He eyed me. “That’s a little more of the gumption I like to see. You can go.”
I ignored Gabe’s glare and headed for the front door. I stopped short as my mom descended the stairs. She pressed a hand to my cheek. “Hi, honey. I didn’t know you were here.”
I forced a smile. “Dad just wanted to go over a few things with Gabe and me.”
She frowned. “It’s too late for that. You should be out enjoying your life, taking some nice girl on a date.”
The flicker of hope in her eyes killed something in me. She was itching for me to settle down and give her some grandbabies.
“It’s okay. I was on my way home from a SAR meeting anyway.”
“How did it go? How’s Nash?”
“Good on both counts. Maybe we can meet him for lunch one of these days.”
My mom smiled. “I’d love that. And have him bring Maddie. It’s been too long since I’ve seen that girl. I’m so happy those two finally got together. You need someone who keeps you on your toes like that.”
“Just haven’t found the right person yet,” I muttered, hating to lie to her.
She squeezed my hand. “You will. Just give it time.”
As she shifted, I caught sight of the dark circles under her eyes. “You doing okay?”
With every year that passed, my mother seemed more and more fragile. I’d thought she would get stronger with time, but it seemed to be having the opposite effect.
She nodded, forcing her smile brighter. “Just fine. I haven’t been sleeping great. I think I’ll call it an early night.”
“Okay. Call me if you need anything.”
“I will. Love you.”
I pulled her into a gentle hug. “Love you, too.”
As she disappeared up the stairs, I stayed frozen. How had we become this? A family so fractured we were ships passing in the night at best. I kept hoping things would change, but they never did.
I stalked out the front door, trying to leave behind the reminders of all our misery. And headed home, where I knew I’d be completely alone.
3
GRAE
Aspen smiledat Maddie as she slid an assortment of baked goods onto our table at The Brew. “You know, when you quit, I was worried I’d never see you.”
Maddie grinned as she popped a piece of a scone into her mouth. “With these goodies, you’ll never have to worry about that.”
Wren rested a hand on her belly, which was just starting to round. “I swear this kid is going to come out asking for orange-cranberry scones.”
Aspen chuckled. “We’ll have you covered if they do.”
A little red-haired girl that was the spitting image of Aspen popped out from behind her mom. “You’re gonna have a baby, Miss Wren?”
“I am. I’ve got some months to go, but they’ll be here before we know it.”
Cady started bouncing up and down. “I hope it’s a girl, and maybe she’ll want to do ballet with me. Charlie’s my best friend, but he doesn’t want to do ballet with me, and some of the other girls in my class are kinda mean. I need a ballet buddy.”
I leaned forward in my chair. “Who’s mean to you?”
She scrunched up her nose. “Heather Beasley’s the worst. She always says I’m not good and my tutus are ugly.”
