Page 56 of The Scent of Happiness

She shut the fridge and caught sight of the sticky note that said MILK in giant letters. She snatched it off the door. Writing things down was good. Reading them would be better. She crumpled it and added milk to the running shopping list on her phone, along with an alarm that would remind her to stop at the store on her way home from work like an actual grown-up.

She slipped on her shoes and carried her cereal bowl out the door. She stood in the driveway and looked to see if her parents were up yet. Their kitchen and dining room lights were on. Score. She circled to the front of the house and mounted the wide front porch.

The front door was unlocked and she let herself in. Mom sat at the dining room table, her laptop open, talking to the screen. The sticky tang of apple cider hung in the air. Mom was burning those country candles she liked so much. It went with the décor—plaids and ducks and stars, quilted coasters and table runners.

Mom waved Brooke over. “I’m FaceTiming your brother.”

“Now?” Brooke approached the dining table, thinking about time zones. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet in New Mexico. She leaned over her mom’s shoulder. “Hey, Connor. What are you doing up so early?”

“I haven’t been to bed yet,” Connor said. He was wearing a collared shirt and from what she could see around the edges of his head, he was sitting on his back deck. “My lab is running twenty-four hour experiments right now and I got the night shift.”

“Is that why you’re outside?” Brooke asked. “You don’t want to disturb TJ?”

“Get this.” Connor smiled. “TJ has started leading stargazing trips so he’s working nights as well.”

“Isn’t that the sweetest thing?” Mom asked.

“Yeah. Really sweet.” Brooke drifted toward the kitchen. She was used to her older brother doing everything first and everything better. He had a great job managing a government lab in Sandia, he lived in a beautiful house, and he even had the perfect husband. TJ was an outdoor guide, leading tourists on hikes at the state park. Connor and TJ were blissfully happy together.

“What are you doing at Mom and Dad’s?” Connor was still talking to her.

Brooke opened the fridge. “Borrowing milk. Is that okay, Mom?”

“Go ahead, hon. Pour me a cup of coffee while you’re up.”

“Is there something wrong with Brooke’s fridge?” Connor asked.

“Other than it’s empty?” Brooke flooded her Frosted Flakes with two percent and poured a cup of coffee from the pot.

“You can buy your own milk,” Connor said.

Brooke put the coffee cup next to Mom’s elbow and took a seat at the table. She spooned up a bite of cereal, making sure Connor could see it. “Jealous?”

“Wildly,” he said. “I’d love to be a grown-ass person and still bum food off my parents.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” Brooke shoveled in some cereal.

“It’s just a bit of milk,” Mom said. “I don’t mind.”

“Sure,” Connor said. “How are you, Brooke?”

“Mom told you about the lawsuit thing, right?”

“She insists you’re innocent.”

“Because I am.” Brooke put down her spoon. “Did you use the soap I sent you?”

“Yeah, it was nice.”

“It didn’t make you break out or anything, right? Nothing bad happened to your skin?”

“Of course not.” Connor looked away from the camera and then back. “I did have dry skin one time. It was flaking off. Turns out, I was using some kind of bug-repelling soap TJ got at the nature store. It was awful. I’m never doing that again.”

“Baby,” Brooke said.

“You’re a baby,” Connor answered.

“You’re both my babies.” Mom slid her laptop to the other end of the table, cutting Brooke out of the conversation. Brooke finished her cereal while listening to Mom and Connor finalizing details for her parents’ trip out west for Thanksgiving. Brooke wasn’t going, but she’d be sure to send along a few bars of her new honey chamomile soap.