Save the Date(119)

“I mean, what would the headline on this even look like?” Linnie asked, turning to me, not even trying to stop from laughing now.

“Sign of Foul Play,” I started, and Linnie shook her head. “No Laughing Matter? Guv to Rescue.”

“I’m sorry I asked,” Linnie said, laughing.

“It would be attention grabbing,” J.J. said. “I mean, I’d read that.”

“Were you a part of this whole thing?” Rodney asked me. “I noticed you didn’t seem to be lined up with the rest of the perps.”

“God no,” Danny said, shaking his head. “Charlie’s much too sensible for that.”

“Oh,” Rodney said, tilting his head to the side, like he was trying to figure something out. “When you called me, I wasn’t sure . . .”

“I called Charlie to come and help,” J.J. explained.

“But why did you call me?” I asked, turning to J.J. Of course I had come when he’d called, but it was just now hitting me that I probably shouldn’t have been the first call. My parents, or Rodney, or one of Danny’s crazy-expensive Wall Street lawyers would have made a lot more sense.

“Well—because we knew you’d come,” Danny said, like this was obvious, and Rodney and Linnie both nodded. “Because—” He looked around, a little helplessly, like he was being asked to explain something basic and obvious, like the presence of gravity or why the sky was blue. “Because you’re the person we call.”

I looked at my brothers, and Linnie, and Rodney, and felt something within me that had been clenched tight start to loosen a little. So maybe I wasn’t just the youngest, the one who didn’t get told things. I was also the one who came to help, who tried to make things work, who they called when they were in trouble.

But it also hit me as I looked around at them that this was my family. That even though my parents might be splitting up and it wouldn’t be the seven of us together, the five of us would still have each other. That we were still here for each other and that—just maybe—things might be okay. Certainly not right away. But if I had my siblings with me, the fact that we wouldn’t all be the same unit as before didn’t seem quite so painful as it had. I wouldn’t be going through it alone, after all—we’d all be in it together.

Mike glanced back at the patrol car, where the lights were still on. “We should go before we get arrested for loitering or something.”

“Good call,” Linnie said, glancing over her shoulder as well. She headed toward the Prius. “You guys should get some sleep. Good Morning America tomorrow.”

“God,” Mike, shaking his head. “That’ll be fun.”

“See you in the morning,” Rodney said, heading around to the driver’s side.

Linnie hung back a second and looked at me, then pulled me into a quick hug. “Thanks for the call,” she said to me. “You okay?” I knew she meant everything that had happened in the family room, and while I wasn’t sure okay was the word I would use, it was like I could see okay, somewhere in the distance, a shore I could hopefully get to someday in the future. I nodded and she smiled. “See you in the morning.”

She got into the hybrid, which, a moment later, pulled forward, made a quick U-turn, then headed down the road and disappeared.

“I’ll drive with Charlie,” Danny said, tossing his keys to J.J., who caught them with one hand. “Seems like since she came all the way out here, it’s the least we can do.”

“See you at home,” I called to them. Mike was already ducking into the passenger seat, and J.J. gave me a nod. “And maybe just go straight home. Don’t knock over a liquor store on your way, or anything.”

I walked back to my car, Danny falling into step next to me. “Thanks for coming, Chuck,” he said, dropping an arm around my shoulders. “And for calling Rodney too. That was great.”

“I can’t believe you guys almost got arrested,” I said, lowering my voice to a near whisper on the last word.

Danny grinned at me. “Wouldn’t have been the first time.”

“What?”

“A story for another day.” He got into the passenger side, and I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car, cranking the heat up—it wasn’t until I was back inside that I really felt just how cold it had been while we’d all been standing around, trying to keep the Grant brothers out of jail.

I pulled the car around and made sure to signal, then pause, when I reached the main street—I was all too aware that there was a police officer who could, presumably, see everything I was doing, and one who was probably a little annoyed with all of us at the moment. When I was sure I’d paused long enough, I pulled out onto the empty road and headed toward home.

“So, let’s not mention that to Mom and Dad,” Danny said, sprawling out in the passenger seat, turning to lean against the door so he could face me.

“If we told Mom, she’d probably just be mad she could no longer use it for the strip.”

Danny let out a short laugh. “Well, that’s certainly true.”

“Was it—” I started, then hesitated. Asking Danny why he’d done something foolish and ill conceived was something I had very little practice in; I was much more used to it with J.J. “Was it just because of what’s happening with Mom and Dad?”