“I do. And they’re much too big for board books.” Oakley pulled her hand back and kept stocking the shelves.
Laurie watched her for a moment, wondering how many babies her sister had lost. Oakley had only told the family about her first pregnancy and miscarriage… now Laurie got the feeling that there had been many more.
Oakley had been blind to Laurie’s struggles – but in that moment, Laurie realized that she had been equally ignorant of all that her big sister carried.
Neither of them had really been there for each other, because neither of them had been vulnerable enough to share what they were going through and give the other one the opportunity to show up.
Ever since her life fell apart, Oakley had made every effort to support her.
And how did Laurie respond? She just kept pushing her away.
Hey.Laurie waited for Oakley to look her in the eye. Then, with feeling, she signed,Thank you for all of this. I’m really grateful.
For a poignant moment, Oakley met her gaze and smiled.
Then she said, “You can thank me with coffee and cornettos from the cafe.”
“Deal.” Laurie stood and stretched. “Anne?”
“I’d love a latte and a pastry. Thank you.”
Laurie walked out into the hot summer day, letting the sun on her back erase the knots in her shoulders.
She was building something.
She had her family and her community behind her.
Everything was going to be okay.
20
Anne
Zoe avoided the main house for a while.
The next time that Anne saw her, the energy was tense.
It was early morning. The sky above the ocean was blue, but the sun was still below the horizon. Anne went downstairs to start breakfast, and Zoe was at the table eating a bowl of cereal. She didn’t say a word, but Anne could feel the anger and resentment coming off of her in waves.
Anne paused for a moment. The air was so thick that she didn’t even want to walk into the kitchen. She didn’t want to go through breakfast prep pretending that everything was fine.
She didn’t want to ignore her daughter’s pain.
“Can’t we fix this?” She sat down at the kitchen table across from her.
“Fix what?” Zoe snapped.
“Us. This… resentment. Your anger. The constant jabs.”
“Right. Because I’m the problematic one. It’s allmyfault.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You move in and turn this place into a hotel, and you want me to pretend like nothing’s wrong.”
“I don’t want to pretend. I just want to move forward.”
“One big happy family,” she said acidly.
