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I covered my smile with my hand as the sounds of Brantley getting the kids out the car creeped through the door.
I’d parked my truck a block away a couple hours ago, and instead of wearing what I normally did, a blue, floral dress hugged my body until it flared at my hips, and it did that right now. Spread over the stair I sat on as my heart beat ten million miles an hour.
I wanted to see their faces as I saw their bedrooms.
I wanted to see Brantley’s face as he saw their rooms.
The door opened, and I tucked into myself.
“I hungry,” Ellie said.
“Cake?” Eli asked hopefully.
“Sure.” The door shut, but it didn’t measure up to the tone of Brantley’s voice. He was downcast, almost sad…
I stood up, biting my lip. “Hi,” I said.
The twins grinned.
Brantley stilled.
“I have a surprise for you,” I said softly. “You wanna see?”
They nodded their heads.
“Okay, come upstairs and cover your eyes.”
On cue, they both followed me up and covered their eyes with their hands when they got to the top.
“You ready?” I asked.
They nodded.
“One…” I pushed open Ellie’s door. “Two…” Did the same to Eli’s. “Three! Open your eyes!”
They both threw their hands off their eyes with a flourish. Given that they were staring into each other’s rooms, they didn’t move a muscle until I nudged them in the right direction.
Then, Eli gasped, and Ellie screamed.
Brantley shot up the stairs like a bullet. “What is…” His feet touched down just inches behind me, and he stopped. I moved back against the wall. The kids were already in their rooms. They waited for nothing as they tore through toyboxes and scrambled under their beds.
A deep breath filled my lungs, and I wrapped my arms around my waist.
“What did you…” he breathed, looking first in Eli’s room, then into Ellie’s. “Kali. What did you do?”
“Made their beds, hung their curtains…” I trailed off when Eli emerged from under his bed wearing a yellow mask and a lime-green cape. “Hung up their costumes.”
Right on cue, Ellie appeared, dressed as Cinderella.
Eli pointed at her. “You damsel in distwess! I wescue you!”
She frowned, looking him up and down. “No. I wescue you!”
He paused. “Okay,” he said, scampering into his room and climbing up onto his new bed. “Help! Help!”
Brantley rubbed his hand across his forehead. “I don’t know what to say to you.”
“Let me make you a coffee is a good start,” I admitted. “I’ve been here all day.”
He eyed me for a moment, lips twitching, before he moved to go down the stairs. We both hovered for a second to check on the twins, but seeing them reenacting some great rescue from the mighty top of Bed Mountain obviously reassured us both, because seconds later my feet touched the floor and we were in the kitchen together.
Awkwardness tinged the air.
I leaned against the table and took a deep breath. I was exhausted. Nobody had bothered to tell me how exhausting it was to hang curtains and make beds.
No—nobody had told me how exhausting the little things were.
“Did anyone ever tell you,” I started, “That finding tape in your house is impossible?”
Spoon full of sugar in hand, Brantley paused. “Everyone who ever needed tape in my house.”
“Okay, so, for future reference, it’s on a red dispenser on your desk.”
“For now. Ellie likes to hang her drawings on her walls.”
“Ellie can learn to put it back where it belongs when she’s done with it.”
Again, he paused. Only for a second, but long enough to be poignant. “I feel like there’s a part of this conversation I’m not privy to.”
There was.
“There is,” I said.
“Mostly the part about why you’re here.”
“Well, that’s a funny story.”
“Isn’t it always with you?”
“As a rule,” I agreed. “So, me and Dad got done with the beds pretty quick, and I hung around to make sure everything was done. And I just…couldn’t leave.”
“Sounds more voodoo than funny story to me.”
“Shut up and let me talk.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned and gave me a coffee with a grin, then rested back against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. “Please continue.”
I took a deep drink of coffee, set the mug down, and did just that. Well… “Now, you interrupted me. Where did I stop talking?”
“You just couldn’t leave,” he reminded me.
“Oh! Right. Thanks.” This wasn’t going how I’d planned it.
Story of my fucking life.
“So, yeah. I couldn’t leave. Then, I found Ellie’s costume box, and one thing led to another.”
“One thing led to you completing their bedrooms almost to entirety,” he pointed out.
“Right. Another.” I shrugged and used my coffee mug as a shield to hide my smile. “Semantics and all that.”
Brantley eyed me for a moment. “Why?” The question was short. Sharp. To the point. But, not cruel. Still kind—but so curious. “Why did you stay?”
