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“And so it is! Thank you so much, dear. I might skip the main meal so I can get straight into it.” She pulled me in for a one-armed hug with such easy affection it was hard to feel self-conscious. “Everyone’s in the dining room, go on through.”
We got to the dining room and Matt was right. It was gloriously messy, in the best possible way. It was hard to feel shy or awkward with so much warmth and friendliness directed my way. Bruce came around the table and planted a kiss on my cheek as he thanked me for coming. I was introduced to Tom and Jen. Claire, Elissa and Lucy gave me a friendly wave of recognition. Tom handed us drinks as we sat down. Then of course Mila and Chloe came bouncing in, demanding Matt’s undivided attention. Chloe, sitting in Matt’s lap, tried to show me the book she always liked to read when she was at Nana’s.
“Give it a rest, Chlo, poor Zara only just got here,” Elissa said from across the table, kindly but firmly.
Chloe paused, looking at her mother, then me, then back to her mother. “But Zara likesLambert the Sheepish Lion. Don’t you, Zara?”
I couldn’t resist the pleading, hopeful look in Chloe’s eyes. “Of course! It’s the best!”
“Now you’ve done it,” Elissa said in a low voice, her eyes twinkling, as Chloe shifted from Matt’s lap to mine and started flipping through the pages, describing the story animatedly.
Matt rested his arm on the back of my chair, his fingers lightly on my shoulder. In no time at all, I felt absorbed by the family vibe, so comfortable, like I’d known these people forever. The closest I’d come to anything like this was with Ally’s family and I remembered how much it meant to me then, to be included in a big, loving group. How different it was to my own dynamic of just me and my mother, who was barely there anyway, wrapped up as she was with work. It made me feel sad for that lost child and all those dinners I ate by myself. Feeling a lump form in my throat, I tried to refocus on Chloe, only to find her gazing at me.
“It’s okay. Lambert saves his mommy.”
“Sorry?” I really hadn’t been paying enough attention to the story.
“Lambert saves his mommy,” Chloe repeated patiently. “You don’t need to be so sad.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I smiled. “That’s good, thanks for letting me know. Please, keep reading.” Aware that Matt had overheard our conversation, I glanced at him, knowing I would find nothing but gentle concern in his gaze. Seeing exactly that, I gave him a reassuring smile, leaning toward him when he pulled me closer to brush a light, reassuring kiss on my temple.
Gabe and Jake arrived, squeezing into their seats at the table, making everyone even more squished together. But no one seemed to mind, which warmed my heart. They pulled Gabe and Jake in like they belonged there. It looked to me like they got treated exactly the same as the rest of the Coopers, and if you didn’t know they weren’t related, the dynamic between everyone wouldn’t give it away.
All throughout the meal, I found myself watching Ellen, who I found the most fascinating of all the Coopers. She sat with her grandson Xavier on her lap while she ate, chiming into the loud, boisterous conversation every so often, gazing lovingly at her husband whenever he told a terrible joke, laughing when his children groaned and teased him about it. There was no doubt she was the cornerstone of the family. I thought about how she compared to my own mother and got a real sense of shock at how far short Jane Munro fell on the maternal scale.
When we left a few hours later, my mind was in a whirl. Climbing into Matt’s truck, I folded my hands in my lap and stared through the windshield. Before he could start the engine, I said, “Your family is amazing.”
“Yeah, they are.” He leaned back in the seat, his body half turned toward me, watching me closely.
“You’re very lucky.”
“I am.”
“Your mother is…”
“Yeah.”
“My mother is…” I was unable to find the words to articulate how I was feeling, what I was thinking.
“I know.”
I blew out a breath. He got it. When I didn’t say anything further, he started the engine, backed out of the drive and, taking my hand and holding it on his lap, drove me home.Home, I thought. With each passing day, Ruby’s house, Esperance and Matt were starting to feel more like home to me than anywhere else, anything else, I’d ever known.
CHAPTER27
Matt
“Look at this one, Uncle Matt, it’s a corker!” Chloe stumbled back onto the path, holding up an enormous pinecone triumphantly.
Laughing, I said, “Wow, good job! Give it to Zara.”
“It’s a good one, isn’t it, Zara?”
“It sure is, the biggest one yet!” Zara held the bag out for Chloe to drop the pinecone in. “What about you, Mila, what have you got?” I watched as Zara knelt down in front of Mila, helping her put her armful of pinecones in the bag, my heart squeezing at the sight.
“Come on girls, Bess wants a run.” I whistled and Bess came crashing through the woods happily, her tongue lolling. I gave her the signal to run ahead and, taking Zara’s hand, followed after her, Mila and Chloe slightly in front of us. The leaf-scattered trail curved downward, toward Esperance Lake. As we reached the bottom of the trail, I called Bess back and put her on the leash. “The last thing we want is for her to take herself for another swim.”
Where the path opened up to the lake, the wooden boathouse squatting by the shore came into view, guarding the blue and orange paddle boats as they bobbed gently, pulling on their ropes tied to the pier. Lava-colored leaves rippled in the crisp fall breeze. I heard Zara breathe in the cold, crisp air deeply. “It’s so beautiful in the fall, isn’t it?”
