10 Savannah
Friday afternoon Savannah’s phone buzzed as she sat on the back deck reading. She smiled when she saw who the call was from
and picked it up.
“Hi, Mommy!” The two sweetest voices she knew rang out as soon as their faces appeared on the screen, followed by their signature
giggling. Three-year-old Juliette and five-year-old Genevieve danced on the other side of the screen.
“Hello, my sweet peas! How are you today?”
“We’re getting pancakes! For lunch!” Genevieve announced, as if no further explanation of the status of her day was needed.
“Wow! That sounds exciting,” Savannah said.
“It’s possible that pancakes were promised yesterday, and I forgot to make them for breakfast,” said her husband’s voice from
somewhere behind the phone.
Savannah chuckled. Her girls were nothing if not persistent. Genevieve would make a great lawyer someday.
“And then Nana’s coming!” Juliette added. Her lopsided pigtails bounced as she jumped around.
“So fun!” Savannah agreed.
“And we got to tear a loop off the paper chain today. Only seventeen more loops until we come to see you and Aunt Bee and
Auntie Cora!” Genevieve threw her hands up in the air and spun around in celebration. Since she was holding the phone, the
sudden view of the swirling gave Savannah slight motion sickness vibes.
Although Savannah didn’t mind. She missed her girls. Even a look at the spinning ceiling made her heart sing.
“I can’t wait. You two are going to love it here.”
“All right, you two, my turn.” There was more bobbling, and then the familiar comfort of seeing her favorite human on the
planet warmed her whole body as Chris’s face filled the screen.
“How’s life on the beach?”
“Perfect. As usual.” This was her happy place and being here now, even with all its struggles, fed her soul. “Although I miss
y’all.”
“We miss you, too,” Chris said. “And how are things with your sisters? Going any better?”
“Oh, you know.” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice that she couldn’t help. She’d thought her plan would be further
along by now, that there would’ve been more bonding. She thought more boxes on the Summer Bucket List would’ve been checked
off.
But the huge gaps that stood between the sisters were still as big as ever. Once again Savannah found herself asking how they’d
ended up here. How she’d let them get here.
“You’re letting them help out, right? Your chore chart is working?” There was obvious concern in Chris’s voice.
“Of course they’re helping. They’re my sisters.”
It wasn’t exactly the truth. They hadn’t done one chore that was assigned on the chore chart—she was pretty sure Cora was
avoiding them to prove something—but her sisters were picking up after themselves. Kind of.
Of course, she still had to wipe down the kitchen every night regardless of who had done the dishes and cleaned. It just felt
cleaner if she did it herself. It was probably one of those perfectionist habits she needed to work on, but how much time
did it take from Savannah’s day to wipe down counters?
The concern from his voice pooled in his eyes. “You should tell them. They’ll want to know. No more secrets, right?”
A wave of guilt washed over her, which she did her best to push away. “I will. Just not yet. I want to get in a few more fun days first.” There was enough big news already. She didn’t need to add any fuel to the flame. Not yet, anyway.
“But you’re going to tell them before we get there, right?”
“Right. Of course.” Or maybe when they got there.
But definitely before the month was over.
Probably.
As if he could read her mind, Chris gave her an accusatory look.
She let out a sigh. “I know. I promise I will. I’m just waiting for the right time.”
“Make sure you get some rest. That’s the whole reason you’re there, remember?”
“I thought the whole reason I was here was to reconnect with my sisters and fulfill my mom’s last wish,” she tossed back in
a lighthearted tone.
“It’s an agenda-packed month.” He looked over the camera at something in the background, and the source of his concern shifted.
“Juliette, get down.” He glanced back at the camera. “Hang on a second.”
The ceiling filled her screen again while she could hear his muffled voice in the background. She wondered what sort of trouble
her second-born was getting into. Fiercely independent, adventurous, and untethered by rules. She would do great things, that
was for sure. But it wouldn’t be without giving everyone who cared for her a headful of gray hair.
It reminded her of a certain other second-born. Maybe it was their anthem.
As if on cue, the sliding glass door opened behind her, and Cora stuck her head out. “There you are. We’ve been looking for
you. You ready to go?”
Savannah held up her phone. “Yes. Let me say goodbye to Chris and the girls first.”
“Oh, I want to say hi to those cuties.” She stepped all the way onto the deck and propped herself on the arm of Savannah’s
chair. “Hey, girls!” She waved at the camera.
“Auntie Cora!” At the sound of her voice, the two giggling faces filled the screen again.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say parts of their faces filled the screen. It was mostly just Genevieve’s eyes and
a shot up Juliette’s nose.
“How are my favorite minions?”
For as much as Savannah gave Cora a hard time for not being involved with the family, her sister loved the girls well in her
own way, which was with gifts. She gave big, elaborate gifts and on the rare occasion when she was in town, she took them
on big, elaborate outings. She took Fun Aunt to a whole new level. She was so fun, in fact, that this past Christmas, Juliette
didn’t want to put the biggest wish on her list to Santa because “Auntie Cora gives better presents, and I don’t even have to be good to get them.”
“We get pancakes! For lunch!” Juliette sang out.
“There are only seventeen more paper chains until we get to see you,” Genevieve said.
“Did you get us presents?” Juliette asked.
“Juliette, baby, you can’t ask that. It’s not polite,” Chris said from somewhere behind them.
“Pancakes sound delicious, and I guess you’ll have to wait seventeen days to see if I have a gift for you or not.” Cora shrugged
like it was a big secret, then she leaned into the phone and whispered, “But of course I do!”
“Yay!” The video feed bounced around as Savannah could only assume the girls were jumping with excitement.
Chris reclaimed the phone. “And with that exciting news, I’m going to go so I can give them more sugar to add fuel to this
frenzy. It’s good to see you, Cora.”
“Hey, Chris. Can’t wait for y’all to get here.” She gave him a little wave, then slid into the chair next to her sister, and
Savannah centered the phone on her own face.
“Y’all have a good weekend, and I’ll see you soon.” She blew him a kiss.
“You, too.” Her husband gave her a sympathetic look. “And Savannah, remember what I said. You should tell them.”
She nodded and blew him one last kiss before she clicked off.
Cora gave her a quizzical look. “Tell us what?”
Savannah had kind of hoped Cora hadn’t heard that. But since nothing escaped her sister, she put on her best carefree expression.
“That Chris is thinking about coming a day or two early. Y’all wouldn’t mind, would you?” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but
she needed to work up to the other conversation.
“Not at all,” Cora said, although Savannah could tell by the way she was looking at her that her sister wasn’t convinced it
was the truth. Luckily, Cora didn’t press the issue.
“Are we ready to go to the pier for lunch?” Not only did Savannah not want to talk about her little problem, but she was still
trying to actively avoid thinking about it when she could.
“Let’s do it.”
She stood and followed Cora into the house, locking the sliding glass door behind them. She grabbed her crossbody bag from
the kitchen table and headed to the front door where Bianca was waiting.
“Who’s driving?” Bianca asked.
“No one’s driving.” Savannah pulled open the front door and waited for everyone to file out. “We’re riding bikes. Like we
always did. It’s tradition.”
Cora turned to Bianca. “Let me guess. You don’t remember riding bikes.”
“I totally remember riding bikes. Just not with you guys.” She looked around the living room as if the bikes would be there.
“Do we have bikes?”
“Sure. In the shed.” Savannah waved everyone out the door.
“We have a shed?” Bianca asked as she stepped out onto the small front porch.
Cora just shook her head and walked over to the left side of the house where the shed was located. “And you wonder why we
question if your move across the country is a good idea.”
Maybe that was a little harsh, but Savannah had to admit Cora was right.
The shed was clearly visible from the street. And it was mentioned in the welcome letter with the instructions for the house.
Twice.
Cora was already unlocking and opening the shed when Savannah rounded the corner.
“Huh. Look at that. Bikes.” Bianca was the first one in to sort through the tangle of bikes mixed in among the other beach
items.
Clearly, the house catered to families, because there was a wide selection of different-sized bikes. There were three adult
bikes, two midsize bikes that looked to be for older kids, and two smaller bikes that would be an ideal size for someone around
Genevieve’s age. And, of course, there was a cart that could go on the back of an adult bike to pull toddlers.
“Perfect.” Savannah clapped her hands together after scanning the inventory. “One for each of us.”
“Let’s do it.” Cora grabbed her bike and pushed it out toward the street. They all followed.
When they were at the end of the driveway, Savannah climbed on her bike and followed her sisters toward the pier.
She had a passing thought that perhaps riding a bike wasn’t taking it easy , but since the pier was just over a mile and on completely flat terrain, she wouldn’t consider the ride vigorous, which was
what the doctor had told her to avoid. She’d be fine biking this once.