“Soooo cute!” Britt agreed. “He reminds me of Bodhi.”
I felt my spine stiffen. Bodhi was a lot like Bruno from the Disney movie,Encanto: we don’t talk about him.
Maybe that needed to change.
“Oh yeah? How does he remind you of Bodhi?”
“The way he walks. And how he can’t say my name. He kept calling meBit-nee. That’s how Bodhi used to say it.”
I smiled at the memory I seemed to have forgotten.
“Does it upset you to be reminded of your brother?”
“No, it’s kind of nice to remember,” she said wistfully as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.
I glanced at Brayden for his opinion.
“What about you? Does Jake remind you of Bodhi?”
He shrugged. “A little. Especially the way he says Britt’s name, like she said.”
“And does that bother you?”
“Not at all.”
It was obvious my kids were one hundred times more well-adjusted than I was. We’d been right to put them in therapy after Bodhi’s accident. Begrudgingly, I had to credit Becky for that one. She’d insisted they keep going after the divorce, too.
“I’m glad you can think about your brother with good memories.”
“So, are you going to ask her out?” Britt asked with wide eyes and an eager grin.
“I don’t think so, kiddo.”
My daughter’s face fell.
“Why not?”
“She’s a lot younger than me. We don’t have much in common.” I was totally talking out of my ass. “Not to mention, she’s a client. Uncle Mav would nail my hide to the wall if I dated a client.”
Britt pointed out, “Uncle D dates customers from his bar all the time; what’s the difference?”
“How do you know that?”
Brayden rolled his eyes.
“Everybody knows that, Dad.”
“Everybody? Who do you know who knows your uncle besides your mom and me?”
“Uncle Beau, Uncle Maverick, Nick…” he sassed.
“And when was the last time you talked to any of them?” Before he could point out the obvious, I quickly interjected, “Besides today.”
“We see Uncle Derrick at Brayden’s games,” Brittany observed. “And Uncle Beau was at the game yesterday.”
Dammit, I forgot about that.
These dang kids had me all discombobulated with their “date Gretchen!” talk.
