“Mallory, are you ready for the big grand opening of your studio next week?” Ruby Grace asked as we all started to gather around the tables. Mom had lined them up into one long one that spread half the yard, and Paige and Sydney were delivering giant dishes of food from the kitchen. Mom and Mary had hopped up to help while the rest of us got settled.
“More than ready,” Logan answered for her, squeezing her knee with pride in his eyes. “She can’t shut up about it.”
Mallory pinched his side, leaning into his embrace next as they looked lovingly at each other. They’d morphed since becoming parents, and somehow dadhood had softened my brother. He wasn’t wound as tight as he used to be — probably because he realized no matter what he did, his daughter was going to get dirty and messy and probably mess up everything else in her wake, too.
As was the beauty of being a parent.
He and Mallory had just bought land on the west edge of town to build their first home together, and Mallory had also purchased the same spot on Main Street that her dad had once owned. It was where her first shop had been set up and then ripped away from her a month later, and it was where she would be re-opening again next week.
On her own, this time.
“He’s right,” Mallory admitted on a sigh. “I’m excited, to say the least. Although, it’s been a bit more challenging to get everything set up and ready to go with that little girl keeping me busy.” She nodded down the table to where Tamara sat on Kylie’s lap, Mikey playing peek-a-boo with her.
“Want me to come help this week?” Ruby Grace offered, then she rubbed her extremely swollen belly. “Honestly, anything to be moving and keep my mind off the fact that I’m about to pop is welcome.”
Mallory chuckled. “As long as you don’t pop on my new studio floor.”
“No promises. His due date is two weeks from now, but I have a high suspicion we won’t make it that long.”
Noah smirked, rubbing her belly, too, with a mixture of love and complete terror in his eyes. I knew he had to be shitting himself on the brink of being a father, but Logan squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, as if to say, you’re going to be great.
“I’ll help, too,” Sydney chimed in when she delivered the sweet potato casserole.
“I’d love that,” Mallory replied. They shared a smile, and my heart beamed at the relationship my sister and my girlfriend had formed over the last few years. I knew a big part of it was standing up and testifying against Randy together. It hadn’t been easy for either one of them, but it had brought them closer together.
Once everyone was seated and the food was on the table, Mom had us all gather hands, and she said grace. We all went around the table saying what we were thankful for, and after dinner, before the pie was brought out, we lit a candle in Betty’s honor.
The old woman who had become such an integral part of our family and our lives had passed away that summer, leaving peacefully in her sleep on the Fourth of July. Kylie had joked that she’d planned it, wanting to go out with a bang. The news had been especially hard on her and Ruby Grace, who were by far the closest with Betty, but Mom had suffered, too, as they had become close friends over the years.
Betty had lived a long and full life, which was one comfort we found in her passing. More than that, she had been a light in our lives, too — helping so many of us out of the dark when we couldn’t see even a ray of light that promised a way out.
The truth was we all missed her dearly, but the impression she’d left on our hearts was one that could never be forgotten. And we all knew she was dancing with Mr. Collins in heaven now.
Kylie and Mikey told us over dessert about the trip they were planning to Asia for the following summer, but I could barely listen, because my heart was ticking up a notch faster with every passing moment, beating loud and hard in my ears as I rehearsed what I’d been practicing for months. Before the plates could be cleared, Paige found her way over to me, clamping her hands down hard on my shoulders.
“Let’s play catch, Coach,” she said.
I swallowed, standing on shaking legs as Sydney smiled up at us.
“Do you two ever get tired of football?” she asked, laughing.
“Never,” Paige answered, and she was already shoving me back toward the open yard where we’d been playing earlier.
When we were safely out of earshot, she put her hands on my shoulders again — which had her standing on her toes — leveling her eyes with me as best she could. “Alright, Coach,” she said, seriously. “This is the big game. Your big moment. The play of your lifetime. You gotta focus, alright? Don’t mess this up.”