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“Should I do purple or red?” Gracie asks, holding up two bottles.
Kayla looks over and suggests, “Both? Add a magenta too.” She helps her niece find a third color to add to the mix, and then they start discussing which fingers should be which color.
“Ready!” Gracie shouts in excitement when she’s got it figured out.
Everyone else chooses their color, and we follow the receptionist to a lineup of massage chairs. Somehow, I end up in the middle, with Samantha and Luna on my left and Miranda, Gracie, and Kayla on my right. It’s almost a six-part harmony sigh of comfort as we slip our feet into the bubbling, hot water, and the receptionist pushes buttons on each remote, starting the back massage feature.
Things get busy for a moment as our nail technicians swarm and we all explain what we want on our fingers and toes. Once everyone’s treatments are underway, Miranda says, “Thanks for coming with me today. I love getting to hang out with you all.”
We share our appreciation too, and then she asks, “So, what’re my boys up to today?”
Luna starts, “Carter’s looking at a property with Zack—” She stops and leans forward to look at me. “That’s my brother, the one I told you about who does real estate.” I nod, appreciating the Spark Notes, and she continues, “And knowing the two of them, they’ll probably end up finding three other properties along the way and at least two investment opportunities.” She laughs, sounding like that’s a perfectly normal Saturday.
Gracie jumps in with her own report. “Daddy’s working, of course. He’s awork-ma-holic. I tried telling him that he should do something fun for a change, but he said work is fun.” I don’t have to see her to hear the heavy eye roll and know exactly what she thinks of her dad’s work habits. “But he said we could make pancakes tomorrow morning if I slept in! I tried negotiating for birthday sprinkle ones and six o’clock, but he said those are for special occasions only and six is still the middle of the night. He agreed to chocolate chips and eight o’clock, though, so I’m putting that one in the win column.”
I don’t know how she can sound so young and so old all at the same time, but she does, somehow fitting right in like one of the girls.
“Next time, try calling them funfetti pancakes,” Miranda suggests. “That’s what your dad used to eat when he was about your age.”
I swear the girl is taking notes in an invisible notebook inside her brain because she stops, stares off into space for a moment, and then nods. “Got it. Thanks, MeeMaw!”
We all laugh, feeling like Miranda just ran right over Cameron’s attempt at reasonableness, though I’m not sure chocolate chips over sprinkles is a hill to die on when there’s pancakes and syrup involved.
“Chance?” Miranda asks Samantha.
“Basketball at the club. We’ve had quite a few new guys join, and he’s trying to get to know them. Apparently, getting sweaty on the court is the best way to do that.”
That elicits plenty of laughter, and I wait to see if Kayla is going to say anything but realize they’re looking at me, waiting for my report on Cole. “Oh! Cole’s playing chess at the center with one of the patients.”
“He’s doing what?” Miranda asks, almost in awe.
“Uhm, we have a patient, Mr. C, who likes to play chess,” I say carefully, keeping Mr. Culderon’s anonymity. “And when Cole came to visit me one time, they played a game. It’s kinda become their ‘thing’. It’s been good for them both, I think, especially since Mr. C’s son hasn’t been able to come as often. Cole’s been practicing and reading up on how to be a better player so Mr. C won’t have to hold back so much, but honestly, he could probably beat anyone in a handful of moves. They have fun, though, and have even had an audience a couple of times.”
Kayla leans forward to see around the other girls and smiles at me. “See, you are magic. Cole, my brother, is playing chess in front of a crowd of people with a guy he met at the nursing home?”
“Well, long term care center,” I correct. “And I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a crowd, but there’re a few people who watched. I think Mrs. D only watches Cole, though, not the chess game.”
It’s that last part that made me laugh the first time I saw it. Because of all the people Cole has met at the center, the one person you’d least expect to like him—Mrs. Donald, who hates everyone and everything—lovesCole. It’s practically a schoolgirl crush. You can virtually watch her orneriness melt away when Cole arrives and it’s so cute that I can’t be jealous. Not even when she crocheted him a pair of slippers, which he immediately put on after kicking off his boots. I mean, that’s too adorable!
It's like my plan to make Cole’s family see how awesome he is has worked so well that everyone sees it. I think even Cole himself has started to realize it, which has healed some hurt he’s held on to for a long time.
Because these people, his family, love him and have always loved him. There might’ve been misunderstandings, and even some hate, but still, they’d do anything for each other. Compared to my family where I always had to pretend that everything was fine when it was damaging me in deep, painful ways, I know what I’d choose if given the chance.
The Harringtons. Real love. Not toxicity.
And today, I feel like they’re choosing me back.
Me, Janey Williams.
CHAPTER27
COLE
Family dinner at home.For so many years, I avoided them at virtually any cost and made an exit as quickly as I could when I did deign to actually attend.
Tonight, that changes.
The night at my place with my siblings was a good first step, but it hasn’t fixed everything. Only time will do that, and it’ll need a lot of effort on my part. That dinner might have felt huge, but in truth, it was actually pretty small. But it’s opened a door that was sealed shut and boarded over. By me.
