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Let’s go, big sister!!
Kaia
If you locked something in somewhere warmer, I will shop, cook and clean in exchange for sleeping on your couch.
Alessandra
Remember that marketing position I applied for that I thought I’d never get? They called me back; I did a second interview and I’m headed to San Diego!!!!
Elora
*Confetti emojis* Yayy! Congrats, Alice! You’re gonna knock them dead.
Hadlee
*Surfing gif* Yayyy!!! I’ll come visit this winter!
Leighton
Us too!
Alessandra
I get full benefits right out the gate, and everything.
Rhyett
Congrats, beautiful! Lunch, on me.
I blew out a heavy breath,clashing walls of pride and grief twisting in my chest like colliding seas. Yeah, I was excited she’d spread her pretty little wings and go on an adventure. Alice was brilliant, beautiful, clever, and quiet—my favorite quality in a sibling, if I was honest. She liked to watch and observe. It’s what made her a talented student.
But…it meant another Rhodes would be out of the nest. Another Rhodes on the road, wandering very far from home. Not Rhyett far, or Finn far—if he hadn’t ventured off to somewhere new, the bastard was still back East—but still. Somewhere I could do nothing, and knew no one, if she needed something. If it took me three goddamned planes and a rideshare to get there in an emergency, it was too damn far.
Jameson
Congrats sis. I’ve got dessert.
* * *
“Worst Salmon Fest ever,”Kaia said, wrinkling her nose. Misty haze saturated the air. Cold metal benches were lined in neat rows and covered by a canopy of pop-up tents. But we had about half the vendors we were used to. An entire parking lot that was usually overflowing was entirely vacant.
“Yeah,” Leighton agreed. “Sorry, you guys. It’s usually busier than this.”
“Think the crappy weather scared everybody off.”
“Eh, more for us,” Maverick said, sliding over a stacked plate of tacos. The girls weren’t wrong, but it didn’t keep any of them from showing Lizzy and Brexley every single damn booth on the way in. Rhyett couldn’t have been happier about it. That or his face had actually frozen in the shape of a fishhook, one side curled up all crooked.
“I think it’s cute!” Lizzy said cheerfully before taking another bite of a deep-fried ball of bread dough. “It’s just fun to see so much of the town out and about.”
“Honestly, the markets in Tampa are three or four times this size,” Brexley added with a smile.
“Yikes,” Alice said, wincing. “Yeah, sorry, guys.”
“No! I hate how busy it is back home. You can’t even think, let alone find somewhere to breathe. This is cute. Festive and fun, but palatable.” Brexley disagreed. How Rhyett was taking her back to that swampy, sand pit hell hole when she liked it about as much as I did was beyond me. The mountains were the only place my soul felt at peace.
“Oh,” Kaia said, giggling. “Well, you’re welcome, then.” The girls all joined her laughter then, bringing a smile to my face, and warmth to my chest that had absolutely nothing to do with the coffee I’d just chugged.
“What about you?” Lizzy asked. It took me a minute to realize her focus was on me as my siblings all sucked down platefuls of festival food like animated Hoover vacuums.
