Page 86

The house loomed in front of me. The birdbath and new pavers and the flower beds Mom had bought with her ill-gotten gains. The perennials she’d planted that I had no idea how to take care of. The lawn, the gutters, the snow in the winter. The wobbly fence and the loose door handle on the garage. The broken parts and the broken people inside. All mine, all at once.

It was overwhelming. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Is this how Mom felt when Dad died? Only with a new baby too? This house, like an island, and her, responsible for everyone on it?

At some point Benny and Brad pulled up. And then they were in the driveway with me. I don’t know how long we sat there, not saying a word. I didn’t really have to say anything. They both knew me well enough.

“How the hell do I do this?” I whispered.

Brad answered. “You go through it. You can’t go around it, you have to go through it. And we’re here to help you do it.”

We all three sat there, staring at the house. Brad wiped at his eyes. He was crying too. Mom was his aunt the same way Leigh was mine. This nightmare was everyone’s. An atomic bomb. It affected anyone close enough to be in the blast zone.

After a few minutes Brad got up. “Let’s go. Get you guys out of here. You too.”

I looked up at him. “What?”

“You’re taking the kids to the Mall of America, Great Wolf Lodge for a few days. When you get back, you’ll be all moved in, carpet changed out, bathroom done.”

I blinked at him. “I thought the kids were going with Jane. I have to help with the move, I can’t let you guys do it by yourself—”

“Brad and I talked about it,” Benny said. “The kids need to be with you right now. It doesn’t make any sense to separate you. We got you a family suite at the water park. Jane and I will take the dog.”

Brad put a hand on my shoulder. “They’ll have fun. They’ll be distracted. It’s what everyone needs right now. We’ll get your new room set up, make this place feel like home. Benny knows how to put together your computer shit. I know how your room should look. We got it.”

I didn’t even know what to say. “Thank you” was all I could manage.

“Don’t thank us,” Brad said. “Just get the hell out of here.”

CHAPTER 22

EMMA

Justin’s phone rang twice before he picked up. “Emma.”

“Hey, Forehead Kiss Guy.”

“I’m Forehead Kiss Guy now?” he said. There was a smile in there.

“You are around here,” I said. “That’s what everyone on the island calls you.”

“So you’ve been telling everyone. My plan worked, you can’t stop thinking about it.”

“I keep thinking about it because I can’t believe you had the nerve. It used to be that you could break a curse with a guy and he’d keep all his promises.”

“I’m going to keep my promises. I promise.”

He got a laugh out of me.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I leaned over the railing on the second floor of the mall watching him walk in front of a shoe store with Chelsea. “Nothing. How was it this morning?”

I heard him blow out a breath. “Not great. I’m at the Mall of America with the kids. I have been sent by my best friends and the women who tolerate them, on an all-expense-paid trip while they remodel my new bedroom. We’re staying at the water park across the street until they’re done.”

“Awwww, that’s actually really nice of them.”

“Yeah. I might have to rename my dog after all.”