But then a woman pokes her head out of an RV window, her long blonde hair catching the wind, her skin sun-kissed and a smile wide on her face.
Plum gasps. “She looks like a princess.”
We finish our meal and get back on the bike. Plum is happy—though in need of a nap before we head to my parents’ for dinner. As I peddle us back home, I can't stop thinking about that blonde hanging out the back window of the RV, her hair blowing in the wind, her eyes taking in the town. She was beautiful.
When we get home, I help Plum out of her seat. She rubs her eyes and gives me a sleepy yawn. She’s worn out from the bike ride and lunch and probably crashing from the sugar high she got from that milkshake. "How about you take a rest before we go over to grandma and grandpa's tonight?" I ask her.
She yawns, agreeing to my suggestion. I grab a few books from the shelf and carry them into her bedroom. There, I sit down on her bed and flip one open. "I like this one," she says. "It's a fairy tale. All about falling in love with your Prince Charming."
I smile. "Yeah. You're interested in falling in love?"
She giggles. "I don't know. You're not in love, Daddy. Do you need a princess?"
I chuckle. "Sure," I say, "I don't think anyone would mind finding a princess. Do you?"
She shakes her head. "No. That lady in the window looked like a princess," she says, "like Rapunzel. Her hair was hanging out the window and she was..."
I cut her off by starting at page one.
When we walk into my parents' house, I see most of my siblings are already there. Half of them are paired off and married, which to be honest is a bit of a shock.
A year ago, everyone was single, and now Rye is married, Bartlett's married, Lemon's married. Graham is the next oldest sibling and I wonder if he's going to fall in love soon. I chuckle, wondering what kind of girl my brother would fall in love with. Knowing Mac, my younger brother, he'll get hitched next. He's always had a way with women. Charming and easygoing. The football star and a baseball player back in high school. Now, though, he's 21 and he's working for our dad.
"Hey, Reuben," Lemon says, "how are you doing? I thought I saw you riding your bike past my house today, but I wasn't sure since you didn't stop and say hi." She puts her hand on her hip.
Plum runs over to her and wraps her arms around her waist. "Hi, Auntie Lemon. Sorry we didn't stop; we had things to do, important things."
"Oh, yeah?" Lemon says. "What kind of important things?"
"We had to get milkshakes." She grins up at her auntie and I chuckle. That's one thing about a kid—they always tell it like it is.
"Hey, Anchor, how's it going?" I ask. Lemon’s husband smiles and offers me a beer. "Sure," I say.
I head with him to the kitchen and find my parents there, working on dinner. Mom's making the spaghetti and meatballs as Plum predicted, and as I grab a breadstick that's just come out of the oven, my mom swats my hand.
"Reuben, no stealing the food. You know the rules."
I laugh. "Sorry, Mom," I say, taking another bite of it. I take the IPA that Anchor hands me and I crack it open. "Thanks, man," I say. "How's work going these days?"
Anchor shrugs. "Pretty good. I've actually bought a piece of land up in the mountains. Lemon and I are thinking of building a place up there."
I laugh. "You know, I was just thinking that today. What are you going to do with Grandma's old house?"
Lemon has joined us in the kitchen now, along with Rye, my oldest brother. His eyes widen. "You can't sell Grandma's place," he interjects.
Lemon assures us, "I'm not selling anything. I don't know what we're going to do with it, but we wanted to build a house of our own. Is that such a bad idea?"
"I think it's a lovely idea," Mom says. "It's nice to have somewhere that’s both of yours and Grandma’s house is small, especially if you start having babies anytime soon.”
Lemon blushes. "Mom, I just got married like a month ago."
"I know," Mom says, "but I only have one granddaughter. I could use some more." She looks over at me and smiles, but they turn the conversation quickly because having Plum may be beautiful, but the fact I don't have her mother is something that broke everybody's hearts.
We sit down to dinner and everyone's in a good mood. Fig, especially. She's my littlest sister and she is going to graduate high school in a month. We've moved on to discussing her graduation party plans. "I was thinking we'll have a big thing out on the back lawn. A bonfire, barbecue, everything. Maybe we can get a band."