“Yes!” Drake said, giving his dad a high five. “Oh, can I also get a computer?” He held his hands in a begging motion. He had spent countless hours playing educational games on the one at the public library.
“Definitely,” Hanna said, patting her son’s thick blond hair. “And, your dad and I talked about it, and we’re going to enroll y’all in a new school for the fall. It’s got a fancy computer lab where you can learn all sorts of things.” She had wondered what her kids’ reactions were going to be about switching schools, but from the smiles on both their faces, she figured they welcomed the change.
“Can we go tell Gigi and Papa we’re going to Disney World?” Lucy asked politely.
An idea occurred to Hanna. “Yes, go tell them.” She smiled. “And tell them to pack their bags, too. They’re coming with us!”
The kids jumped off the swing and ran happily into the house.
Right then, Hanna felt like the coolest mom in the world. “That was fun,” she told Tom.
“I’m not sure what you were expecting,” he said, swinging. “But, you tell a kid they’re going to Disney, and I don’t think anyone walks away with anything other than a smile.”
She laughed. “True. I just hope the new lifestyle doesn’t change them.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it can’t change them if it doesn’t change us.”
Hanna could only hope that was true.
“Well done inviting the grandparents to Disney. Traveling babysitters. Love it.”
“You know we’re gonna give my mom and dad a good life now, right?” She couldn’t imagine not sharing her fortune with her parents, who had sacrificed so much for her and her family.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he said. “They deserve it.”
Hanna loved that Tom had a good relationship with her parents. She had seen all the drama Lexi had been having with her in-laws and felt even more thankful they all got along. Since Tom’s own parents were gone, she often wondered if that was why he was so close to hers.
“You ready to go inside?” he asked, standing up and reaching his hand out for hers.
Hanna grabbed his hand. As they walked back to the house, she peeked through the kitchen window and could see her family rejoicing. The moment made her feel warm inside. Everything felt perfect. And god, just think of how much better this was going to be with millions.…
CHAPTER 7 Callie
As a journalist, Callie thought she had an idea of what to expect at the lottery press conference. There would be a small audience of reporters sitting in uncomfortable black folding chairs, and they’d ask some basic questions like how she and her sisters felt after winning and what they planned to do with the money. A line of photographers would be kneeling in the front, trying to get the best shot, and a row of news cameras would be in the back, hoping to get some good sound bites.
She had been to dozens of press conferences in her career and was usually in her element speaking up and asking questions.
But now that she was on the other side, standing in front of the group of reporters, her stomach roiled with nerves. Callie looked over at her sisters, who seemed surprisingly cool and calm about the whole thing. Lexi, wearing her new navy fit and flare dress, was smacking her ruby-painted lips together to evenly distribute the gloss she had just applied. Hanna, in a light blue seersucker wrap dress, was gently scrunching the large blond curls she had created with hot rollers.
Her sisters also had dressed Callie that morning, putting her in a pair of two-hundred-fifty-dollar dark skinny jeans and a fitted white button-down with the sleeves rolled up. Even though it was a ridiculous amount of money to spend on jeans—jeans—she had to admit that her butt looked pretty good in them. Lexi had gone on a shopping spree the day before, buying outfits for all three of them. The lottery money hadn’t officially been transferred into their accounts yet, but her sister had discovered that inputting her “salary” on her bank’s website gave her a mind-bogglingly high line of credit. This new world was going to take some getting used to.
Lexi had also set up a makeshift beauty salon in Callie’s bedroom the morning of the conference, where she insisted on doing her sister’s makeup and giving her hair beachy waves.
“This is so stupid,” Callie had protested while Lexi applied blush to her cheekbones. The brush tickled her face. She had only worn makeup a handful of times in her life when her cosmetologist sister insisted on doing it for special occasions. Callie just felt unnatural and silly in it, like a clown. She sighed as her little sister brushed sparkly shadow on her eyelids. “No one is going to see this,” she said, secretly hoping her words were true. “Only local media is going to be there, and we’ll get like five seconds of coverage on the news tonight. Why are we doing all of this again?”
“Oh, sweetie…” Lexi sat back and studied her sister’s eyes to make sure the makeup had been applied evenly. “This is our moment.” She stood up and walked over to the closet, pulling out the outfit she had picked out for Callie. “Like a debutante at her ball.” She practically floated back across the room and handed the hanger with the clothes on it to her sister. “We have to look amazing.”
Callie felt a jab on her rib, bringing her back to reality. It was Hanna, poking her as they waited for the press conference to begin. “Deep breaths,” her sister whispered. “You’re doing your weird face again.” Callie had a lifelong habit of twisting her face in a way that made her look pained when she got stressed or anxious.
She attempted to compose herself just as Garrett walked into the room. He carried his reporter’s notepad in one hand and his phone in the other. Callie noticed he had gotten a new haircut. His blue eyes looked even more piercing without the moppy brown hair covering his face.
Get ahold of yourself, Breaux. She waved at him casually, and he flashed a thumbs-up at her.
“All right, I think we’re ready to begin,” announced Joanna Crawford, the communications director for the lottery headquarters. The woman, who looked to be Hanna’s age, turned to the podium and tapped the microphone with her red-painted fingernails. Callie studied her nails and wondered if the lottery paid well. The thought made her giggle. “Welcome, everyone!”
Callie looked out at the roomful of people in chairs who were now focused on the stage area. Her mom and dad, who had come for moral support, were standing off to the side. It was nice to see them and Garrett in the audience—the familiar faces made her feel slightly less nervous.
“We are here today with some lucky ladies who won the latest Powerball jackpot—a total of two hundred and four million dollars in a drawing last month,” Joanna said into the microphone. She pointed to the three of them standing to her right. “Hailing from Brady, Louisiana, they are sisters Hanna Peck, Callie Breaux, and Lexi Breaux.” Joanna started clapping her hands. “Congratulations!”
The group of reporters gave a low-key clap.
“The winners have opted to take the lump sum,” Joanna added, smoothing her shiny red hair with her hands.
Out of the corner of her eye, Callie could see the giant fake cardboard check being carried over by a male assistant. The digits were written out in the box: $204,000,000. There were so many zeroes it looked like a fake number. Callie gulped.