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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—loves Cole. 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.
CHAPTER 27
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.
Which means it’s also my responsibility to rip those boards down, even if I catch a few splinters in the process.
Knowing I’ve got a table full of not only family, but friends, makes tonight’s dinner the first I’m excited to attend. Especially with Janey at my side.
She’s the one who’s given me a life. Not only an existence in the shadows. And I want to share that life with her, starting with a simple dinner at my family home.
I glance at my phone. I didn’t put an AirTag on Janey despite our jokes, but we do share our locations—at her request, so she knows where I am during stake-outs. Bonus for me, it means I know where she is too. I see her little dot moving toward my dot.
“They close?” Carter asks.
“Ten minutes.” Even knowing she’s miles away, I glance out the window of the living room like she might magically appear, and Carter laughs.
“You’d better lock that one down. I think anyone else would’ve already been done with your shit.” He points to my phone and the location app. “Luna would roll her eyes if I tried that, and we can both guess what Samantha would do to Chance.”
