Page 1 of Coming Home for Fall 5
Chapter 1
Tired from a long, somewhat chaotic trip to the store, Ariel’s kids sat quietly in the back seat of the car. Becca was fast asleep, Micah was reading a book, and Hannah was content to stare out the window and watch the trees pass by.
Having also been worn out by the shopping experience, Callie took this moment of solitude to consider the words she wanted to say to Sasha. Ever since she’d caught the young woman rifling through the boxes under her bed, Sasha had been avoiding Callie. It was obvious that she didn’t want to be confronted, but Callie wasn’t sure how much longer she could let her questions go unanswered.
When she first caught Sasha, there wasn’t enough time to get the full story from her. Mallory had shown up in the doorway less than a minute later, and her other daughter arrived shortly after.
However, it wasn’t like Callie hadn’t questioned Sashaat all. In their brief discussion, she’d made it clear that she wasn’t happy to find Sasha digging through her personal things. Why would she be? Not only was it a huge invasion of privacy, but it also validated some of Mallory and Taylor’s concerns. Reflecting on the encounter now, Callie wondered if she hadn’t been harsh enough.
On that day, when she’d discovered Sasha snooping around in the master bedroom, Callie’s expression paled. “What—what are you doing?” she asked.
Sasha froze and the paperwork in her trembling hands fell to the ground. “Uh—nothing,” she said in a low, shaky voice. “I was just, uh—looking for—”
“Mom?” Mallory’s voice came from downstairs.
Callie furrowed her brow, her breath quickening. “Sasha,whatare you doing? Why are you going through my things?”
Shaking her head, Sasha’s eyes darted quickly, as if she didn’t know what to say. She stared down at the box in front of her, starting and stopping a couple of sentences, but never finishing.
“Mom?”
Mallory was coming. Callie couldn’t linger in the hall any longer.
Rushing inside the room, Callie kicked the box back under the bed. “Get up,” she hissed to Sasha, holding out a hand to help her up. “Here.” She handed Dot over as her daughter’s footsteps drew closer. “Don’t say anything to Mallory. I’ll handle this.”
A couple moments later, Mallory appeared, and Callie blurted out the excuse that Sasha “ran out of soap.” She could tell Mallory didn’t fully believe her, but she doubled down and changed the subject as quickly as possible. She couldn’t tell her daughter that she’d found Sasha going through her belongings, not until she’d given Sasha a chance to tell her side of the story.
As soon as she had the opportunity, Callie intended to clear the air with Sasha, but the young woman had made it impossible to do so. Callie assumed she was terrified after having been caught, and perhaps she had reason to be worried. If Sasha didn’t have a good explanation for what she’d been doing, then Callie would have to ask her to leave.
Callie would have to admit to her children that they were right all along.
She wasn’t sure which conversation would be more difficult to get through.
When they were only a block away from the house, Micah announced that he was hungry. Like most children his age, he said it like it was an emergency.
“We’re almost home, sweetie,” Callie said. “When we’re back, I’ll make you one of those noodle cup things.” She stifled a comment about how much sodium those “meals” had in them. They were the only thing Micah would eat these days.
“I don’t want Cup-O-Noodles,” Becca whined. “They’re gross!”
“Well, the good news is you don’t have to have any,” Callie assured her. “I was just offering them to your brother. But we got a lot of stuff at the store, so I can make whatever you want.”
“But I’m not even hungry!” Becca insisted.
“I am!” Micah chimed in.
After a long morning with the kids, Callie smiled with the patience only a grandmother could muster. “If you’re hungry, then I’ll make you something, and if you’re not hungry, then you don’t have to eat. How does that sound?”
Becca made a pathetic sound from the back. “I want ice cream.”
“Okay, you can have ice cream for dessert. But we’re not going to have any before a proper lunch.”
“I want it!” Becca cried out and kicked Hannah’s seat in front of her.
“Hey!” Hannah whipped her head around. “Don’t do that, you little—”
“Becca!” Callie said in a warning tone of voice, cutting Hannah off before she called her sister one of the words Ariel had recently “forbidden,” that included brat, monster, andbutthead. “We’re only two minutes from home, guys. Please don’t start any trouble.”
“She always starts trouble,” Hannah muttered. “She always has to cry about something.”
