Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
His dad clapped him on the back. Two firm pats. The wordless communication of a father who knew his son didn’t need speeches but would have full-on hugged him if the committee hadn’t already been present.
I thought about my own parents. They loved me—I’d never doubted that.
But love, in my family, had always operated at a distance.
My parents had each other in a way that was complete and a little isolated, and I’d learned early on that being self-sufficient was the most effective way to be loved by them.
I’d stopped asking for things I wasn’t sure they had the room to give.
I’d gotten very good at not needing anything from other people.
Watching Laura whisper to Marc and seeing him receive her encouragement—the ease of it, the lack of artifice on either side, the natural way they interacted—it was easy to see it’d happened ten thousand times before and would happen ten thousand times more—I felt that familiar ache of recognizing something I didn’t know I’d been missing.
Laura turned from Marc and found me. She crossed the room with the same purposeful stride she’d crossed it with the first time, and took my hands in hers—the same gesture Glamma had used, I’d noticed.
The Kingsley women had a whole language in their hands that said: “I see you” without uttering a word.
“I’ve always liked you,” she said. “Even when you and Marc were doing your best to drive each other insane.” The corner of her mouth ticked up. “That fire in you—that’s exactly what he needs. Someone who doesn’t just go along with him because it’s easier.”
My throat tightened. I managed a small sound that was supposed to be a laugh.
“I know we haven’t had much time to spend getting to know each other since you came back to town,” she continued. “I’d love to fix that. Family dinner next week. Will you come?”
“I’d love that,” I said, and meant it more than the words themselves could ever express.
She leaned in slightly, her voice dropping. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For loving him the way he deserves to be loved. As he is. Exactly as he is.”
Her words hit at a level I wasn’t prepared for.
My eyes went to hers fast—how did she know?—and her expression answered before I could finish the questions in my head. She’d seen it. Probably before I had. She’d been waiting, with the patience of a woman who’d already known the ending, but was waiting for the rest of us to catch up.
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. My throat had closed up completely around whatever I might have even said.
Something cracked open inside of me—the hope, the need, the desire—to be one of their own consumed me in a way I hadn’t been ready for. And to know it was a reality or soon to be was overwhelming.
“It’s clear as day,” Laura said simply. “You two belong together.”
Marc, as though sensing my inner turmoil, came up beside me, his hand finding my lower back. “Everything okay?”
“It’s really good,” I got out.
Laura looked between us, her mouth curving slowly, like she was taking it in and finding exactly what she’d hoped for. “Can I?” She opened her arms.
I walked right into them.
She held me the way mothers should hold people—without an agenda, without a duration limit, just present and certain. It lasted maybe ten seconds. And it was perfect.
When she stepped back, her eyes were bright. “I’d better get to my mat before I make you both late.” She touched my cheek once and turned away.
“I was worried she had upset you,” Marc said after she left.
I shook my head. “She’s remarkable.” I looked at him. “You’re so lucky to have her.”
He stared back, and something moved across his face. That particular look that told me he was deciding whether or not to say what he was thinking. “You’ve got her too.”
This man and his “I’ve got you” sentences hit me every damn time.
I held those three words inside my chest where I could cherish them—and remember them.
Glamma arrived with her squad. This time, Martha was seated before anyone else. Gladys was at the crystal table within the first thirty seconds. Goldie, eyes closed and palms up, was already relaxing her body and feeling the room’s energy flow through her.
Grace and Josh entered at the same time in the way of two people who had been in the same parking lot and were both pretending it was coincidental.
I filed this away in my brain that kept a running tab open on interactions that were interesting, and one I might want to follow up on later with a reading.
Then Adele. She came straight to me with the ease of our twenty years of friendship. “How are you two holding up?” she asked.
“Ask me in two hours,” I whispered back.
She squeezed my arm once and moved to a mat. I watched her go and thought about how lucky I was that some friendships are predestined, like ours seemed to be. And I knew we had a lifetime of friendship ahead of us.
Then Wyatt arrived. Adele immediately reacted—a small change to her posture; the stillness created when someone was carefully managing their reaction. She didn’t turn around. She found her water bottle and sipped it with the attention that you’d think she needed to give it a review online later.
Wyatt strolled over and immediately said hi to me and Marc, but his easy smile seemed forced.
I watched him, the way I’d been watching him for weeks now.
His eyes didn’t go to Adele right away, but I’d stake everything I had on the fact that even if he wasn’t looking in her direction, he knew exactly where she was.
Josh had moved to stand beside me, watching the same interaction. He caught my eye. Shrugged. Neither of us knew the whole story. But we both understood that there was one.
Marc rubbed his hand slightly across my back, leaving behind tingles in the wake of his touch. “I need to check in with the volunteers keeping track of the animals tonight.”
I nodded. “Okay.” And I’m not ashamed to admit that I stared at his ass the entire time he walked away from me.
Drew and Ellie arrived last, slightly breathless. She pushed a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear, her gaze sweeping the room, taking it all in. Her body relaxed as she smiled and waved to everyone.
Drew didn’t hesitate—he went straight to Marc.
Ellie came to me. She pulled me into a hug without slowing down, arms tightly banded around me, like we’d skipped the part where we were still getting to know each other.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you for weeks,” she said, pulling back with her hands on my arms. Her eyes were warm and direct, and I understood why Marc’s brother had fallen completely in love with her. “Every time I see you, there’s something going on.”
I laughed. “There’s always something happening in Ruby River.”
She answered with a smile of her own. “True, but before we leave tonight, I need to give you my number so we can hang out sometime.”
“Agreed.”
She gestured toward her mat, and as I watched her go, I felt that specific anticipation of a friendship that hadn’t started but already felt inevitable.
I turned back to the room.
We had a larger class today: thirteen total.
The committee members stood at the side of the room.
Marc stood near the rest of the volunteers with his hand resting on Noble’s collar—Noble straining forward with his enthusiasm turned up to full volume, his front end committed to the direction his back end was still negotiating.
Theo was at his station. And Cheryl was at the front with her unflappable confidence.
The room was full. The room was ready. The room was everything we’d built it to be.
I looked at Marc. He was watching me too. Not the room, not the committee, me. Like he was checking in to see if I was good.
I gave him the smallest nod.
We’re ready, it said.
We’re in this together, it said.
I love you, it said.
He gave me a single nod back, and I hoped it meant all the things my nod had.
Cheryl called out a greeting.
I took a breath.
And it was time to begin.
Then the door opened, and four more people walked in.