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“Oh my God. Is that why you’re calling?”
“Yes,” my sister retorted sharply.
“It's no big deal. That day I had low blood sugar. I'm fine, okay?”
My sister was quiet before she said, “Okay, I get it. You've always been the tough one.”
“What do you mean by that?” Defensiveness sharpened its claws.
“Just that you're the youngest and always need to be tough.”
I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me. “Whatever. Anything else you need to know?”
I grabbed a box of crackers and began making my way toward the cheese section. “I wanted to check on that and let you know Aunt Sherry passed away.”
“Oh no! I'm sorry. I didn’t even know she was sick. Is this a surprise? I saw her just last summer when I went down for a visit.”
“I think she was just old,” my sister said. “I thought you should know.”
“Should I come down for the funeral?”
This was our aunt who didn't have any kids. She was everyone’s favorite aunt even though we didn't see her too often because she lived over an hour away from where we’d grown up.
“If you want. I'm going to call Diego after this. I'm guessing he won't be able to make it because I know how busy his flight schedule is in the summer. Let me know if you decide to fly down. We'd love to see you.”
“All right. I will. Thanks for calling.”
“Love you,” she replied.
“Love you more,” I returned. We hung up laughing. That was shorthand for us.
After I finished up at the grocery store, I decided to stop by Misty Mountain Café. I didn't like admitting it, but too much time alone wasn’t helping me. I considered going to visit my family for my aunt’s funeral. I wanted to see them and honor her, and it might get my thoughts off Grant. My brain was looping in circles around him. I told myself I didn't need to be jealous of Layla, but it was kind of ridiculous that he saw her at a fucking bar and told her he would be gone for two weeks. Yet he couldn’t bother to tell me. It felt like a betrayal, and I felt childish for even thinking that.
When I walked into the café, it was busy, which was good. Cammi was my friend, and I wanted her to be busy. I was glad to see she was working the counter. She flew through the orders for the customers ahead of me. It was only a few minutes before I was at the register.
“Hey!” she said with a bright smile.
“Hey, I figured I could grab an afternoon coffee.”
“You should go to yoga class tonight,” she suggested.
“I should?”
“Gemma's doing a new heated yoga class. I can't wait.”
“Oh. I've heard of that. I've never done it, though.”
“I love sweating,” Cammi said. “Maybe because I've grown up in Alaska and even the summers here aren't that hot.”
I chuckled. I ordered, waiting while Cammi prepped my coffee. “So you must be on your own at the staff house then with Cat busy with the play and Grant gone for two weeks.”
I paused. “How do you know about Grant being gone?” I asked.
“He mentioned he would be gone on one of those longer trips,” she said slowly. “Elias mentioned it too.”
I felt my nostrils flare when I took a breath. “Everybody knew but me,” I finally blurted out.
“Are things okay with you two?”
