Page 55 of Every Almost

"Thank you, Mr. Beckman," she said.

"Frank."

Charlie looked up. "Sorry?"

"Call me Frank, Charlie. You've earned it, kiddo."

Charlie's eyes burned. She nodded, because her voice was somewhere she couldn't reach.

Frank turned and reached behind the workbench. He pulled out his copy ofRumours, the vinyl, the one they'd listened to together in the living room the winter Charlie was sixteen. The one with "Songbird" on it.

"You should have this, too," he said, holding it out to her.

Charlie looked at the album in his hands. The white cover, slightly worn at the edges. She knew every scratch on that record from every time she'd played it on the Beckmans' turntable.

"Frank, I can't take your..."

"You're not taking it. I'm giving it. There's a difference." He pressed the album into her hands the way he'd pressed the pin. "That song means something to you. I saw it the first time you heard it." His thumb moved over the album's worn edge. "Takeit with you. Play it when you need to remember where you come from."

Charlie held the pin in one hand and the vinyl in the other and couldn't speak for a long time.

"Thank you, Frank," Charlie finally said. Frank nodded, staring up at the sky above them.

"Take it far, Charlie."

"Take what far?" Charlie asked. Frank returned his gaze to her.

"Life."

Helen heldCharlie in the kitchen doorway for a long time. "You call us," Helen said into her hair. "Every week. And you can always come home. You know that, right? You say the word and we will find a way to bring you home." Charlie noticed Helen said "home" without explanation. This home. With Frank and Helen and Charlie and Katie.

"That's my brave girl," Helen said, tears pooling in her eyes as she cupped Charlie's face and looked at her. Charlie smiled at Helen as her own eyes went blurry.

"Go knock 'em dead," Frank said from the side, and Charlie laughed, then looked at these two people who had, more or less, adopted her and her sister and changed their lives forever. She'd never be able to thank them enough.

"I love you guys," Charlie said as she wrapped her arms around both Helen and Frank together. She felt both of the Beckmans tighten their arms around her.

"We love you too, sweetie," Helen said, her voice thick.

"So very much, kiddo," Frank added.

Charlie opened her eyes and saw Katie standing to the side. She reached out her arm.

"Come here, Kit." Frank guffawed and turned his body slightly to make room for Katie.

"Make room for the boss!" Frank said as Katie ran into the fold and wrapped her arms into the group embrace.

"This has to be a family hug," Charlie said.

Because that's what they were. A family.

Katie wasbrave through the whole dinner. She was brave all the way through the goodbyes with the Beckmans. She was brave walking to their house down the sidewalk.

Four houses down.

She was even brave helping Charlie carry the last of the remaining packed boxes to her car before they called it a night. Boxes full of college things like textbooks, lab notebooks, and the drafting supplies she'd need for her first semester. The practical cargo of a life about to change.

But Katie wasn't brave in the driveway. After the last box was loaded, Charlie turned to say something and saw Katie standing by the passenger door, her chin shaking, her lips pressed together. Then came the sniffle, and Charlie crossed the distance between them in two steps, wrapping her arms around her sister, holding on.