“Hanna, my girlfriend, Hanna? Did you just wake up? I’m almost to your place, dude,” Miles scolds.
“Why are you coming to my place?”
Miles glances at me with a scowl. “Because it’s Sunday. Family breakfast. We do this almost every week, remember?”
There’s a ruffling over the line that muffles the background sound but I’m almost certain I hear a second voice in the background. Miles and I share a passing glance.
“Well I just woke up and won’t be ready by the time you’re here. Just meet me at home,” he says, suddenly sounding hurried and frantic.
“Everything okay?” Miles asks.
“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine. I have to go, I’ll see you in an hour,” Carter hurries out the words and then the line goes dead.
“Ohhhhhkay, I guess we’re not going to pick him up,” Miles says. “We have time now, do you want to stop for a coffee or anything?”
I perk up in my seat and gasp with a wide smile. “I’dlovea coffee.”
My reaction to his offer makes him laugh. “Anything for you, beautiful. Absolutely anything.”
After we stop and grab a coffee, we are finally on our way to breakfast. He tells me stories about growing up with Ivy and Carter, and how Willow and Cooper became a part of their lives too. By the time we pull into the driveway, I feel like I know everything there is to know about them. When he stops the truck, he leans over the console and presses out his lips, asking for a kiss. Once he gets what he wants, he jumps out and hurries to open my door for me. Helping me out, he doesn’t let go of my hand as we walk up the front porch steps together.
“Hello?” he calls out as he opens the front door.
“Hello,” a raspy voice calls back. Then, a much older woman than I was expecting steps out into the doorway. She has long graying hair and is wearing an apron. A clip holds half her hair behind her head and she smiles as Miles and I take a few steps closer to her.
“And who do we have here?” she asks brightly, her cheeks pulling back as she steps towards me for a hug.Coming from a family of huggers, I’m not thrown by the gesture in the slightest. Leaning in, I embrace her.
“Mama, this is Hanna. My girlfriend,” Miles says proudly. His hand falls to the small of my back when I pull away to stand beside him.
“Well, hello, Hanna. It’s so lovely to meet you,” she gushes, pulling me into another hug.
“Mama, cool it with the hugs,” Miles groans the slightest bit.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I stop him. “I love hugs. I come from people who love to hug.”
“Oh, well then, here’s one more just because,” she replies, pulling me into a third. She laughs as she embraces me and the sound of it warms my soul.
“I’m so happy you came this morning. I wish my son would have told me he was bringing you along, but I always make enough food to go around.” She starts to move back down the hallway where she came from and we follow behind her.
“Mama, I did tell you, remember? I texted you on New Year’s Day to tell you I’d be bringing Hanna with me.”
“Oh.” Ivy stops in the center of the kitchen and brings her index finger to her lips, looking like a lightbulb just went off in her head. “I remember now. I may have had a few too many glasses of wine that night. My memory always slips a little the next day when I do that.”
She waves a hand at us and Miles sighs beside me. I can’t hold back the laugh that tumbles out of my throat. We’re standing at the island in the center of the kitchen while Ivy moves towards the stove. The room smells incredible as a mixture of freshly scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage tickles my nose. Looking around the room, I see the history of Miles hanging on the walls. I know the boy in thephotos is him because he has the same goofy smile he does as an adult. There’s a mixture of frames where it’s just him and some with just another boy: Carter, I assume. And of course there’s plenty of them together, growing over the years but that single moment of time captured in a frame for eternity.
He bumps my shoulder and I look up at him, pulling the corners of my lips back. “I like all the pictures.”
“Yeah, Ivy always had a camera in her hand when we were growing up. Between her and Willow, there’s no shortage of photos around here to look at.” He chuckles.
I’m about to say something when the sound of paws clacking against the hardwood travels down the hardwood.
“Good morning,” a strong voice bellows out. Before anyone can reply, a massive German shepherd comes trotting into the kitchen. When it sees me, it comes up and gives me a tentative sniff. When it’s deemed me worthy, it sits obediently, waiting for attention and wagging its tail. It almost looks like it’s smiling at me as it waits.
“We’re in here,” Ivy calls out.
“This is Lola, Coop’s police dog. Go on, you can pet her, she’s really friendly,” Miles encourages with a head nod.
I bend over and flip both hands over for her to sniff before trying to pet her. Dogs have boundaries just like people, which I understand and always respect. When she presses her snout into my palms and starts to lick me, I take it as my okay to give her a scratch. She quickly rolls over to her back and exposes her belly to me which I happily pet.
