’t look away from her canvas before saying, “We’re painting each other.”
“I can see that. Why?”
My aunt responds while looking at my mother, “We saw this thing on the socials. People paint each other and then show the person at the end.” Her eyes bounce from the canvas to my mom.
“We’re almost done,” my mom murmurs.
I look between the two of them before walking to my mom's side. I roll my lips in and close my eyes after I see what issupposedto be my aunt. I think?
“Okay, I’m done,” my mom says proudly.
“Just one more thing,” my aunt mutters and then cocks her head to the side. “Alright, I’m done.”
I lay my arms across my chest, determined to hide my smile with a hand.
“On the count of three,” Aunt Rosey says. “One, two, three.”
