Page 112 of Eleanor & Grey
“I think you’re right—I think Eleanor is good for our family. So I’m going to keep her on as the nanny.”
A weight lifted from her shoulders as she released a sigh. “Oh, OK, cool. Because like I said, she’s OK.” Karla shrugged. “You know, for a sage.”
* * *
I made my nightly stops to the girls’ rooms, and when I passed Karla’s, her bedroom light was still on, but she was in bed, reading aWesley Petersbook. I couldn’t think of the last time I’d seen her read. She used to do it all the time. It had been almost impossible to find her without a book in her hands, but after her mother passed away, Karla had kind of tossed aside all the things she loved.
That was when I knew it was happening. Eleanor was doing that thing she was so good at doing, slowly sliding into a life and making it better without the person even knowing it was happening.
43Eleanor
Greyson did his best trying to show up for both of his daughters. For the most part, it was easy with Lorelai. She welcomed him back with arms wide open. He stopped working as late each night and made time to attend her karate practices every now and again. I swore every time he walked into the class, Lorelai’s eyes lit up as if her biggest dream had come true. When he was there, she’d perform better, too, and always looked back toward Greyson to make sure he was watching. And he always was.
Then when dinner came around, he’d sit down with us and talk. Lorelai, of course, led most of the conversations. She never stopped talking as soon as he sat down for dinner. But Greyson was there. He was engaging. He was becoming a part of his family again.
Karla wasn’t having it at all, though. Whenever I invited her to dinner, she didn’t even reply anymore. She simply walked off and never looked back. There came a point when it was too much for me, and I finally followed her into her bedroom one evening. She was sitting on her bed, eating her dinner with her headphones on.
“You have to stop doing this, Karla,” I told her.
“Doing what?”
“This.Shutting everyone out. Your father is trying.”
“I don’t care that he’s trying. He had a million days to try. Iwaited so long for him to try, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I just don’t care.”
I walked over to her and inhaled deeply. “Come to dinner tonight, Karla.”
“Are you deaf? I said no already. I’m pretty sure I made that really clear every single night for the past four months.”
“Yes, I know, but I’m asking you right now to change your mind.”
“I’m not changing my mind for him,” she scolded, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not talking about for your father. I’m talking about for Lorelai.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Lorelai really misses you, Karla.”
“We live in the same house—I see her enough.”
“She needs you,” I told her.
“She’s fine,” she replied.
“OK, I get it. You’re mad at your father, and I understand. You feel like he abandoned you, and you’re fully allowed to take as much time as you need to work through those feelings. But you have to understand that if there is one person who understands what you are going through, it’s Lorelai. She lost her mother, just like you. Please don’t make her lose her sister too. She needs her sister, Karla. She needs you.”
Karla’s stare shifted, and she looked down to her shoes as she fiddled with her hands. Then she got to her feet, picked up her plate, and grumbled. “Whatever. As long as it gets you to stop bringing this up.”
I smiled, pleased, and walked back to the dining room with her.
She put her plate down at the table, pulled out her chair, andplopped down. Greyson seemed beyond puzzled, and Lorelai’s eyes lit up when she saw her sister.
“You’re eating with us, Karla?” Lorelai inquired, clearly stunned.
“Looks like it,” she mumbled with her cell phone in one hand and her fork in the other.
“That’s good. I missed eating with you,” Lorelai said, slurping up her spaghetti. “Mom missed you too,” she said, nodding toward the untouched plate of pasta left out for Nicole.
