Chapter 29
Holt
Ituck my phone into the crook of my shoulder to stir the pot of chili on the stove. “When do you think you’ll need help?”
Reese grunts in response. “In a couple of weeks, probably.”
“Are you gonna have Grayson come out to shoe the horses before?”
“Obviously.”
I roll my eyes. Reese is the one who called me to ask if I’d be willing to help him work the cows, and he’s acting like I’m being a pain with my questions.
“You okay otherwise?”
“Fine. Cam’s been up my ass about renovating the house for Mom and Dad.”
“Are they still struggling to go up and down the stairs?”
“They won’t admit it, but it probably would be good to put their room on the main floor. Even if it’s not too hard for them yet, we might as well get it renovated.”
“Agreed. Thanks for watching out for them. I know you didn’t sign up for that responsibility, but I’m grateful.”
Reese snorts. “It’s not that hard. And having our own place on the property helps. Plus, Dad cooks for us every night.”
“You definitely got the better end of that deal.”
Reese grunts, and I know I’ve used up my conversation quota for the night. “Let us know when you book the vet. I’ll clear my schedule for the day.”
“Will do. Love you.”
“I love you too, Reese.”
Ending the call, I put my phone on the counter. I ladle our dinner into bowls to start cooling, and then pull the pan of cornbread from the oven.
“Time to wash up for dinner, monkeys,” I call to the girls.
“This episode is almost over,” Lauren responds.
“What numbers are on the right side of the screen?”
“7, 3, 4.”
“Okay. Once the credits roll, you need to turn it off, please.”
Setting the table with only three places has started to feel weird again. Gia spends most of her evenings with us now, and the only reason she’s not here tonight is that she and Gwen took Farrah out to the Chateau to celebrate Farrah getting accepted into a master’s program in the fall.
The girls come to the table a few minutes later and dig into their chili immediately. I’m surprised I didn’t have to remind them to turn their show off this time.
“It’s weird without G,” Leah says.
“Yeah. Maybe she’ll bring home dessert,” Lauren agrees.
“I don’t think she’s coming over tonight. It’ll be late when she’s done with dinner.”
“G isn’t going to read us another chapter tonight?” Leah asks, disappointment clear in her voice.
“Probably not tonight.”
“She should just live here all the time,” Lauren says.
“Yeah! Why can’t she do that?”
“Does she not want to live with us?” Lauren narrows her eyes at me as if I might’ve done something to make Gia not want to be here full-time.
“Gia and I haven’t talked about her moving in here. That’s a big step in adult relationships. It’s not something you do just because you like spending time with someone.”
“Why not? If you like being with them all the time, you should live together.”
I open my mouth to respond, but I don’t have a decent explanation.
It seems stupid to say we haven’t been together long enough when the appropriate timeframe should be determined by us, not society.
“Every good relationship requires communication. Gia and I need to discuss living together before we do it.”
“When will you talk about it?” Lauren asks.
“I don’t know, sweetheart. But to be clear, that’s something you guys would be okay with? You want Gia to live here all the time?”
“I like when she’s here,” Leah says.
“Me too. She makes you happy, Daddy.”
“Yeah, you started smiling again when she comed ober.”
The girls keep eating their food as if they didn’t just drop a revelation on me.
They’re right. I didn’t smile all that often before Gia came into our lives.
The girls were about the only thing that could make me smile anymore since Hannah died.
How did they notice that and I didn’t? “She definitely makes me happy.”
“We know,” Lauren responds. “That’s why we kept inviting her to stuff.”
“The book fair was my idea.” Leah smiles proudly.
“And Valentime’s Day.”
“And staying the night with Mimi and Pop Pop.”
“Oh, yeah. That too.”
The girls grin at each other.
Holy. Shit.
They masterminded our whole relationship. How the hell did I not recognize what they were doing? I knew it was weird that they were being so friendly to Gia the first day they met her. I just never imagined that they’d pick up on the connection between us.
“You two are sneaky.”
“We were really sad when she had to go home. I wanted her to like us enough to stay,” Lauren says.
“She did,” I tell them. “She told me she didn’t want to leave, but as adults, we sometimes have to make really hard choices. This was one of those choices that Gia couldn’t make without a lot of thought.”
Leah scrunches her nose. “I don’t wanna be a grown-up.”
I bark out a laugh. “Good thing you don’t have to worry about it for a long time.”
“Good thing.” Lauren nods.
“Your grandma wanted you to spend some time at their house on Saturday.” I was shocked to see her text this morning about having the girls over. It’s been weeks since Kathy reached out first.
Lauren makes a face, looking down at her almost empty bowl.
“You don’t want to go?”
She glances at Leah before shaking her head.
“Why not?”
Lauren bites her lip, but then Leah bluntly says what they’re hiding. “She told us that we had to make Gia go away. She said Gia was a b-word who was trying to take us from her.”
I inhale a long, slow breath to keep my anger from exploding outward. The girls do not deserve to be the recipients of my harsh emotions. Once I’m in control again, I look at both of them. “Thank you for sharing that. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Lo Lo was worried she’d get in trouble.”
I frown at Lauren. “Why in the world would you have gotten in trouble?”
She looks at me with guilt. “’Cause I told Gramma that she was the one being a b-word and that we would never see her again if she said anything else bad about Gia.”
My eyebrows fly up my forehead. “You said what?”
Tears swim in her eyes, and I soften immediately, holding my hands out to her for a hug. She climbs into my lap, wrapping her little arms around my neck. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m not mad, just surprised. You’re such a brave girl to stand up to someone who is saying mean things.”
“Gramma looked like she ate a lemon after I said it.”
I snort. “I can only imagine. I’m really sorry she said that while you were with her. Can you promise me you won’t keep anything like that a secret again? If I don’t know what’s going on, I can’t protect either of you.”
“Lee Lee.” Lauren looks at her sister.
Leah sighs and comes over to sit on my other leg. They’re getting too big to fit anymore, but I’m going to pretend like they’re not for a little while longer.
“Mason has been bothering me again, and I told Gramma about it. Ms. Nelson asked her to talk to you, but Gramma just said that the school year is almost over and to ignore him.”
“She also told us not to tell you about it since it wasn’t a big deal,” Lauren adds.
“Listen. I appreciate that you guys are telling me the truth now, but I need you to promise me that if anyone ever tells you to keep something from me, you ignore them and come straight to me. I don’t care if it’s one of your uncles, a teacher, your grandparents, or your friends; you tell me right away, even if you think someone will get hurt if you do. ”
They both promise to talk to me instead of keeping it to themselves, and then I ask, “Is there anything else you guys want to talk about?”
“Can you ask Gia to come over to read us a story tonight?” Leah smiles at me.
I shake my head, fighting a grin. “I’ll ask her, but don’t count on her being able to do it, okay?”
“Okay.”
“What’s for dessert?” Lauren jumps off my lap to clean up her spot. Leah follows her lead, peering into the freezer to see our options.
I sit at the table, stewing for a bit longer. I can’t reconcile the woman who shouldered the burden after Hannah died with the one currently saying vile things around the girls. How can they be the same person?
Have I been blind to who Kathy really is?
How many things has she said to the girls that they just brushed off, not knowing I’d be pissed if I heard it?
Lauren made it clear that she doesn’t want to spend time with them, and there’s no way in hell I’ll force them to go over there.
At a minimum, I’ll make sure I’m around every time they want to see the girls to ensure that Kathy doesn’t have the leeway to spout her bullshit anymore.
And to tell Leah to brush off a bully as if it’s no big deal? That’s unacceptable to me, especially when this isn’t the first time she’s had an issue with the boy.
I don’t want to be the bad guy. It’s shitty to limit the amount of time they can spend with their grandkids, but they also have to show me and the girls respect. They don’t get to voice their displeasure about my life in front of the girls. If they have a problem, they can discuss it with me.
It’s going to take a Herculean effort to have this conversation without getting pissed. I can predict exactly how Kathy is going to take me dictating what she can and can’t say around the girls. This won’t end well at all, but I can’t stay silent.
If I let this slide like everything else, Kathy will only continue to escalate, and my girls deserve better.