Jake looked at me and Hollis.
“Yell if you need me,” Hollis said, kissing Julia on the cheek and giving Jake an icy look.
I just followed her out without saying anything. This was between them and hopefully Jake would finally do the right thing.
“We really shouldn’t eavesdrop,” Hollis said as we stood in the hallway.
“No, we shouldn’t.” Not unless Julia called for us.
“I really want to eavesdrop,” Hollis said.
“I know. But she’s going to be fine. My sister is fierce when she needs to be.”
Hollis smiled. “Yeah, I know.”
We were in the hallway with the downstairs bathroom and people kept running to use it so there wasn’t any opportunity for eavesdropping anyway.
“He’d better be apologizing,” Hollis said, pacing.
“If he doesn’t, I’ll tell on him,” I said. Sure, it wasn’t the most mature thing to do, tattle to Mom and Dad, but I know they would be on Julia’s side here. Family first. Douchey friends didn’t get priority in this house.
Julia came out first and she had a smile on her face.
Hollis immediately went to her, face twisted in concern.
“What happened?”
“Well, he finally apologized. He’s been thinking about it a lot and he had a long talk with Carter and said he’s not going to invite him to things anymore. Of course, he’ll still see him at parties and stuff, but he’s going to give him the cold shoulder. Or so he says. I’m more into actions than words, but for right now, words are enough,” Julia said, shrugging.
“I’m so proud of you,” Hollis said, putting her arms around Julia.
“That was so scary, I’m shaking,” Julia said. My sister had never been one to rock the boat, the eternal conflict avoider. If one or more of us siblings were fighting, she’d cry until we stopped. Julia was an amazing sister, but she wasn’t so good at fighting for herself. Since she started dating Hollis, her voice had gotten louder, and I was glad to see it.
I gave Julia a hug and went to find Jake.
“I would say I’m proud, but you know you should have just done something in the first place,” I said. He was in the corner of the living room with a frown on his face.
“MK, I don’t need another person telling me I was a shitty brother. I get it, okay? I know. It’s been eating me up inside. He’s been my friend for years and he saw me through a lot of shit, and every time I tried to talk to him, he’d twist things around and convince me that what he did wasn’t that bad. I fucked up. I know this.”
“Swear jar!” chimed several small voices.
Jake tried not to smile and failed.
“I messed up,” he conceded. “And now I have to fix it.”
“You do. And it’s not going to be easy.”
He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick out everywhere. I reached out to smooth it down.
“I know. But you’re capable.”
He looked up at me. “Thanks. Sometimes I feel like I’m failing at everything.”
Jake was single and had a college degree, but had worked a number of random jobs, not really knowing what direction he wanted to go in. That would have been fine if maybe he’d had some hobbies or activities he enjoyed, but it seemed like he spent most of his free time drinking with the same crew of guys. I’d been worried about him for a while. He just didn’t seem happy.
“You know I’m always here to talk if you need it, right?”
Jake sighed. “I know. I just… I don’t know.”
I gave him a hug and he returned it.
“Thanks, MK. It’s nice to have you here.”
Great, now even my brother was laying on the guilt for not sticking around. I was getting it from every direction these days.
I let Jake go back to watching the movie with the kids and curled up on the floor with several of my niblings in my lap. This was the part of family dinner I liked. When we all sat around in a pile and watched a kid’s movie and Mom came around and passed out treats. It was the quietest time we were able to have, so there was only a little bit of screaming and talking and arguing.
I handed off several sleepy children to their parents and had to hug everyone again, which made leaving take at least twenty minutes longer than you thought it was going to. No matter how often we all got together, when it came to saying goodbye, it was like we were all going off to war and didn’t know if we’d ever see each other again.
I almost fell asleep in the car on the way back and Julia had to rouse me and tell me we were back.
“Do you want to come over and have some ice cream or something?” she asked.
“No, I’m good,” I said, stretching my neck. “I’m going to have some tea and go to bed.”
I said goodnight to Julia and Hollis and then waved to Ellie in the living room. She never brought her not-boyfriend over, and I was really curious about him. Although, I’d heard how her mom behaved when Hollis started bringing Julia around, and the whole plan she had to set Hollis and Julia up, so I really couldn’t blame her. I absolutely understood.
I heated up some water and added a lavender lemon teabag before taking it upstairs with me. Amanda usually went to bed pretty early, so she was already in her room reading.
I sipped on my tea and pulled out a biography that I’d been really loving.
It had been a whirlwind of a weekend and I was looking forward to having a simpler week ahead. I liked being social, it just drained me, and I needed a reset to get back to my normal state. After I finished my tea, it was time for some meditation and then bed. Monday was coming soon.
Since I had a bunch of bookkeeping and other non-filming tasks to do, I joined Hollis and Paige and Sasha at the Castleton Cafe for a few hours on Monday after teaching my sunrise yoga class. One of the baristas, Blue, had somehow reserved us a table that would fit us, our laptops, and a bunch of plates and drinks.
“What a party this weekend. I feel like everything is happening at once,” Paige said, tucking her brown hair behind her ear, her wedding rings flashing.
“Hey, don’t look at me, I’m not ready to get married,” Hollis said, and looked at me as if I was going to be upset.
“I think you should get married when you’re both ready, and if you never are, then that’s good too. As long as it’s a decision you make together,” I said, and Hollis visibly relaxed.
“I didn’t want you to think I don’t want to marry your sister, because I absolutely do,” Hollis said, trying to cover her ass.
“Hollis. You’re good. I’m not going to hold a gun to your head and walk you to the courthouse,” I said. “I know you’re happy with Julia and she loves you. That’s enough.”
“If you do decide to have a wedding, take some advice from me,” Paige said, leaning in to whisper. “Don’t.”
We all laughed.
“You think you’re going to have a simple wedding, but there is no such thing. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful. It was amazing. Ten out of ten, but holy shit, it was exhausting.”
“And what about you, Sash?” Hollis asked, swiveling to stare at her best friend, who had been clearly avoiding participating in this conversation.