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“Nightly chats?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She scrunched up her nose. “I talk to my mom every single day when she’s leaving work. Or when I’m leaving work. It depends on who’s the last one to leave that day. Most of the time it’s me, seeing as she gets out at four-ish in the afternoon.”
“What could y’all possibly have to talk about?” I asked. “And how long do y’all talk?”
She shrugged and came to a stop when I opened the door, blinking at the dog that was laid out in the middle of the front walk, not moving.
“We talk about what happened that day, what our plans are for the weekend. Whatever.” She bent down to her haunches and looked at the dog. “Pretty.”
“That’s Mocha,” I said.
“Mocha’s a cute name.” She smiled as she swept her hand down the length of Mocha’s coat. “How did y’all come up with that? It’s very unique.”
“I didn’t.” I paused. “Or we didn’t. We got her from Trance.”
She looked at me.
“Ahh,” she said. “The name sounds familiar.” She scratched Mocha behind the ear. “She’s really old.”
That didn’t even begin to describe it.
I shrugged. “Very, very,” I agreed. “She’s on the decline fast. Dad’s denying that it’s time…and we’re helping him prepare because it’s inevitable.”
But before I could explain any more, the door was flung open and my mother was there, practically jumping up and down in excitement.
“Come in, Saylor!” she cheered. “We have wine!”
Saylor gave Mocha one last pat and stepped over her, as did I.
“What about me, Mom?” I asked. “I’m here, too.”
My mother rolled her eyes and then tugged Saylor by the hand before leading her into the kitchen, leaving me to roll my eyes at her lack of caring toward her only son.
“Looks like you were replaced.”
I looked up to see my uncle Drew standing there, leaning against the fireplace with a beer in his hand.
“As the favorite?” I guessed.
Drew grinned. “Yep.”
“I’m sure I’ll win back the spot once Saylor’s been here for a while. When the new wears off,” I teased.
“I heard that!” Saylor said loudly from the kitchen.
I grinned and took Drew’s hand and shook it before gesturing toward his beer.
“Can I get you another one?” I asked.
He shook his head. “This one is full for now.”
I gave him a chin lift and disappeared into the kitchen where the majority of the others were surrounding the island.
My mother had her arm around Saylor’s waist as she was introducing everyone to my girl.
“And this is my daughter, Ares. But you’ve met her before, right?” my mom asked.
Saylor nodded. “Briefly.”
