AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hi, brother.”
I smile at her greeting. “Little sis. You doing okay in this weather?”
“Yes. Austin came and scooped my walkway this morning.”
Huh. Well, I’m glad he did that. I should have probably thought of doing it for her. Now I feel like a crappy brother.
“Do you need any groceries or anything? I don’t want you driving in the snow.”
Greer laughs, and I can practically hear her rolling her eyes through the phone.
“I’m good. You sound like Austin. And Nash. Who already called me this morning to lecture me about not driving in this weather.”
I chuckle. That sounds like our brother. He doesn’t live in Pine Hollow, yet he still keeps an eye on Greer all the way from Seattle. The poor girl can’t do anything without one of us hovering. It’s only because we care, though.
“Whatever. Listen, I have a question,” I say.
“Oh? Now I’m intrigued. My know-it-all brother has a question for me.”
“Be quiet, brat. God, you’re a smart-ass.”
She bursts out into a fit of giggles. “I know.”
When she finally quiets, I let out a sigh. “Has Summer talked to you about her mom at all? Like how her dementia is progressing or anything?”
“Uh. Well, a little. I’ve been over there a couple of times and seen it for myself. Sometimes, she seems to be with it, and sometimes, she thinks I’m there to sell the local newspaper. It comes and goes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” I snap.
When Greer doesn’t say anything, I groan. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I found Summer crying on her porch last night. She talked to me a little bit, but I’m still trying to figure out how bad it is. I want to help, but I’m not sure how.”
“She was crying?” Greer asks with a shaky voice.
“Yeah. She’s overwhelmed.”
“I didn’t know. She hasn’t said anything. We text frequently, and we hang out every Sunday, but she hasn’t mentioned struggling with her mom. Do you think I can do anything to help?”
With my phone in hand, I pace the length of my kitchen, waiting to hear the final splutter of the coffee pot so I can pour my first cup. As I pass the kitchen window, I glance over at Summer’s house and wonder how she’s doing this morning. Did she take a bath like I told her to do last night?
“I don’t know yet. I think, right now, she needs some balance. She wants to be there for her mom, but she needs some time for herself too.”
“That makes sense,” Greer says.
“What kind of stuff does she like to do in Little Space?”
The line goes silent for a long stretch, to the point that I pull my phone away from my ear to see if my sister hung up on me.
“Why do you want to know?” she asks slowly.
Freaking sisters. I shouldn’t have asked. Of course she would want to know why. She’s nosy as fuck. Always has been.
“I think she needs some time to regress. I want to give her a space to do that.”
“Are you going to be her Daddy?”
I choke and spew coffee all over the counter. Greer starts to giggle.
“What? No!”
