“It’s not an assumption; it’s a guarantee.” I pull onto the main road and turn on the windscreen wipers as the snow starts up.
“Let me guess,” Callie says, Sherlock-style. “Why does everyone call you at the same time every day to fix something in their house that doesn’t really need fixing?”
“Are you using your one question?”
Callie draws in a slightly dramatic gasp. “You’re going to make me use it on that?”
I fight a grin. I’ve been a little worried she’d ask me something like whether I want to kiss her now or how I feel about her. Both of those things could make it weird in the house between us moving forward. This is much better.
Then, if she gets all forthright and American on me with another forward question, I can opt not to answer.
“Aye, if you want to know.”
She sits back in her seat and pouts. “Yes. Fine. I want to know.”
The levity disappears at once. I turn down the heat, feeling stuffy and warm. My scarf is choking me, so I unwind it and tossit in the back seat. “You remember I told you Blair left me and took Liv?”
She nods.
My nape breaks out in a sweat. Admitting my past to her the other night was scary enough, but it was late and dark and quiet. The house was sleeping and she was interested in what I had to say. With my attention divided between the road and Callie, the bright snow reflecting through the windscreen and giving no illusions about harsh light of day, this is different.
I swallow against a dry throat. “I told you I became depressed after she left, that my granny practically moved into my house to take care of me.”
“Yes.”
“I wasn’t living with my parents then. I was in a small cottage down the road, and it wasn’t good. I quit taking care of myself, Callie. I stopped eating, stopped showering. I lost the will to do anything important. I was entirely apathetic.”
Callie says nothing. She watches me, quietly absorbing my story. I’m not worried she’ll see me in a different way after this, exactly, but I am concerned about how she’ll view my small community as a whole—this wee bedrock that has become my stalwart foundation and support. I’m mightily protective of them.
“After Granny convinced me to see Rhona for counseling, I slowly made my way back to the land of the living, but everyone was concerned about the state of my mental health. They didn’t want me to slide back into despair, so they came together and created a schedule so someone would always be checking on me.”
Callie draws in a soft gasp. “Don’t tell me they fake all these house repairs just to make sure you’re doing okay?”
“In the beginning, the tasks were real things they needed help with. Patty and Douglas had plenty of things they needed doing around the house. It’s only recently they started doingthings to their house just so I would have to come by and fix them.”
“And Rory,” she guesses.
“Rory is another, aye. Granny. Grandad. Katie. Rhona. Seven people for seven days of the week.”
Callie shifts in her seat abruptly. “They check on youevery day? Every single day?”
“A few of them have taken breaks this week while they know you’re here. But typically they come by or call me for help every day.”
“And you go along with it.”
“I get shortbread or tea at every visit, don’t I?”
Callie stares at me.
I don’t look back, because I’m guiding my car onto my lane and keeping an eye out for Violet and her snowman.
“At this point, why don’t they just invite you over for tea instead? Or call and ask if you’re doing alright so you don’t have to fix things that aren’t broken?”
Violet’s nowhere to be seen, but her snowman—leaning a little to the side and wearing the largest carrot I have—is placed directly in front of the house. I drive along the lane to the side of the house and pull into the open garage at the back. It’s dim inside, and I don’t turn the car off. This conversation doesn’t feel quite over, and the large door is open to let out the exhaust fumes.
“I suppose they didn’t want to frighten me away in the beginning, or they feared I would turn their invitations down. Now…I don’t know. They could stop. I’m not in danger of succumbing to that darkness again. I keep up my therapy with Rhona, and that episode is behind me.” I lean back on the headrest and turn my neck so I’m looking at Callie. “But I would miss them, I think.”
“Then tell them that. Invite them to tea.”
