“Sorry, I missed that. What were you saying?”
She explains once again about the problem she’s having with the caterer. This time I do a better job focusing and responding.
“I should let you go now,” I eventually tell her. “If I don’t finish packing up the house, I’ll never get to return home.” That earns me another pitying look as if I’ve just mentioned that I’m suffering from a terminal disease.
I end the session. Charlie lifts his head with anIs-she-gone-yet?expression. He’s been snoozing next to me on the couch since I sat.
“Are you planning on sleeping all day while I work?”
He barks and lays his head back down, enjoying the morning sun shining through the living room window.
I giggle. “You silly dog. All right, you catch up on your beauty sleep for the both of us, and I’ll get to work.”
Several hours later, I’m in the living room, packing away antiques to be shipped to Beverly Hills. The front door opens and Noah calls out, “Hey, Kate. I’m here with the cavalry.”
“I’m in here.”
Noah walks into the room a moment later, followed by seven people I hadn’t expected to see.
“Hi?” I say to Noah’s brothers, Violet, Sophie, Aubrey, Ryan, and Austin. All of them are wearing casual clothing: shorts, jeans, T-shirts.
“We’ve come to help you,” Violet explains.
TJ wraps his arm around his wife’s waist from behind. “No, the rest of us have come to help Kate. You’re putting your feet up and supervising.”
Violet rolls her eyes, then turns to kiss him. “Will you worry less if I do that?”
He kisses the end of her nose. “Damn straight.”
“All right, I’ll supervise.”
“And by supervise, she doesn’t mean you’ll be spending the day kissing her while the rest of us work.” Jake slaps his brother on the back.
All eight of them look at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell them what needs to be done. Once I get over my initial shock, I thank everyone for helping me and assign each person a task.
And this includes Violet, who is to keep Charlie company while the rest of us work. He moves next to her and plunks his head on her lap.
TJ laughs. “That’s one way to keep you in place.” He gives his wife one more quick kiss, then gets to work.
We work hard for the next several hours, stopping for lunch once the pizza Violet ordered arrives.
Everyone grabs a slice and heads outside to the sorry-looking patio. The men pop open their beers. Violet was busy making virgin Strawberry Daiquiris while we were working—the only thing that TJ and Charlie would let her do. Sophie fills the glasses, and I hand them out to the girls.
We each find a spot to sit. There are only two chairs, which are for Violet and TJ. The rest of us get comfy on the low-rise stone step surrounding the patio, separating it from the sad-looking garden.
Noah sits next to me. “Hey, how are you doing?”
He doesn’t have to say it; I know what he’s referring to.
“I’m doing fine. Thank you so much for this.” I nod at his friends.
“They offered to help when they found out what you and I were doing today.”
I bite into my pizza slice and moan at the mouth-watering taste.
Noah gives me a funny look.
“What?”
