Holt—
Eat TWO. You’ll need it.
Love you.
Don’t argue with me.
My gaze drifts to the front door. Locked. That means she used the spare key. I don’t even have to ask where she found it.
My phone buzzes again.
Hadley:before you ask, yes, she used the fake rock, and yes, it’s obvious.
I type back before I can stop myself.
Me:it’s not fake. it’s decorative.
Hadley:it’s plastic.
I shake my head, open the container, and find six blueberry muffins still warm enough that the kitchen starts smelling sweet the second the lid comes off. Mom bakes when she worries. Pies if someone’s grieving. Muffins if someone’s nervous. Full casseroles if she thinks two people are fighting and too stubborn to fix it themselves.
Food is how she loves. How she prays. How she reminds us we still belong to something bigger than whatever’s got us wound tight that day.
I take one of the muffins and break it in half before biting into it. Butter. Blueberries. Enough sugar to feel like emotional blackmail. I eat it anyway.
My phone buzzes again.
This time, it’s my eldest sister, Lila.
Lila:Evelyn wants to know if firefighters are allowed to eat muffins for breakfast
A laugh slips out before I can stop it. I type back with my mouth still full.
Me:yes. it’s in the handbook.
Three dots appear. Disappear. Return.
Lila:Dean says that is absolutely not in the handbook
Me:Dean isn’t a firefighter.
Lila:Dean says he’ll still ground you.
I smile despite myself.
I can picture the whole scene without trying. Evelyn at the table in pajamas with one sock on and the other missing. Her brother, Oliver, sitting straighter than any five-year-old should know how to sit, listening more than speaking. Lila’s husband, Dean, half awake but already in full adult mode. My sister, warm and amused, loving all of them with her whole chest.
The image settles something in me.
Then another text comes through.
Lila:Oliver says to tell Uncle Holt not to forget his helmet
That one lands deeper, and I stare at it for a second longer than I need to.
Then I type back.
Me:tell him I won’t.
