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“Tammy, leave that poor girl alone and get back here with that pot of coffee,” a woman with a soft gray cardigan yelled, only her head showing through the door that led to the kitchen.
“Sorry, Millie!” Tammy said as she winced and began to slide out of the booth.
“That’s the boss lady, she owns this place. Usually she’s real nice, but I’m new and I have been testing her patience. At least that’s what some of the staff tell me.”
Tammy rolled her eyes with a bit of a laugh.
“Anyway, sorry, I have the tendency of being too nosy. I just assumed with your tan and overall look—like you just stepped out of one of those fancy spas—that you were from California. You haven’t had to endure a Macon winter yet, have you?”
Giving her a soft smile, I shook my head. “I haven’t…this is my first.”
Tammy grabbed her pot of coffee and smiled.
“Well, welcome to Macon, honey. Hope you enjoy your visit.”
Tammy gave me a wink before walking away, but her words wrapped around me as tight as a fist.
Visit.
That’s what thisshouldbe…just let this be a vacation. Get to know Colson. There was no reason at all I should be toying with the idea of staying.
Staring a hole into the seat that Tammy had just vacated, I was lost in my thoughts when a little girl suddenly slid into the seat across from me.
I blinked and glanced around.
She had big blue eyes and a round face with cute, chubby cheeks. She was somewhat familiar— maybe, but it was hard to tell under all her winter gear.
“Hey…” I said hesitantly. Had she really meant to just sit down at a stranger’s table?
“Hi,” she replied sweetly.
“Uh, I think your mom or dad might not wanting you to sit with strangers.” I glanced around again for someone who might have lost a kid.
The girl nodded and grabbed the sugar shaker. “My dad says we can’t sit with strangers, but you’re not a stranger.”
I’m not?
Another little girl walked up, slipping into the booth with ease.
Where had she even come from?
“Hey, it’s the makeup lady.” This one had the same blue eyes but long, dark hair, tucked behind her in a low ponytail.
Oh. The makeup.
It finally clicked as the third member of their group found us and slid in next to her sisters. After I had arrived in Macon and thrust myself into my brother’s life, his best friend had come over with his three little girls. Wanting a chance to spend the evening with my brother, I did the little girls’ makeup and fed them marshmallows.
I smiled at the newcomer. She wore a black beanie over her hair, but it did nothing to hide the eyes that I was now learning was a family trait.
“Hi, guys, I remember you.”
The oldest tucked a little strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re Uncle Colson’s sister, right?”
My heart warmed at her use of the word “sister.” It made me think of Blaire. She had moved back to be near her grandbabies in Alabama, but we still talked on the phone from time to time. She had a lot of thoughts regarding me being here.
“You’re right where you should be. Cuttin’ and sharpening out all the hard edges in that family. Don’t give up on him.”
He’d rejected me my entire existence, but here I was, inserting myself into his life like a weed. Forcing him to talk to me and, for once, see me as his sister.
