Page 101 of Until Nalia
“Hey.” Zuri smiles, then introduces him to Billie and Cooper before turning the camera to me so I can introduce him to Logan.
Then, as I sip my coffee and Logan makes all of us breakfast, Javion and Samson chat with everyone, and Javion answers all of Cooper’s questions about Tokyo and Anime. And before they hang up, the two of them give me smiles of approval, something I appreciate but don’t necessarily need. I might have been unsure about Logan in the beginning, but I’m not anymore. I know with every fiber of my being that this is right, that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Thirty
NALIA
Hanging up with my therapist, I look out the window in my office. It’s been a few weeks since I started talking to the woman my mom recommended, and each time I end a session with her, I feel emotionally drained. As I watch the dark clouds move slowly across the sky, the words she said before she ended our call come back to me. You had every reason not to go back, Nalia. You could have just lived your life without thinking about your siblings after you found out about them, but you didn’t, and I don’t think you realize how admirable that is. Was it admirable? I don’t know, but there is something about that statement that I can’t seem to shake, like I needed to hear from someone outside my circle that I had done the right thing, despite always feeling like it was wrong.
Glancing down at my cell phone when my reminder alarm starts to beep, I turn it off then grab a few gummy worms from the bag on the desk before I get up from my chair and go to my bedroom. I change into jeans and a sweater then put on my boots and add my vest, knowing I’m going to need the extra layers. Over the last few weeks, the temperature has started to drop, and the leaves have begun to change color signaling fall is here to stay.
After I’m dressed, I send a message to the clients I’m meeting, reminding them that I will be at their property at noon, then I text Logan to let him know that I’m headed twenty minutes south to meet a client for a walk-through of their property. He messages back a second later to drive safe and that he’ll see me in a few hours.
Without much discussion, we have fallen into a routine of having dinner at his house each evening, regardless of what the kids have going on after school. And since Aaron asked Kristy to marry him a few weeks ago, Zuri and I have spent the night every Saturday, which is something the kids seem to look forward to because it includes pizza, a movie, and lots and lots of candy or a dessert if the girls have decided to make a cake or cookies. It’s also one night a week I look forward to because I get to fall asleep with Logan and wake up with him in the morning.
A little more than twenty minutes later, I arrive for my meeting, and Dr. Birney and his wife are waiting in the driveway next to their car. I met the couple from New York when I first took the job working for my brothers, back when I wasn’t really sure if working for them would work out. It feels like that was a hundred years ago, even though it’s been less than a year.
“Hey,” I greet the two of them while I get out of my car with my bag and the folder containing all the information they will need for their new home.
“It looks like it might rain,” Dr. Birney tells me as I approach, and I look up at the sky that is getting darker by the minute.
“It’s that time of the year.” I smile at him, accepting a kiss to my cheek before giving his wife a hug and asking, “How are you?”
“Ready to move in.” She smiles. “The kids are tired of bouncing from rental to rental, and I can admit it’s wearing on me, too.”
“Just a couple more days and you’ll be all settled in.” I lead them towards the double front door of their seven-thousand-square-foot mini mansion. When I unlock the door, I open it and step aside so that they can enter before me. The house is beautiful and fully custom with all the fancy tech upgrades my brothers are known for. “How about we start in the kitchen?” I begin turning on the lights while they poke their heads into the rooms we pass.
“Sounds good.” Dr Birney says, putting down his stuff on the island in the kitchen while I unpack what I’ll need, including their new iPad that I will program all their smart devices into, while they put all the apps into their phones.
As we are upstairs in the main bedroom programming the blinds, my cell phone starts to ring from my back pocket. Taking it out I frown at the screen.
“Sorry, I need to take this, it’s my...” I hesitate. “Daughter’s school.”
“Sure,” Mrs. Birney says before I walk away with my phone. Going into the hallway, I answer the call.
“Hello, Miss Mayson this is Lisa, the school nurse, at Smyreville Elementary. I’m calling to let you know that Zuri had an accident at recess.”
“What kind of accident?” I ask as a knot forms in the pit of my stomach.
“She tumbled down the slide and landed pretty hard in the mulch. She has a few scrapes, but nothing is broken, and she seems to be okay.”
“I’m sorry, she tumbled down the slide?” How does that even happen?
“Yes, she said that she and some friends were playing tag, and she was pushed a little too hard, and she ended up falling down the slide.”
“Can I speak with her?”
“Sure, one second,” she says, and the line goes quiet, then Zuri comes on the line.
“Hello.”
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yes,” she whispers, and I frown. I’m not sure if she sounds scared or upset. I do know she doesn’t sound right.
“Are you sure? Do we need to go to the doctor?”
“I’m okay,” she repeats in that same quiet whisper.
