Page 18 of Coming Home for Fall 6

“Never mind. I’m going to go confiscate the guns before we start eating,” Callie announced. “And before someone gets hit in the eye and the crying starts.”

“Good thinking. I’m right behind you.”

*

It took Mallory and Joshua about five minutes after everyone finished eating to start talking shop. Callie was sitting on their side of the table, sipping on her punch and munching on potato chips, when her daughter started a conversation about spreadsheets with Joshua.

“If I’d known this is what was going to happen when Mallory started working as your assistant,” Callie said. “I might not have been so encouraging. She’s turned into a total workaholic, which is a word I never thought I would use to describe my youngest child.”

“I’m hardly a workaholic,” Mallory argued. “I’m just excited about this one thing, and since Joshua is sitting right next to me, I figured it would be a good time to let him know what I was thinking. But don’t worry, we won’t talk about work all night.”

Callie snorted. “You say that every time.”

“Yeah, but this time I mean it.” Her daughter assured her. “Really. It’s just that I had a really good idea for how we could save money going into the fall and it’s the kind of thing we need to start implementing sooner rather than later, you know?”

“That’s not a very good excuse, my dear,” Callie said. “Because you arealwayscoming up with really good ideas.”

“Oh, please.” Mallory waved a hand in the air. “That’s not true.”

Joshua laughed. “But it is true. You come up with a good idea at least on a weekly basis. Why do you think I kept you on long after we got my office organized?”

“Because you were trying to get closer to my mom?”

“That,” Joshua admitted, taking Callie’s hand and pressing a kiss to it, “but also because you are incredibly good at the job. Honestly, I have no idea what I’d do without you. I’d probably be lost in my own office, tucked away behind stacks of papers and boxes full of junk.”

Mallory blushed and looked at James, who sat on the other side of her. “Thanks for saying all that, but I do want to be present tonight, so I am not going to get too much into work stuff. There’s just one other thing I want to say.”

Callie laughed but let her daughter continue chatting with Joshua, mainly because she was proud of her. Mallory really had been thriving in this role, and she seemed to be enjoying the work as well. It made Callie so happy to see her daughter’s life coming together, but nothing compared to how happy she was when she saw the way James took care of Mallory. He was such a caring and attentive boyfriend, and it was obvious that he adored her.

In fact, he was gazing lovingly at her right then, as she excitedly went over her new idea and became animated about something as mundane as email sign-offs. As Callie observed how James watched Mallory, she saw what she recognized as true love. It was the same way she felt about Joshua, and how she knew David felt about Sia.

Even though the relationship Mallory had idealized her whole life didn’t work out the way she thought, she still managed to find the kind of love she deserved.

Callie then turned her attention to the rest of her family members gathered around her. The people in that room were so important to her, and the connections between them all were so strong, that Callie knew they would all share a deep love for one another for the rest of their lives. Even if relationships or situations changed, everyone would take care of one another.

Callie knew she was lucky, and she would never let a day go by without feeling gratitude for it all.

For her family. For her home.

And for knowledge that she would always have someone—many people, actually—to turn to when she needed them.