Page 16 of Coming Home for Fall 6
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Hannah answered the door, and the first thing Callie noticed was that the girl had black rings around each of her eyes.
“Have you been getting into your aunt’s makeup again?” Callie asked as she bent down to kiss her eldest granddaughter on the head.
“No.”
“Oh, really? Then is that magic marker you’ve got around your eyes? And maybe raspberry juice on your lips?”
Hannah winced. “Shoot. Is it that noticeable?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I was just having some fun,” Hannah whined, even though Callie wasn’t going to scold her. “And I didn’t use that much, I swear. I was really careful.”
Callie laughed. “I don’t think that’s what your mom is worried about, sweetie.”
“Come with me to the bathroom,” Sasha said, overhearing this little exchange and taking Hannah’s hand. “I’ll help you fix it up so it’s not as noticeable. Then if anyone asks, tell them that I did it for you.” She handed Dot off to Joshua, who took her without question, and then headed down the hall with Hannah before Mallory—or worse, Ariel—saw the state of the young girl’s face.
Callie smiled and put the food in the kitchen that was once James’ aunt’s house. He and Mallory had been slowly updating the place ever since Miranda passed away six months earlier. They were trying not to change much, wanting to hold onto the charm of the old home, but some things had to be replaced.
“Oh, good, you’re here!” It was Taylor who said this, turning to see his mom coming into the kitchen. He’d just taken a beer out of the fridge, but he had the furrowed brow of someone with a lot on his mind. “Mallory said we weren’t allowed to start eating until everyone was here and I was worried things were going to get ugly with the kids.”
“Sorry we’re late,” Callie said, giving her son a hug. “There was a slight mishap with the veggies, but it’s all good now.”
“There’s no veggie mishap that Joshua can’t solve, right?”
“Well, this one involved blood,” Joshua added. “And lots of it.”
Taylor gave his mom a worried look, but she waved it off. “Ignore him. He’s being dramatic. I have a tiny cut on my finger but look—nothing a band-aid can’t fix.” She held her finger up in the air to prove her words. “Anyway, speaking of your sister,where is she? I’ve got a trunk full of ice that I could use a hand unloading.”
“She’s helping James with the grill. I’ll come with you though. I need a distraction anyway.” Taylor leaned in and lowered his voice. “Erica is on the phone with a social worker right now. They might have a kid for us to foster when we get home.”
Callie smiled. “Really? That’s great!”
“Yeah, hopefully it will be,” he said. “We just have to pass the house inspection this time.” Two months prior, there had been another potential foster situation that fell through at the last second. Even though Taylor and Erica had done everything they could think of to babyproof their home, there had been a major problem that nobody could’ve foreseen. The day before the social worker was supposed to come check out the house, Erica discovered termites, and it threw everything off course.
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Last time was a fluke, but you’ve gotten rid of the bugs now.”
He nodded. “That’s what I keep telling myself.”
They went outside, got the ice, and then returned to find Ariel giving her daughter a lecture on “growing up too fast.” Callie didn’t want to add to the girl’s embarrassment, so she snuck past them and pretended not to hear. Ariel and Hannah had had a few ups and downs over the past year. The girl was developing an attitude, which was normal for her age, but since Ariel had been out of the house more than usual, a lot of the snarky comments had been aimed at her. There seemed to be a bit of resentment over Ariel deciding to go back to work, but Callie knew everything would work itself out. Ariel was still a great mom, and she deserved to chase her dreams. Besides, Chris had turned out to be a natural in the role of stay-at-home parent, so it was mostly positive the way Callie saw it.
“I’ll take these into the kitchen.” Taylor reached for the ice bags his mother was carrying. “Dad’s in the sunroom with Sia, he said he wanted to see you when you got here.”
Callie frowned. “Did he say why?”
Taylor shrugged. “He just said he wanted to talk to you.”
“Hmm. Okay.” She gave him the ice. “Will you ask Joshua to get me some punch?”
“Sure thing.”
Callie went to the other side of the cute little home and poked her head into the sunroom, where David and his girlfriend, Sia, were sitting on the couch chatting. When David saw her, he smiled and stood up. “Hey!” He went to give her a hug and Sia waved. She was a very kind woman, but she was also quite shy, so Callie was used to not receiving a big greeting from her. They’d had a handful of good conversations, however, and Callie could see what David saw in Sia.
“How are you?” Callie asked.
“Good, good.” David glanced over his shoulder at his girlfriend, then took Callie’s elbow, guiding her out of the sunroom. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
