Page 99 of Finding Us

At 1,Pearce arrives along with Lilly and Grace. I greet them at the door, giving them each a quick hug as they come inside.

I pick Lilly up. “Did you have fun at the wedding yesterday?”

“Yes! Can we do it again?”

“No. You only get married one time.” As I say it I realize her dad, who is standing right next to me, has been married three times. “I mean—”

Pearce interrupts. “Lilly just wants to be a flower girl again, don’t you honey?”

She nods. “Did I do a good job?” she asks me.

“You did a great job. You were the best flower girl I’ve ever seen.”

“And I’ve never even done it before,” she says, her face all excited.

“But you practiced a lot so you got really good. If you practice, you can get good at stuff.”

“I’m practicing swimming so I can be good like my brother.”

“You are?” Garret appears behind me. He was upstairs when I answered the door.

“Garret!” She reaches out to him and he takes her from me. “I missed you.”

“You just saw me last night.”

“I always miss you.” She says it softly and rests her head on his shoulder.

It makes me sad seeing how much she misses him. I knew they were close, but I didn’t realizehowclose until we moved away.

There’s silence as we all notice Lilly’s sadness. Then Pearce says, “Should we sit down?”

“Yes. Go ahead.” I motion them to the couch and chairs.

“I’m going to put you down, okay?” Garret says to Lilly.

“No.” She clings to him.

Garret looks at his dad as he sits down on the couch with Lilly still attached to him.

“So I hear Sean is making us lunch,” Grace says. “That young man is very talented. The food last night was delicious. He should have his own restaurant.”

“Yes, he’s an excellent chef,” Pearce agrees. “But I’m sure he’s tired after cooking for us the past few days. I would’ve been happy to hire a caterer for lunch so he didn’t have to prepare anything today.”

“He likes cooking,” I say. “He finds it relaxing, which I don’t understand at all.”

“I don’t either,” Pearce says. “I’m a horrible cook. When Garret was five and his mother was out of town, I tried to make dinner and almost burned the house down.”

“You did?” Garret asks. “I don’t remember that. I remember when I was eight and you almost burned the house down. The fire trucks came and everything.”

“They were there for the other fire as well, but I took you over to the neighbor’s house before they got there. I didn’t want you around all the smoke.”

“What caused the second fire?” I ask him.

“I was trying to install a light fixture in the dining room. I don’t know why I didn’t just hire someone. I knew nothing about electrical wiring. Anyway, there was a spark and then a small fire started.”

“He’s not very handy around the house,” Garret says.

“Meaning I didn’t teach my son how to be handy,” Pearce says to me. “So if you want a light fixture installed, call an electrician. Don’t let Garret even try.”

---