Page 27 of The Write Choice

“Yeah, my son is in second grade, too. I’m pretty sure the list was a full page long this year, and I know they haven’t even used half of the stuff we brought in.” She pauses her rant for a second, then squints her eyes at me. “I’m sorry, have we met before? You look really familiar.”

“I was thinking the same thing about you—” I’m interrupted by a shrill scream from an adjacent room.

The woman at the table barely has a chance to roll her eyes before a boy about Mason’s age comes running into the office, a devilish grin on his face.

Mason immediately perks up. “Brody!” he exclaims, just as the woman also says the boy’s name, albeit more sternly.

“Brody?” I ask. “As in—”

I’m interrupted again as Ben follows the boy into the office, carrying a toddler. “My bad, Ash. We were—”

The woman, who I now recognize as Ben’s older sister, Ashley, holds up a hand to stop him and glares. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.” Ben shrugs, then wisely shuts his mouth. It takes a few seconds, but he eventually realizes we’re standing there, and by then, my arms are crossed in front of me and I’m smirking.

“Did I interrupt a family reunion?” I ask, finally figuring out that Chloe, Ben’s younger sister, is the secretary I’ve been talking to. Ashley, Ben’s other sister, brought his two nephews to school today. Brody and Caleb played with Mason and Christine when we visited a few months ago.

Every pair of eyes in the room turns to me, and Ben’s face splits into a huge grin.

“Katie! You’re here!” He sets his younger nephew down on the ground and walks to me, arms open as if he’s going in for a bear hug.

I put a hand out to stop him. “Not a hugger.” I widen my eyes a little menacingly so he knows I’m serious. I don’t know what it is about huggers, but they always think I’ll cave if they can just get their arms around me. No thanks.

Ben, to his credit, immediately drops his arms. “Oh, right.” He closes his fist, then pushes it toward me, his smile turning goofy. He stands there awkwardly for a second, until Mason reaches up and fist-bumps him. Ben looks relieved someone responded to him. “Mason! My man. How are you, buddy?”

“Good!” Mason beams. My heart softens at his obvious excitement at being folded into this little group. I noticed it at the pumpkin patch, too. He was so relaxed and happy—and much better behaved—when we were hanging out with everyone. At the time, I knew Brandon had accepted this job, but I was so clouded by anger I couldn’t process a lot of what was going on. I sulked by myself or followed Christine around most of that day and wasn’t interested in making new friends. That must be why I didn’t immediately recognize Ashley and Chloe.

“How’s that bed of yours?” Ben is asking.

“Oh, the death trap you picked out for him?” Ashley says sardonically. For it not being a small town, news still spreads fast around here.

“It’s not that bad,” Ben insists. “It’s sturdy. Right, Mason?”

“Right,” Mason returns firmly.

“Yes, trust the seven-year-old to know what’s safe,” I murmur. Ashley chuckles, and Ben shrugs.

“Mason, come play!” Brody interrupts, hopping back and forth from foot to foot. Mason doesn’t need to be told twice; he follows Brody to the back room without looking back at me. Caleb comes over to Christine and hands her one of two cars he’s holding. She takes it, and they both plop down on the floor right where they were standing and start crashing the cars into each other, giggling the whole time.

“Okay,” I drag the word out. “So, why are all of you hanging out in the local elementary school office?” I look around at the three adults.

Ashley speaks up. “My kids are on break. I took some vacation time to hang out with them. My husband works from home, so I’ve been trying to get them out of the house for a while each day. I’m also a volunteer for the parent-teacher organization.” She gestures at the shapes she’s been cutting out littering the table.

“I work here,” Chloe adds. “But you probably figured that out.”

“It’s the longest she’s worked anywhere, and we’re so proud.” Ashley teases. Chloe rolls her eyes. Ashley looks knowingly at me. She’s being sarcastic in that big sister way, and Chloe takes it in stride.

“I’m on break, too,” Ben chimes in. “I told Ash I’d take Brody to lunch while Caleb naps.” He lights up as if he’s just had a great idea. “I can take Mason, too, if you want.” Then, his expression sobers slightly. “Or, you know, you can come with if you don’t want to hand your kid over to some man you’ve only met three times.”

“Oh, um. Maybe. I really need to register him for school, though, so…” I trail off and look at Chloe. Ben nods, giving a dorky thumbs-up, and heads back to the other room with the older kids.

I produce the paperwork Chloe asked for, and she springs into action, running to make copies and giving me a few forms to fill out. Ashley clears off a space at the table for me to sit, so I do.

The office is quiet for a few moments while I write and Ashley continues cutting her shapes. As I’m trying to decide what to write down for our pediatrician’s name, Ashley breaks the silence. “It seems like our kids are going to be friends,” she muses.

I hum, considering. “What are the odds they end up in the same class together? That would be Mason’s dream come true.”

“Oh, I’m sure Chloe can find a spot for him in Brody’s class,” she says with a hint of mischief.