AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sighs. “Fine. Now I’ll show you all my stick witches.”
She’s off and running again while her Dubs listen indulgently, and I’m left pondering the puzzle of Henry. The more pieces I get, the less sense he makes.
Why, then, do I want more pieces?
Monday night is full of lots of hugging and hellos when Noah and Grace drive in from Charleston, and Evie is fixed to my brother’s side with Gorilla Glue, thrilled to have her uncle back. I promise to give them a look at our new place after Evie’s play the next day.
Tabitha and Sawyer’s flight is delayed out of New York the next morning, so it’s a smaller but still overwhelming gaggle of adults sitting on the third row for Evie’s show. I’d left a note on Henry’s windshield promising him he truly did not have to come, leaving my number in case he wanted to text me that he needed to cancel.
But no text comes in, and as the lights dim in the noisy school gym, he slides into the seat I saved him at the end of the row.
There are only two second-grade classes at the elementary school, but the gym swells with every relative those sixty kids have ever known, plus at least one sometimes grumpy neighbor.
It makes me slightly cranky. I’m so worried about him having a good time that I can’t enjoy it myself, although I do give Evie my full attention for all four of her lines. Most of the kids are in the chorus on risers below the stage, singing songs about gratitude and . . . I can’t make out the words of one, but I think Henry might be right when he leans over and asks, “Is this a song about giblets?”
The cheers are loud, the laughs are louder, and the applause at the end is rousing. Through it all, Henry looks bemused, but he stands for the ovation with everyone else when the lights come up. The kids pour from the wings and out of the risers to get their congratulations.
“Tell Evie she did a great job,” Henry says as the applause starts to die down.
“You’re not staying? Evie will want to see you.”
“I’m going to slip out and check on”—he pauses, looking for an excuse—“some things.”
A panic answer, but I get it, and I smile. “Sounds good. Thanks for coming.”
“I’m glad I did. See you at home.” Then, as if only registering his words after he hears them, he shakes his head and adds, “I mean not atourhome. At your home.” And then hecringes. It isglorious. “While I’m at my home. I’ll see you at your house from my house. Never mind,” he growls, when I can’t fight a smile. He heads to the exit like the second graders are chasing him out.
Lisa takes off after him, and I watch in confusion as she flags him down, barely registering Evie when she makes it to us and Noah swoops her up in a hug. Whatever Lisa and Henry talk about, it’s short. He appears to listen intently, says something, listens again, then nods. Lisa pats his arm, he leaves, and she comes back to us.
“Henry will be joining us for Thanksgiving,” she announces.
This is both a surprise and not a surprise. This will be our third Thanksgiving with the Dubs, and they’re pretty fluid, always with a couple of strays or singletons from church brought into the mix. It’s an “everybody’s welcome at all times” kind of vibe.
“Sounds good,” I say. But I’m surprised he accepted. Whatever he thought it would be like to have Evie and me as neighbors, we must have exceeded his worst-case scenario. I’ll make sure he knows he’s not obligated to dinner. Or school plays. Or decorating. Or anything else.
We walk Noah and Grace to our place a few minutes later.
“I can’t believe you stuck her with all this stuff, Dad,” Grace says, stopping to stare at the Christmas explosion in our yard. “You can tell him no, Paige. Otherwise, it won’t stop.”
“She likes it,” Bill protests.
“She does not like it,” Grace says, rolling her eyes.
“You do too, don’t you, Paige?”
They both turn to me, which is the worst. Grace is right, but I wouldn’t hurt Bill’s feelings for anything. “I’m so grateful for it,” I say. And I am. I know Bill gave it all to me because he cares.
“See?” he says triumphantly to Grace.
“Idosee,” she retorts. “I see that Paige is too nice to admit it’s a headache. Did you notice she didn’t say she loves it?”
Bill’s face falls. “Is that true, Paige?”
“No, Bill. I’m so glad we have it. Truly.”
“Well, good,” he says, his smile returning. “Let’s get on with this tour.”
Evie drags Noah straight to her room to tell him all about it, and I give Grace a tour of the place, describing my renovation plans.
