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“Well, sure, but maybe she needs help but won’t ask for it. It wouldn’t be the first timesomebodyin this family showed herself to be stubborn.” Leah cut her eyes at me.
“You can’t mean me?” I was independent by nature, and yes, I could be stubborn, but it came from being one of my mother’s daughters. I could credit Momma for making me strong if nothing else.
“If the shoe fits and all that.” Leah stared at her phone and raised her eyebrows. I hated it when she did that.
“I’m gonna ignore the obvious here and tell you to reach out to Allison if you want and let her know we’re thinking about her.” What I wanted to say to my sister is that she was the stubborn one after having lived for years in Paris, beforefinallyadmitting to Jake that she’d been wrong and moving home to stay.
Leah continued with the Allison thread. “I hope Allison’s communicating with Momma some and keeping her informed about her health now that she’s gone back to her hometown.”
I took the last sip of my beer. “That’s between the two of them. They’ve got a lot of stuff to work out, you know? She’s the one Momma gave up for adoption, so it’s not for us to get in the middle of their relationship.” I couldn’t imagine how that must be for Allison. Seeing Leah and me, Momma’s other two daughters; the ones she’d kept. And while we weren’t the picture-perfect family, we’d been safe, loved, and protected. We knew very little about the parents who’d raised her.
Leah added, “I’m glad Nana is working out a trust for Allison. That’s something at least.” We all felt bad for Allison. Not that Momma had been a real gem as a mother, but we did have a solid family unit, all told.
My phone lit up then with a text. It was from Tanner.Can you meet me at this address in a few minutes?I got a little tingle when I saw his name on my phone. How many times had I written our names intertwined with hearts in my diary as a tween? That crush stuff still had its residuals, I had to admit.
He’d sent an address on Second Street. Was itthebuilding?
“Who is it?” Leah realized I’d stop indulging her worry about Allison for the moment.
“It’s Tanner. He wants me to meet him at a building on Second Street.”
“Wow. He’s moving quickly.”
I answered:Sure. I’m finishing up a beer with Leah at the dock.
Him:Can you drive?
Me:I’ve only had one, so I’m okay. See you soon.
Him:Great. Park behind the building and come in the back door.
“I’ll let you know how it goes.” I stood and adjusted my sunglasses and pulled my hair from its clip, allowing it to fall free. I was dressed in a white T-shirt and denim cutoffs and flip-flops. Fortunately, my shorts weren’t the shorter ones I sometimes wore when hanging out on the dock. More of a boyfriend cut, so mostly comfortable and casual. But still not what I might have chosen for a meeting with a potential employer.
“Okay. Please do. And don’t forget to stop by the loft and have a look at our house plans in the next day or two.” Leah and Jake lived in an awesome loft apartment on Front Street where Jake had lived since undergrad.
I nodded. “It’s on my list.”
I wasn’t used to having this much free time. Law school and clerking had me running crazy the past few years, so I was kind of digging sitting on the dock, hanging with my sister. Since she’d been living in Paris for the past several years, having her back home and taking the time to be together was a treat, even if she was a pain sometimes.
*
Tanner
Tanner parked behindthe building and made sure no one was around before unlocking the back door. He was so close to having everything in place.
Maybe that was paranoid thinking on his part, but knowing his father as well as he did, it wasn’t a stretch. Cypress Bayou was small. Small and generational. The families who lived here stayed here, for the most part. Even if kids left for college, they often came back to settle here. It was so easy to do. There were enough professional jobs for the college graduates and industries for those who decided to study a trade.
New turnover mostly happened with students and college faculty at the local university.
Tanner heard a knock at the back door a few minutes after he’d gotten inside and turned on a few lights.
He unlocked the door and allowed Carly to precede him toward the front of the downstairs. “Hey there. Thanks for meeting me.”
Carly, who was unexpectedly dressed in a well-fitting, plain white T-shirt and denim shorts, seemed unaware of her…impact. He caught a whiff of sunscreen as she passed.
“This has a lot of potential.” She moved slowly down the hallway, peering into each room as she went.
Tanner focused then. “Yes, my buddy Jason was a Realtor, so it won’t take much changing to fit our needs.”
