Page 52 of Seven Summers Ago
“Hey.” I grab a hold of her hand on instinct before she can walk away. Electricity jolts between us. “Are you okay?”
She gives me a pained smile. “Flare day.”
My shoulders drop. Those two words are like a blast from the past. When she had a flare while we were young, we would spendthe day on the couch under a blanket. I’d give her pain medicine that didn’t help much, bring her the heating pad, and let her pick whatever godawful rom-com she wanted to watch.
“Anything I can do?” I find myself saying as if on impulse because it was once a habit.
“You know me, I’ll be fine.”
It’s a crap response. But I’m not the one who should be trying to fix this anymore. It’s not my job. She has someone else for that. Even if I never thought of it as work before.
I follow her into the living room and Charlie is sitting on the floor eating a snack and watching cartoons on the TV. When she sees me, her entire face brightens, and I can’t see my own but I’m fairly certain mine does too. She rushes at me and this time, instead of letting her hug my waist, I crouch and welcome her into my arms. My chest balloons, cracking below my ribs.
“Hey, Charlie, did you miss me?” I chuckle.
“Mama said you came to watch cartoons with me while she goes to a meeting.”
“Yep, that’s right. Whatcha eating? I skipped lunch so I’m starving,” I tell her.
She pulls away and notices Milo. Her brow furrows as she studies him.
“Charlie, this is my brother, Milo.”
Milo pushes his long waves back and bends at the waist. “Hey, Charlie. It’s nice to finally meet you. Since this guy,” he says, pointing a thumb in my direction, “is your dad, and I’m his brother, that makes me your uncle. How cool is that?”
She tilts her head.
“Look at that, Charlie. You have even more family to love you.”
“That’s pretty cool,” she finally agrees.
“Well, all right. High five,” Milo says, trying just a little too hard, but it doesn’t seem to matter because Charlie complies and smacks her little palm against his awaiting one.
“I gotta go,” Rosie announces, wrapping an arm around Charlie’s shoulder and bending to press a kiss to the top of her head.
“You mind dropping me off in town on your way?” Milo asks.
“Um, sure that’s fine,” she responds. “Are you gonna be okay?” she’s looking at me.
“Are you kidding? We’re gonna eat some”—I find the bowl on the coffee table—“fish crackers and watch some cartoons. It’ll be fun.”
“Okay, if you need anything, call me. I’ll rush right back.”
“Mama, go to your meeting.” Charlie shoves Rosie in the back, pushing her down the hall.
“Okay,” she says, breathing out a laugh.
“It was good to meet you, kid. Maybe I’ll see you before you head back to Seattle,” Milo says as he follows Rosie.
“Seattle?” Charlie mumbles in question.
Rosie whips around and we share a look. Like maybe they haven’t had all the necessary conversations yet.
“Yeah, sweet girl. Seattle,” Rosie explains. “He means when we go home in a few days.”
“But I thought we were staying here. At Grandma Dottie’s.”
Rosie rushes back, taking Charlie’s hand in hers. “We are, baby girl. We’re staying here for a few more days. But then we gotta go back to Seattle. You have school, I have work…West is there.”
