Unexpected Arrivals(93)
It was easier to laugh and see him smile than to try to scold him when he was so cute. Thankfully, Gwendolyn had joined us, and she had no problems telling him not to shoot the gun at anyone or in the house. I mouthed, “Thank you,” in her direction, and she waved me off as though it was nothing.
Remembering my manners, I jumped from my seat. “Hannah, Neil, this is my grandmother, Gwendolyn Chase—affectionately referred to as Dottie.” The words had come out before I realized who bore witness to them.
No one else noticed, except Legend. “Hey,” he dragged out the word the way only kids could. “I didn’t know my Dottie is your grandma. That means you’re in my family.” And as quickly as he’d considered it, he’d moved on to another subject. “Is my grandma here? I wanna show her my gun.”
“She’s upstairs, Legend,” I said, trying to lead him away from the conversation we weren’t ready to have, and he took off in compliance.
“It was nice to meet you both. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
I showed Gwendolyn out with an unexpected hug and returned to the table to a conversation already underway.
“He doesn’t look anything like you. Other than the fact he clearly got your height and weight issues.” Neil and James had been friends their entire lives, and he apparently remembered him as a child. “You look way better as a redhead,” he joked.
“You just said he didn’t look a thing like me. Make up your mind, man.”
“Well, DNA doesn’t lie.”
James threw a dish towel at his friend while Hannah and I merely observed their stupidity. We’d all known each other for a lot of years, and some things never changed—I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I’d been in Paris, Hannah had painted a mental picture of a James I never cared to see, and I’d feared that was who I would find when he came to France. Thankfully, we’d healed, and their friendships had mended.
Four days hadn’t been nearly enough time to soak in each other’s company. They were completely enamored with Legend by the time they left and begged us to bring him with us when we sold the house. I never thought I’d see a day when any of us had wanted to spend time with kids. Life had a funny way of throwing curveballs that ended up being the perfect pitch.
When the three of us said goodbye to Neil and Hannah at the airport, it was with the assumption we’d see them again soon, nevertheless, the pain was still staggering. We only had one more thing to do before our lives had come full circle—and that was sell our house. I refused to consider that we needed to buy one here or pack or move—those were all chores for another day. I had a hard enough time saying goodbye to the only girlfriend I had. I loved James and Legend both, but Geneva Key was a far cry from New York City, and making friends would be a challenge.
Maybe the portal down on Main near the grocery store would spit out some of the girls it had swallowed after high school and shoot them in my direction. It’d be great if one of them had managed to have a kid during their time in the black hole that existed in the population here. James had joked about it for years, and now that I was back, I realized just how truthful he’d been. We’d spent so little time here after graduation that it hadn’t occurred to me that people left and never returned or that there was a generation consistently missing from the census in Geneva Key.
Now that we were here, I had to find a way to make it a home. I couldn’t count the days until I left for college or the number of weeks before I turned eighteen. We’d made a commitment for Legend, and this was our new life. Geneva Key, not the bright lights of the city.
Standing in the airport, watching our friends go through security, James put his arm around my waist, and Legend stood in front of us waving. It wasn’t the life I pictured, yet now, I couldn’t imagine a world without that little boy in it. James bent down and kissed the top of my head.
“You ready?” he asked me.
And I was—for whatever came next.
Epilogue
Legend
I missed my mama every day. She told me she’d have to go to heaven first, but I hadn’t really believed her. Or maybe I didn’t understand what that meant. Everything she told me had been true. My daddy came to take his turn when hers was over, and he brought Cora. My mama hadn’t been able to tell me much about her except that she would love me. And she’d been right.
Daddy and I played when he’d get home from work, but Cora was my best friend. We made scrapbooks together and told stories about our mamas, and when I wanted to cry, she didn’t treat me like a baby. She held me, and she cried, too. I knew she was sad here, even if she never told me, so I took her out every day looking for a friend—not for me, for Cora. And every time I saw a shooting star, I gave Cora my wish.
When I started school, I met lots of kids. My teacher said they were friends—but I didn’t think if someone bit you or hit someone else that made them a friend. I thought it made them mean. Maybe Cora should tell Mrs. White what a friend really is.
“Legend, are you ready?” Cora cracked open my door to peek around it.
“Yep.” I only had to go to school until lunch, then Cora and I got to play until Daddy came home.
I grabbed her hand after she slid the glass door closed on the porch. Our new house wasn’t as big as Grandma and Papa’s. I had my own room, and Daddy and Cora were right across the hall. There were two more rooms, one for Hannah and Neil, and one that didn’t have anything in it—it needed a little brother, but when I asked Cora for one, she laughed.