—Loralee—

“You know,” Mama said from behind me. “Most people would let their parents cook for them on their rare trips home.”

I turned to see a wry smile on her face. “I mean, if you don’t want my world class cooking…”

“Don’t put words in my mouth.” She laughed quietly and took a seat at the island. “What’s on the menu?”

“Since we’re going to have a full house, I thought I’d make tortellini. Easy to eat wherever.” If everyone who’d said they were coming over actually did, we certainly wouldn’t all fit around the dining table.

Mama smiled and cast a look around the room. It wasn’t much like what I’d grown up with. After Aunt Hadley had shown off her beautiful renovation, Mom and Mama had gotten the remodeling itch themselves. I had to say, it had come out amazing. But then, that was hardly surprising; they had good taste and the money to make execute it.

“It’ll be nice to have the house busy. God knows, we don’t have big get-together’s enough.”

“It’s hard to get people in one place at the same time,” I agreed. Tommy and I had made a handful of friends in Windenburg, so I knew firsthand how challenging it was to get more a couple of them to the house for dinner. Everyone had something going on.

“Silly jobs and families and lives.”

I laughed in a quiet burst. “Yeah, so annoying, aren’t they?” I sobered a moment later, the old ache in my chest flaring. Sometimes, I was able to forget just how much I missed everybody. Then I came home for a visit, and it all came rushing back. I was happy with life in Windenburg—the city was beautiful, the suburb where we lived quiet and scenic, and moving to Germany had allowed me to travel as I never would’ve otherwise. Still, it was hard not to miss all the things—all the people—I’d left behind.

Leaving the pot to simmer, I joined Mama at the island. She turned to look at me. “So. What’s really spurred this impromptu trip? I know you like to be as hands-on as you can, but there’s really nothing in person you can do to help the Tomalee repairs.”

I sighed softly. “I do want to get a look at the work.” A month ago, Tomalee had suffered an electrical fire. There hadn’t been major damage, but the kitchen had basically needed a full replacing. Since the restaurant was going to be closed for repairs anyway, I’d decided to do some remodeling of my own; after ten years, it was time for a bit of a facelift.

But she was right; seeing the construction in person wasn’t the only reason I’d needed to visit.

“I needed a breather,” I admitted. “Logan’s giving us hell. And thrown us for a hell of a loop.”

Mama frowned. “What’s going on? Something serious?”

I shook my head. “No, not serious. Just…mostly typical teenage, moody boy stuff. Pushing us, what he can get away with. Copping an attitude the size of Texas.”

“Oh, the usual,” Mama said with a smile.

I laughed softly. “He also just broke up with his girlfriend and came out as bi.” And he kept making excuses for why we couldn’t meet the boy he was now seeing. He couldn’t possibly think Tommy and I would have a problem—we’d explicitly told him, several times, that it didn’t matter to us who he dated. So why was he being so damn difficult?

Mama quirked a brow at me. “My dear daughter, if you tell me you have an issue with that…”

I rolled my eyes. “Mama. It’s just been a surprise. He’s had nothing but girlfriends ‘till now.” And, honestly, I’d been pretty fond of Zoe, even if Logan had liked to forget his curfew when he was with her.

Mama nodded understandingly. “What’s this boy like?”

I threw up my hands with a sound of exasperation. “I wish I knew! Logan keeps putting off introducing us.”

She laughed softly. “Sounds like you’ll have to put your foot down when you get home. If he’s serious about this kid, you need to meet him.”

“Too right,” I agreed.

I set my plate on the coffee table and leaned back on the couch next to my half-brother, Blake. I gestured over to Anna, talking with my parents and Aunt Hadley. “She seems like she’s doing well.”

He nodded, glancing towards his mother. “She is. It killed her to press charges, but Danny and Bri and I convinced her, and it seems like she’s handling it okay.”

“I’m proud of her.” Secretly, even, I had to wonder if I could’ve done the same if it were my own kid. It was one thing to write of Bradley—he’d been troubled even as a kid—as his sister, but pressing charges—being responsible for your child going to jail? I tried to imagine what I would do if one of my three followed in Brad’s footsteps; I’d like to think that I could do the right thing, but, really, they were my babies. I wasn’t sure I’d have the balls to do it.

“So, is he in jail?”

“Yeah, he didn’t have the money for bail, and, obviously, none of us were bailing him out.” He sighed. “He asked me to go see him.”

“Are you going to?” I sure as hell wouldn’t if I were Blake.

“I don’t know.” He smiled weakly. “If I do, it’ll just be for the satisfaction of seeing him behind bars.”

“He won’t actually be behind bars when you see him, you know.”

His smile grew into a genuine, crooked grin. “Hey, let a man dream.” He shook his head. “Nah, I’m not going. He’s just going to ask for bail or a lawyer or something. Fuck him. He’s going to end up just like Huy—or worse.”

“Ah, yeah, Huy. I hear he’s in bad shape.”

“He crawled into a bottle after he got out of jail, and now he’s drunk himself to death. Bastard deserves it.”

I looked Blake over; there was so much anger in his face and the set of his shoulders. Just talking about our father had him on the brink of being royally pissed. I shook my head. “I mean, yeah, he did this to himself, but this anger you’re hanging onto? You’ve got to let it go.”

Blake looked at me in surprise. “What? Are you telling me I shouldn’t be angry for the shit he put me through? Aren’t you angry?”

I sighed softly. “I was. Angry and hurt and angry some more. But he’s just not worth all that emotional baggage. I don’t have room in my life for it; I realized a few years ago that the best thing I could do for myself was just to let it all go and forgive him.”

“Forgive him? You’re kidding.”

I shook my head. “Look, Blake, I’m hardly a therapist. But you’re going to have a baby in less than a year. Do you really have room for hate in your heart when you’re about to be filling it with love for that little life? Forgiveness isn’t for Huy; it’s for you, so you can put it behind you. I felt so much lighter when I just let it go.”

Blake rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t think I can, but we’ll see, okay? We’ll see.”