AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dad, I heard that.”
“Sorry. Crap.”
“Grandma said that’s a bad word, too.”
“Your grandma’s right. Don’t say that.” Franc ran a hand over his face and sighed before slumping onto one of the barstools. “I don’t even remember what we were talking about.”
“Town hall meetings. And just so you know, I didn’t volunteer as much as I knew no one else would go, and I had no choice.”
“I’m surprised your sister never jumped on that wagon,” Brady said.
“Which one?” I asked.
“Which one? Seriously? The only one who color coordinates her snack drawer.”
One binge of the Home Edit, and Char was color coordinating everything. “She would have, but it falls on her yoga night. She won’t sacrifice yoga.”
“It’s probably the only thing keeping her from turning into a full-on lunatic.”
I shook my head. For as long as I could remember, Brady and Char had hated each other. It became the family joke. Mom especially loved making sure they got each other for the Christmas exchange every year. I swear she loved to watch Brady say thank you to Char and Char actually give something to Brady. We all pretty much found our amusement from it.
“Back to this engagement party,” Franc said.
“There’s not much to it. They yelled surprise, I said thank you, Lainey gave us cake, and Sonya gave us enchiladas.”
“Sonya was there, too? How didn’t I know you got free food at these meetings?”
“It’s not always, well there are donuts every meeting from Kenneth and Michael.”
“I love their donuts,” Gio said.
“Maybe Uncle Laurent will bring you to get some in the morning.”
Gio’s mouth fell open, and he looked at me with that doe-eyed stare he’d perfected over the years.
“We’ll see how early you get up tomorrow.”
“I’ll get up way early!”
“We’ll see. Do you have your stuff?”
He turned around and pointed to the backpack hitched up on his shoulders.
“Awesome. Say goodbye to Jack and your dad.”
I fist bumped Brady over the bar and squeezed Franc’s shoulder. “I’ll see you guys later.”
The ride home was soothing. The night sky was lit up with stars, casting just enough lights onto the mountains.
I pulled into my driveway and immediately spotted Phoebe’s car. I didn’t want to admit how happy that made me, especially since I knew nothing was going to change.
I climbed out of the car, waited for Gio, and headed toward the house. Phoebe sat on the top step, her legs propped on the step beneath her. She looked small against the grandiose of my house. Small and maybe even a little broken.
Her eyes widened at Gio.
“Hey bud, why don’t you head in?” I handed him the keys, and he took off, stopping at Phoebe.
“Who are you?” he asked.
