I hummed into the phone and told him I loved him. I didn’t want to think about the weekend now or how to deal with my mother. I needed to enjoy the today. Every holiday deserved enjoyment, deserved loved ones laughing together if they had the good fortune to be in one another’s company.
My mouth watered at the rich aroma of roasted turkey as I entered the dining room. The warmth from the gathered bodies intensified the scent of the sweet apple candles, dissolving every concern weighting down my shoulders. I smiled at Brey and Jaydon laughing over their drinks.
“You guys,” I waltzed over to them and eyed the liquid steaming from their mugs. “I’m behind already, aren’t I?”
“Nancy spiked the tea hard this time,” Brey admitted with a giggle. “Jaydon, go get her one.”
He winked and clapped me on the shoulder, “I got you.”
As he disappeared into the kitchen, Brey whispered to me, “Nancy wants us girls to take a walk. Jax and Jett are off somewhere talking about his app.”
“Oh.” I ran my hand over the mahogany dining room table. The grain pooled beautifully in places, and yet the gloss smoothed the surface to glass. “Are we eating in here?”
Brey straightened her black jumpsuit. “No. Nancy thinks the table is too big. I think Jax’s dad had this room decorated for business dinners back in the day.”
The rich tones and dark woods definitely screamed luxury and wealth. “Where are we going to eat then?”
Brey pointed toward the kitchen. “There’s another dining area on the other side of the kitchen.”
Nancy breezed in with Jaydon, who held a drink for me.
“Should we go for a walk?”
Jaydon handed over a white mug with dark steaming liquid inside it. “I’m coming for the walk,” he announced.
“It’s just us girls,” Nancy softly corrected him.
“Girls are my best friends, Mom. I’m coming.” Jaydon held his ground and when his mom didn’t say anything, he started toward the door. “You’re all going to need coats. It’s getting chilly.”
We bundled up and stepped into the cool outdoors. Brey and Nancy discussed a few of the neighbors as we strolled the small town’s streets. I listened quietly while I absorbed the suburban atmosphere.
Brey had grown up next door, but the house was long gone. It had been torn down a few years after the fire and someone had built a brand new place on the lot. She glanced at it as we passed, and I wondered if she felt erased or forgotten.
Maybe she wanted that, to feel that part of her life was gone, but grappling with the invisibility of something so traumatic rattled a person.
I wanted to forget my cancer. Every hospital I passed, every clinic I avoided going to, every nutritionist phone call I declined popped holes in my confidence of being able to move on from my past.
The wind picked up, and we burrowed further into our sweaters and scarves. Leaves flew circles around us and the crisp autumn air reminded us that winter could, and most likely would, be bitingly cold.
We rounded their block, and a lake rippled with ducks and geese up ahead.
“This is my favorite place,” Brey said, then sighed at the view. The sun reflected millions of diamonds off the surface of the water. She continued on, “I found myself and my family here.”
“We found you too.” Nancy put her arm around Brey and squeezed. “Your mom would have been so proud of you. She’d think I need grandchildren soon, but …”
We all laughed at Nancy’s blatant entreaty. The woman was desperate for grandbabies and Brey had been like a daughter to her for so long that her marriage being only months old made no difference.
“Jax and I need time to work on ourselves before we bring a little human into this world.”
“That never stops, Brey,” Nancy sighed. “You’ll be working on yourselves forever. Look at me and Joe.”
I couldn’t control my eyes widening a bit. No one called that man by his first name. To hear her do it felt wrong, and yet she did it with no hesitation, like she wasn’t at all intimidated by him.
“Dad needs to work on himself, Mom,” Jaydon blurted out. “Not you.”
“You were a mama’s boy from the second I birthed you, Jaydon,” Nancy teased.
“And I’ll be one till the day I die,” he chuckled.