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“I’d pay to be a fly on the wall when they open that letter.”
I hesitated in asking my next question, because Dad and I had drawn an invisible line in the sand when I first arrived on his doorstep, fresh out of jail and sobbing. I didn’t want to talk about the Graves brothers. Except, we were talking about them and I had to know. “Have you heard from them?”
Dad sighed. “Do you know which answer would hurt more?”
I looked away. “No.”
“When you do, let me know and I’ll answer that question.” He sank into the couch beside me and grabbed the remote. “I’ll have to get someone to look after the farm if you’re serious about a road trip.”
Staring at my notebook, I worked up the nerve to grab it and stand. “I’m serious.”
45
***Knight***
“Areweallgoingto take Gracie for her first day of school?” Kyrin sat behind Gracie on her bed, his face pinched in annoyance as he redid her braid for the third time.
“Of course, you are, silly.” Gracie played with a couple of dolls, making them walk along her legs as she failed to sit still for Kyrin. “That’s how you do it. Mommy and Daddy took me before. Mommy cried. Do you think Uncle Zander will cry?”
I laughed at the expression on Zander’s face. He shook his head and went back to reading the handbook for her new school.
“I bet if he does cry, he’ll hide it so well that you’ll never know.” I sat down in front of her and put her fuzzy socks on for her. “What about you? How are you feeling about it?”
The dolls stilled as Gracie thought hard about my question. She’d learned to make a cute face while thinking and the scrunched up nose, pursed lips always made my chest ache with missing Aggie. She’d made the same face and Gracie had picked it up in their short time together. “I don’t know. I thought it would be different.”
Zander sat forward and dangled the book between his knees. “What do you mean?”
“First, I thought Mommy and Daddy would be here.” She dropped the dolls entirely and rested her tiny hand on Kyrin’s leg. “Then, I thought Aggie would be here. She never told me about her first day at her new school. After her mommy died, she moved like me. I want to ask her about stuff. I know I’m not supposed to talk about her, though.”
“Gracie, you can talk about Aggie.” I cleared my throat and smiled. “Anytime you want, you talk about her.”
“It makes you sad.” She looked around at all three of us. “Everyone’s sad.”
Kyrin gently turned her so she could see his face as he spoke to her. “We are sad, but that’s adult stuff. We talked about adult stuff, remember? You don’t have to worry about it until you’re older.”
“Gracie, if you want to talk to us about Aggie, you should. We don’t want you to have things you hold inside. We’re all trying to be better uncles and we want to listen to everything you’re thinking about.” Zander tossed the book aside and walked over to scoop Gracie into his arms. “Agree?”
She giggled when he dipped her upside down. “Uncle Zan! Okay, okay!”
“How about we stop by the special donut shop in the morning? You can get whatever you want.” He hugged her close and then dropped her on the bed, smiling as she bounced.
“Even a unicorn donut with mermaid sprinkles?” Gracie giggled. “I love you, Uncle Zan.”
Kyrin scoffed and tickled her. “What about me, munchkin? You love me?”
She squealed and laughed. “I love you! I love you, too, Uncle Knight!”
Kyrin grunted and patted her belly. “That’s what I thought.”
“Call me butterfly.” Gracie grabbed her dolls and dragged them under the covers with her. “Like Aggie.”
I forced my face to stay neutral. “Why’d she call you that?”
“She said it’s ‘cause I’m pretty like one and cause I can change the world with my wings.” Gracie smiled so wide that we could see the back tooth she’d lost the week before. “Aggie said I can be president if I want.”
I looked at my brothers, waiting on one of them to say something. My insides were twisted up as I thought of the way we’d treated the woman who’d done nothing but build our niece up and care about her so deeply that Gracie couldn’t forget her.
“She also said I can run your company one day and that I’d do it better, cause I’m a girl.”
