Page 29 of Miss Humbug
“Are youspyingon me?” How did he know so much?
Ashe laughed. “Small town, Mar. I drive by the house on my way to work. Less traffic on this back road. I’ve seen his truck here.”
If I lived here again, I’d never be free from meddling. It would be my family in my business all the time. The thing I loathed and loved at the same time.
“It’s not only Ethan who brought me back. Grans summoned me. She summoned all of us.”
“Yeah, but you could have blown her off. You have before.”
His accusation stung. But this time, he was reacting to what I’d constructed myself—an identity apart from my family. An identity I’d spent a lot of years protecting. And for what?
Ashe turned to me, but instead of older brother vitriol, he looked tired. “I always dreamed of raising kids here, in some way. Holidays, summers, like we had. The kids used to sleep over every weekend in the summer. Now sports and friends take up Tyler and Mallory’s time. Adam comes with us wherever the big kids go. It’s just…different.”
“Is Adam still barking?”
“Yep. He asked for his dinner to be put in a bowl on the floor.”
“Committed to the bit.”
“Crazy thing is, we did it. At least he ate the dinner, including the vegetables. That’s a win.” He sighed. “I miss the simpler days.”
I leaned against a built-in bookcase. Dark-stained wood with clean lines, it looked almost modern. “Was it ever simple?”
“Yes.” His eyes grew sadder. “Before.”
After a tense dinner where I focused on schmoozing with the judges and ignoring my blood relations—after all, we were in competition—everyone gathered in the family room for the presentations.
Cara offered herself for dish duty and holed up in the kitchen. The rest of us sat facing the fireplace mantle serving as backdrop for the presentation stage. Across the room, the fresh scent of pine emitted from the Christmas tree Ethan brought over. I didn’t mind the twinkle of the lights so much. Or the memory of watching him heft the tree into the room.
Rafe and his family went first with their presentation. They’d volunteered at a local food pantry that received most of its donations from a warehouse hub who distributed to small towns across several counties. I found myself fascinated by the statistics. I’d never gone hungry a day in my life and hadn’t considered who might struggle for food in our community. I felt foolish for thinking it, but hunger seemed more like a problem for larger cities with expensive rents and higher rates of homelessness. Not close-knit communities like Crystal Cove.
Usually Rafe became eyerollingly preachy about anything he talked about, but here he came off more subdued. As if he’d learned a thing or two himself from the experience.
Riley and her daughter Reece presented on the animal shelter. By chance, they’d gotten their names in ahead of the Holly Games for the popular volunteer option. To Riley’s credit, she didn’t stuff a slide show with cute kitten and puppy pictures, but showed photos of the facility itself in need of a renovation. They’d painted and cleaned up a storage room. Riley and Reece had done real work and hadn’t simply pet cute animals.
Shawn went next. He shuffled to the front of the room. “I, uh, wanted to do the animal shelter too cuz I figured it’d be easy. Couldn’t get in, so decided to go with the rehab center. Where Gramps learned to walk again after his first stroke. Wanted to, uh, help out to, uh, give back.” He coughed and wiped his eye.
My mouth hung open. This was not slick business guy Shawn. He had an honest-to-goodness tear in his eye. I knew instantly he wasn’t acting. Shawn didn’t act. In fact, he was so bad at acting, he’d been turned away from the middle school theater production and redirected to set design.Middle school theater.
This whole night surprised me. Now, my turn.
I stood and opened my laptop to present the slide show. On auto-pilot, I went through what I’d rehearsed. Facts and figures with photos of the respite facility pulled from their website.
As I wrapped up, my gaze connected with Grans. She dabbed her eye with a tissue. What was with everybody crying?
I looked at Ashe, then Shawn. It hit me all at once like it had at the respite center. We’dallbeen there. Not just me. We’d faced the worst reality—losing our parents and moving on without them, without fully understanding what that meant.
And we’d done it together.
I ditched the rest of my script. “Honestly, this experience meant a lot to me. To see the facility again as an adult with some distance put in perspective how crucial their services are. I’m looking into ways I can work with them more. While I’m here. So, thanks, Grans, for making this a part of the Holly Games. It felt really worthwhile.”
I looked at Grans again. She wore a satisfied smile. I couldn’t be sure if my eyes were tricking me, but she almost looked smug.
Chapter 10
Ethan
Saturday we dropped in hot to the bake sale, ready to kick butt and take names.
