Page 21 of Silver Lining Love

He flinched and moved away from me as he gave me a dirty look. “I’m fine.”

“Hi, Mrs. Grimes.” The woman waved from the open car door. “I’m Mrs. Nelson, the school nurse.”

I didn’t feel like correcting her. Grimes was my brother-in-law’s last name. I was Ms. Foster.

“I just wanted to let you know that there was an incident with Michael and another boy. Michael has a contusion on his upper right cheek, but I checked him out, and he seems to be okay. You might want to take him to your GP, just in case.”

“Okay.” I nodded, not sure what the protocol was here. I’d never been in this situation and like so much over the past six months, had no clue what to do or say. Maybe ask about the other kid? “The other boy, is he okay?”

My eyes darted between Mikey, who wasn’t looking at me, and the nurse.

Mrs. Nelson cringed before she covered her reaction. “I think the principal will be texting you shortly to set up a time to speak to you.”

That didn’t sound good.

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

She nodded and shut the door.

My stomach had that same feeling it’d had so many times over the past six months—like I was climbing the hill of a roller coaster handcuffed to the seat with a blindfold on—as I pulled away from the curb. I was strapped into the ride but I had no idea where it was going or how far the drop would be.

I tried to ignore the sinking sensation in my gut and sound calm as I glanced over at Mikey. “Are you okay? Really?”

“Yes.” He huffed and his jaw tensed.

“What happened?”

“Nothing!” he yelled.

“Yes it did, Bubba.” Alice leaned forward and pointed at his face. “You have a blue eye.”

“Shut up, Alice,” he snapped at her.

“Don’t tell your sister to shut up,” I shot back automatically and then wished I hadn’t. He was dealing with enough without me getting on him for saying shut up.

Or maybe that’s exactly what I should do.

I had no fucking idea because I had no idea how to be a parent. I could feel myself start to well up, but I forced myself to pull it together.

This was not the time for tears. Later. I would cry later.

Because I was failing. I was failing Mikey. I was failing Alice. And I was failing Addison. I didn’t know how I was failing Benji, but I’m sure I was.

8

WYATT

“Once you peel an orange, you can’t put the rind back on.” ~ Gamma Mary

There wasa vibration against my leg as I reached into the car to grab the groceries out of the back. I straightened and pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was a text from my brother Sawyer. He was the oldest of our siblings, and unlike my other brothers and sister, he was the strong, silent type. He barely talked. It was what I’d always liked the most about him. He was quiet. Some referred to it as brooding, but I’d always appreciated the fact that he didn’t need to talk just to hear the sound of his own voice, like so many of my other siblings.

He’d never been very “brotherly” in the sense that he hadn’t talked to me about girls or tried to protect me from bullies, but then again, I’d never needed help in either of those areas. He left me alone, which, growing up in the Briggs family, was the greatest gift he could have given me.

All of my adulthood, we’d go months at a time without speaking. But apparently, he’d gotten soft in his old age because lately, he’d been reaching out on a much more consistent basis. Or maybe the uptick in his communication was due to his new wife Delilah and nothing to do with the fact that forty was right around the corner. From what I’d heard she’d made quite the difference in his life. Apparently, he’d even been smiling.

I’ve yet to see photographic evidence of that claim, so I’ll believe it when I see it.

I still couldn’t believe that Sawyer was married to Delilah Turner, she was so young. She was at least a decade younger than him. As soon as I thought it, I realized they had the same age difference as me and Whitney. Ten years. I guess I thought of Delilah as so much younger because she’d been in middle school when I’d left Wishing Well.

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