It was a surprise, but not a complete shock. Though Amanda had barely liked her sister’s husband, that didn’t mean Julia didn’t love him.
“It’s been happening for a while, but this summer, he officially moved in with his girlfriend. So, I guess that is that. Sadly, I will be completely divorced before I get the nerve up to tell my mom. I remember how disappointed she was when all the rest of your marriages blew up. And I thought I would be the only one to stay married to the first person I married. But then Kyle decided he wasn’t happy anymore.”
“Are you going to stay in Fargo?” Tess asked from across the kitchen, letting the sisters have their hug.
“I don’t know. I want to come back, but I would need a job and a place to stay. I am not staying with my parents,” she said with a little laugh.
There was no room with their parents, even if she wanted to come home and bring her kids. Every weekend Kit already brought her five there so her ex could see them. Not that he usually did, but Kit always made the effort. On top of that, Julia was a high school principal, and all the area schools had one already, and openings were few and far between.
“What do you want to do?” Tess asked.
“Job-wise? I don’t know. I haven’t planned a lot. I have been numb for too long.” Julia squeezed Amanda one more time and let her go.
“You get over that, then you’ll figure it out. Maybe you want to come back here and do something else,” Amanda said. Her own failed relationship had led her to coming home, and it was starting to feel like the right thing to have done.
“If you want to come back, I have a job when you want it. Nothing much, but a job.” Tess was the president at the bank. It would be a big change for her sister, one she didn’t think Julia was exactly ready for yet.
“Let me figure out how to tell Mom. So far, I’m going to stay. I do love my job, and the girls are happy where we are.” Julia shrugged.
“What’s all the chatter about in here?” Hue walked into the room, followed closely by Math.
“Nothing, just women’s musings.” Julia shot the other women a look.
Amanda looked at her littlest sister. She wasn’t ready to tell everyone yet. It had been months since she had actually seen her brother-in-law, so it wasn’t a surprise what Julia had admitted. Maybe in the future, she would go down to visit her for a weekend, have a girls weekend. Of course, it would be after everything was over, and her life could begin again. She would start fresh, like her sister. After.
Following the meal, where she didn’t get to sit by Hue, they all settled in to watch a football game. It was not a good one, and Amanda fell asleep almost immediately. After a night of activity and little sleep, her exhaustion had caught up with her, and she didn’t even try to pretend she wasn’t going to take a nap.
When she finally woke up, she was alone in the living room, and there was a blanket over her. All she wanted to do was turn over, snuggle down, and sleep more. Instead, she heard voices in the kitchen and couldn’t get comfortable again. Wondering what was going on, she got up, folded the blanket, and went in to see.
Hue and Math were sitting at the table, chatting. Tess and Julia were nowhere to be seen. Hue saw her first and smiled. “Good morning, sleepy head. Have a good nap?”
“Yes, thank you. You should have woken me up.” She tried not to only look at Hue, but her brother as well.
“I learned long ago not to wake you up, Mandy,” Math said with a chuckle about memories from their childhood. It had happened in this very house, and her little brother had been far worse than her sisters put together. He had spent far too many years making her life difficult.
“I don’t wake up swinging anymore,” Amanda said to her brother, though he’d deserved it more often than not back then.
“You were sleeping pretty deeply, so we left you. You must need it.” Hue grinned at her, as if he wasn’t the reason she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.
“Where are Julia and Tess?” Looking around, she sat down at the table with them, ignoring the comment.
“Julia went to Mom’s a few hours ago, and Tess is either feeding the baby or napping after feeding the baby,” Math said, looking at her. Almost as closely as his girlfriend had earlier.
“What?”
Math rubbed his chin before saying, “You sleep an awful lot.”
“I’ve had a busy week. A busy few months, for that matter.” Sitting up in her chair, she folded her arms. She didn’t need a lecture from her bother.
Math put his hands up in defeat. “I am just commenting, Mandy.”
“Well, stop. I will live my life the way I want to. I don’t tell you what to do, so don’t tell me,” she argued, not daring to look at Hue, though he had seen many sibling fights over the years. This was the first time she was embarrassed by him seeing one. Her brother was out of line.
“What does that mean?” Math asked.
“It means if I want to sleep, I can. In fact, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.”
“See, Hue? She’s a bear when she wakes up,” Math told his friend.