From that day forward, I knew my life would be dedicated to thanking them for giving me a chance in life. And not only me but Cooper as well. Shortly after, Mom and Dad were surprised when they found out they were pregnant with Palmer. They didn’t think getting pregnant was an option for them, but life has a tricky way of throwing you for a loop. From a family of four, we became a blended family of five and have been ever since.
I open up Mom’s text and read it to myself.
Mom: What’s this I hear you’re not going to be staying with us? You know the Island’s Bed and Breakfast claims to have the best continental breakfast, but nothing beats my homemade pancakes. Are you really going to give up my fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth pancakes for a free continental breakfast of dry muffins and orange juice tainted with pulp?
Smiling to myself, I shake my head at her. Want to talk about a mama bear? Peggy Chance is the definition. She clings to every facet of her children’s lives. We were her goals, her aspirations, her fulfillment. While Dad was running the store, she was taking care of the home front, keeping us in line, dishing out responsibilities, and inserting herself into our lives in every possible way.
I type back to her.
Ford: Larkin will be with me. It would be weird for her to stay at the family house.
Mom: We have plenty of room. We can stick her in your room, and you can sleep on the couch.
Ford: My assistant sleeping in my childhood bed isn’t exactly what I would call professional.
Mom: Oh stop, Larkin is practically part of the family. I bet she’d love to see where you used to hide away when you were a teenager.
Ford: I’m sure she’d love to obtain any sort of knowledge when it comes to my teenage years to tease me with, but I’d prefer if I keep things professional. Plus, we have a lot of work to do. If we stayed with you, you’d be interrupting our meetings every half hour, on the hour to make sure we’re drinking enough water to make our pee clear.
Mom: Hydration is important, especially if you want to stay young looking. Which reminds me, have you started using that eye cream I sent you? You’re 36, prime time for having to use an eye cream. I already have Palmer using hers and she’s 27. You’re behind.
Ford: Good on the eye cream, Mom. Thanks though.
Mom: Well, if you’re not going to use it, bring it with you so I can give it to Cooper. He’s starting to get some crow’s feet.
Ford: Can’t wait to tell him that.
Mom: Don’t pick on your brother. He’s sensitive.
The elevator door dings, and I glance up to the parting doors, expecting someone from marketing to drop off the mock-ups, but instead see a wisp of ice-blonde hair right before Larkin steps off and walks toward my office, a paper bag in hand.
I lean back in my chair and watch her approach me, a smirk crossing her lips.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as she sets the brown bag on my desk. “I told you to go home.”
“I couldn’t let you not eat dinner.” She pulls out two carry-out cups from Gelato Boy, our favorite ice cream place in Denver. She pushes a cup toward me, along with a spoon. “Got your favorite, Gooey Buttercake and Caramel.”
“You’re trying to make me wake up earlier than I want so I can get in some extra miles on the pavement, aren’t you?” I take the gelato and remove the lid. Creamy gelato mixed with caramel glistens up at me, making my mouth water. Didn’t realize how much I needed this until now.
“I plan on getting in three miles.” She scoops a spoonful. “Which means you have to at least meet me or beat me.”
Mouth full of ice cream, I answer, “You know I’m going to beat you.”
She smirks. “You always do.”
CHAPTER TWO
COOPER
“What’s this for?”
I look up to see Dad holding up a bolt. “Dad, don’t touch shit. I told you I have everything laid out according to how I need it.”
“But this was on the coffee table.” He examines the bolt as I struggle to hold up the shelf I’m building for him. A shelf he desperately needed built before Ford arrived so he could color coordinate all his “literature.”
Retired Martin is a different man from Shop Owner Martin. Shop Owner Martin was quick on his feet, scrappy, and didn’t ever need help. He could look at a stick on the ground and, in a matter of a half hour, whittle a prize-winning flute with an angelic pitch.
Retired Martin is a different species and has apparently lost all faculties in his older years. These days he walks around with one tube sock, one ankle sock, and his shirt inside out and has succumbed to binge-watching reality shows on Netflix while practicing his adult coloring in a book full of swear words.
Get Organized with the Home Edit being his latest binge.
It’s the reason I’m hunched over, trying to put together a bookshelf he bought from IKEA, the devil’s grotto. What should be an easy-to-assemble shelf has turned into a waste of a night as I try to comprehend the elementary instructions that read more like Satan’s playground of insecurities.
“Did you put it on the coffee table?”
He thinks about it and then chuckles. “You know, maybe it was on the floor.”
Jesus.
Christ.
“Dad, go back to your coloring book.”
“Aww, do you want me to color you a swear word? From the expression on your face, it looks like you have a few building up in your head right now.” He taps his chin. “You want a ‘Fuck you’ page, don’t you?”
Sighing heavily while staring down at the directions, I count to five and then say, “Sure, Dad, color me a picture that says ‘Fuck you.’ I’ll hang it on my fridge when I get home.”
He wags his finger at me. “Don’t tease me, son. I expect a picture of my art on your fridge.” He takes a seat in his recliner, a black dress sock pulled high over his calf while a white ankle sock dangles off his other foot.
A total nightmare of fashion, that’s what he is. Not that I care about fashion, but for fuck’s sake, the man is wearing twenty-year-old cotton shorts with a hole in the crotch.
“How’s it going in here?” Mom says, carrying a plate of butterscotch cookies. “Oh, would you look at that, you already have two sides attached. Look at you go.” She gives me a jolly fist pump. “Excellent work, Cooper.”
Yeah, and it’s only taken me half an hour, thanks to Dad’s constant jabbering.
“And did I hear you’re coloring a ‘Fuck you’ page for Cooper?”
Dad nods as he carefully lays his colored pencils out on the TV stand he uses when coloring. “Since I’ve been denied the ability to help our son, I’m going to use my fade technique. Cooper has a work of art coming his way.” It’s not that I don’t want his help—it’s just that he’s having a stiff day. I can see it in his movements, the bending of his limbs. I’m not about to ask him to join me on the floor. I think he knows it too, or else he wouldn’t have asked me to come over.
“Have you seen the fade-in technique?” Mom asks and then thumbs toward Dad. “A modern-day Bob Ross, if you ask me. But instead of happy trees, he dabbles in happy swear words. Did you see the picture I hung in the bathroom?”