thirty-two
Jamie
“Takethatexit.”Renpointed to the sign indicating we’d be getting off in a quarter of a mile. “We need to make a quick stop.”
I tilted my head as I read it. I’d taken this stop a number of times. But that was just a coincidence, right?
Wrong. We ended up in front of the place I knew well.
Stepping out of Ren’s car to head up to my parents’ home was a visceral experience. I was hit with a familiar scent: wings on the charcoal grill mixed with the floral perfume of the rosebush my mom had transplanted from my grandmother’s house.
I should have known my devious friend had something up his sleeve.
“So, I know we didn’t discuss it, but this was your mom’s idea, and I told her I could strong-arm you into a stop. Surprise!”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks for doing this, man.” I patted Ren on the shoulder. He didn’t need to bring me to my parents’ house. We could easily have just gone home, but I had learned he was pretty selfless when it came to me.
I didn’t mention it, but I was grateful for the comforts of my family when I was going through a breakup that wasn’t actually a breakup. Somehow, it felt worse than a breakup.
“No need to thank me. I’d travel hours just for a taste of your dad’s marionberry cobbler.”
His cobbler really was that good.
“Uncle Jamie!” Adam ran down the porch stairs and threw his arms around me. The kid was downright angelic, from his toothy smile to his curly blond hair. He squeezed me as though he hadn’t seen me in years, but maybe to a little kid, six months felt like a lifetime.
Had it actually been six months?
I thought back to the last time I’d seen everyone for my dad’s birthday in March. I had missed Mother’s Day and Father’s Day because of two big cases I’d been working on that had me working through the weekends. Man, I’d been a terrible son.
“Where’s your mom?” I lifted him onto my shoulder so that he could spread his arms and fly like an airplane. He pointed forward, so forward I went.
We made our way to the back deck, and I teared up. My entire family was here. In the middle of a Thursday.
“How are you all here?” The lump in my throat made it hard to speak.
“Well, Marley and Sav had extra vacation time, and your dad and I took half-days,” my mom explained. I couldn’t believe it. Taking time off and throwing a BBQ all because I’d be in their area. “There’s my favorite second son.” My mom embraced Ren, bypassing her own child. They’d only met in person a few times, but there had always been an easy rapport, and obviously, they’d been conspiring against me for this trip. Ren reached for a slice of watermelon, but she smacked his hand away from the bowl, and he shook it out as if he’d been burned. “No dessert before dinner.”
“I’m a grown adult, Patricia.” He cowered behind Erin, who already had a slice in her fist.
Marley came up the deck stairs, laughing. “A grown adult hiding behind an eight-year-old.” She tickled the bottoms of Adam’s feet, causing him to squirm on my shoulder until I set him down. “Hi, big brother.” She kissed me on the cheek just as Savannah came up and opened her arms.
“Did you get shorter, Sav?” I ran my hand from the top of her head to my collarbone like the world’s worst measuring tape.
She elbowed me in the ribs. “Did you get snarkier?”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Ren leaned forward as though he had hot gossip. “Jamiehere is basically a whole new person.”
My dad turned from the grill to raise an eyebrow, but his curiosity shone through.
I tried to get ahead of the situation. “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“What did you do at that camp?” Marley pried.
“You know, normal stuff. Hiking, bird-watching, swimming.”
“Crafting, ziplining, making moon eyes at past girlfriends,” Ren added.
That got everyone’s attention.
