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Chapter Fifteen
Luke
"Come in," Mom saidthe next evening. "Everyone’s already here."
Reese, Gran, and Kimberly were back from Europe, so, of course, my parents had organized a get-together at their house.
I stepped inside, following Mom to the living room. She looked fondly at Reese and Kimberly.
"Oh, I'm so glad the house is full again," she said. "I'm not used to having both my girls away."
The two of them were practically daughters to my mother. I looked around the room, focusing on Reese and Kimberly, looking for nonverbal signs of how they were really doing. Gran was near Paisley, each sitting in an armchair at the other end of the room.
My siblings and their better halves were spread around the room. Travis walked toward the girls, gesturing for me to join them. That was exactly what I planned to do, but not before I welcomed Gran. Mom ingrained manners in us.
"Hey, Gran," I said as I approached. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. I had so much fun in London. I should get out more often."
Gran was a very active woman, but it was true that she didn't travel outside the city at all. Paisley was looking eagerly at Gran, and I didn't want to interrupt the conversation they’d been having. I’d catch up with her later.
I went to my cousins and Travis next. Reese seemed relaxed, at least more so than I'd seen her in the months leading up to her trip. She looked different, but I couldn't say how. Maybe she'd done something to her hair. I was clueless when it came to these things.
I sat down in the chair opposite Travis.
"Hey, good to see you both. So, spill the beans," Travis said.
"How did it go?"
"It was really nice," Reese said. "Dad spent a lot of time with me and Gran.”
“I think becoming a father again changed something in him," Kimberly said. "Maybe he sees this as a second chance."
My cousins didn’t talk much about their relationship with their father. When they were growing up, he worked long hours, and they barely saw him. And after the bookstore business was sold, he moved to London. They talked about once a month, but that was it. Perhaps now that he had a young daughter, things would change.
"Is he planning a trip this side of the ocean any time soon?" I asked, wondering when Gran would next see her granddaughter.
"I can't imagine they'll do it soon," Kimberly said. "The baby's far too young."
"True, I didn't think about that.” We’d have to set up calls for Gran on Zoom or something so she could feel involved with the baby. "Reese, you look good."
"Ifeelgood. I did a lot of sightseeing, and London is amazing. I mean, I've been there before, but I was seeing it with different eyes this time." The corner of Kimberly's mouth tilted up. Reese cleared her throat. “It might be because I had the company of a cool English gentleman.”
"Good for you," Travis said.
I was surprised but pleased. It was high time Reese got over that asshole.
"I didn’t think about Malcolm and all his crap at all,” she declared. "And I like English gentlemen. That accent is so attractive."
I hadn't seen her smile like this in a long time. I was happy for her.
"You know what? Accents can be cute, but deceiving," Kimberly said. "I'm done with Frenchmen. Maybe I'll move to London. That way I’ll be closer to our sister. Someone has to teach her the Maxwell ways."
I could read between the lines: Kimberly wasn’t happy. I hoped she would come back to Chicago at some point. Maybe one day she would.
"Besides, maybe you’ll go back and forth, see your Englishman," Kimberly told Reese, who just laughed.
"We are nowhere near the stage where we've made plans to visit each other. But we are keeping in touch," she added. "I’m being cautious.”
