“Billy says she’s real pretty and you and the kid were practically braidin’ friendship bracelets,” Jimmy continued gabbin’ as I walked past him with Sherlock at my side. “He also said that you took her on a mighty cozy date that included a trolley ride and ice cream. I thought he was just talkin’ shit until I ran into Mrs. Shaw and she said that you called Mrs. Birch and asked if she would watch the little girl and that you’d be the one payin’ the bill.”
I’d never say an ill word about Mrs. Birch, but if gossiping was its own language she’d be fluent. I knew that it was a gamble telling Mrs. Birch that I wanted to take care of the childcare. But it was one that I’d been willing to take because although I didn’t know the extent of Skylar’s financial issues, I knew that she had them.
“Ho-ly shit!” Jimmy shouted as he followed behind me. “You really did that?! This is serious!”
Ignoring him, I opened the door of the shed, flipped on the light, and walked inside.
“Wait! Do you love her? How did this happen and I missed all of it? I always miss the good stuff.” Jimmy whined.
He suffered from YSS (youngest sibling syndrome). That’s why he’d fought sleep so much, he was always worried that he was going to miss out on something.
“Soooo,” Jimmy sing-songed as he leaned against the door frame. “When do I get to meet her?”
And people wondered why I wanted my privacy.
“What’s her deal? She has a kid, right? Is there a dad in the picture? Why hasn’t she ever shown up before? I didn’t even know that Old Man Thompson had a granddaughter, much less a great-granddaughter. He’s been gone five years. So why move to Firefly now? She obviously didn’t come here for a job.”
I tuned Jimmy out as he continued running his mouth. After I collected everything I’d need I walked out, shut and locked the door. When I turned back, he was standing in front of me.
I stared at him and when he didn’t move I asked, “Ya bout done?”
“One more question.” He grinned. “Do you have anything to eat?”
Damn. I should have ordered three pizzas.
CHAPTER 14
Skylar
As I drove along the coastline on the desolate road that led to my grandfather’s house, I marveled at the beauty of the island and just how much had changed in such a short amount of time.
It was less than a week ago that I’d packed up my house, threw whatever I could fit in my SUV and left our home in the dead of night. I moved us across the country to a town I’d never been to, into a house I’d never set foot in, with totally empty bank accounts.
I also marveled at just how well the pieces were falling into place in this new life. I’d arrived in Firefly Island not knowing a soul, and jobless. Now I had a job, a babysitter, and a new neighbor who I was starting to consider a…friend. A friend that I’d had very explicit dreams of, but a friend nonetheless.
“Momma, when can I go back to Mrs. Birch’s house? I want to play with the dollhouse. And she said that we could make peanut butter fudge and I can be her special helper.”
“You’re going back in two sleeps, Lu Lu.” I’d been measuring timeframes with her by sleeps since she was two. I knew now that she was turning five the “sleeps” days were most likely numbered.
My phone rang and I saw that it was Ashley calling. She must be home from her yoga retreat. I’d seen one of her sorority sister’s Instagram post saying that technology was banned. No cell phones, no computers, no devices at all. They had to “unplug” to find their zen.
So, I hadn’t been able to talk to her, I’d just left her some messages that I was sure she’d have a lot of questions about. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have in the presence of little ears, but I knew that she’d worry if I didn’t pick up.
“Hey, Ash, you’re on speaker!”
I’d learned my lesson for not announcing that she was “on speaker” which clued her in that Luna was listening after I’d answered the phone on the way to the grocery store said hello, and my sister announced that she’d just met the most “fuckable” man in the world.
Luna was only two at the time, and I’d hoped that the statement had gone over her head. But when we were in the checkout line and the cashier asked how she was, Luna excitedly shared the good news. “My Auntie Lee Lee just met the most fuckable man in the world!”
Mortified, I immediately told her not to say that. To which she’d responded, “But, Momma, I want to meet the most fuckable man, too.”
The cashier and several customers in line burst out laughing. When I relayed the information to Ash she thought it was hilarious. I was still mortified.
“Did you have fun on your retreat?” I asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from the fact that I’d quit my job and moved across the country over the weekend.
“It was long. I’m so glad to be back in the real world. Hey, Luna Bug! I miss you!”
“I miss you, too, Lee Lee. Guess what?”
“Chicken butt,” Ashley didn’t miss a beat.
Luna giggled hysterically before proudly proclaiming, “I’m gonna make peanut butter fudge with Mrs. Birch just like Mr. Hank did!”
“Awesome!” Ashley enthused. “Two questions. Who’s Mrs. Birch and more importantly who is Mr. Hank?”
“He’s—”
“I’m driving,” I cut off Luna’s answer. “Can I call you back when I get home?”
“I got your messages. How’s the gravy?”
Gravy was our code word for asking if everything was okay and not worry Luna. I wasn’t sure how long we had or if she’d already picked up on it and was just not letting on. I glanced in the back seat and she was watching me like a hawk to see what my response would be. Yep, she’d caught on.
“The gravy’s good. I’ll call you back when we get home, love you.”
“Love you my two favorite people in the whole world!”
“Love you, Lee Lee!” Luna shouted from the back seat.
I disconnected the call and decided I would put a movie on for Luna and slip to another room to call my sister back. It was fairly early still, and I didn’t want to wait another six hours to fill her in after Luna went to bed. Which meant I was going to be putting on The Good Dinosaur, Luna’s number one favorite movie.
If it was up to her, she’d watch it on repeat all day every day. But I saved it for break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situations. Once I put it on, a volcano could erupt in the house and Luna wouldn’t take her eyes off the screen. Me telling my sister about the events of the past week definitely qualified as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation.
As we pulled up to the cottage, the first thing I noticed was something large and brown on the porch. I couldn’t tell if it was a blanket or a…
I squinted as I drove closer and saw that it was moving. “Is that a dog?”
The high-pitched squeal from the backseat confirmed my suspicion. Luna had wanted a dog since before she could talk, which she started doing at nine months old. But even as young as four months old, whenever she saw a dog she would coo and her face would light up as she’d reach her chubby arms for it.