Page 41 of When Sparks Fly

“Oh God, Leah, that’s a bit dramatic.” Laughter spills out of me.

Leah shrugs. “I just call ‘em like I see ‘em.”

“I don’t know how you saw anything, quite frankly. Between pool, flirting with your ownbiker,and drinking.”

“And there it is,” Izzy says with a shake of her head. “You two can’t be trusted anywhere.”

Full to the brim, sore from laughing, and a little tear-streaked from stories about Nana, brunch finally comes to an end. Izzy and Leah head out together. Liv fakes looking busy until we’re alone. We cleaned up before the others left, so there’s nothing for her to do.

“What are you going to do about this place?” Liv’s eyes trail around the kitchen.

I look around the space until I realize what she means. I’m surprised this is coming from her, too.

“It’s not up to me.” My shrug is a little more defeated and a little less careless. I try to turn her question around. “What is your mom going to do with this place?”

Liv pins me with a look.

“You look just like Nana right now.” My smile stretches so wide it hurts,and my eyes blur.

She hugs me tightly. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

Tears flow down my cheeks and I squeeze her tighter instead of responding.

She talks softly into my ear. “Your heart is in this house. More than any of the rest of us. And that’s okay. Yes, our moms grew up here, but it’s been years since they spent any solid time here. They built their own lives. Just like we are.”

She pulls back, but doesn’t give me long to digest before continuing. “For what it’s worth, I loved Nana and she willalwaysbe special to me. But she was your grandmother. You know?”

“She was your grandmother, too,” I argue quickly, looking into her hazel eyes.

“I know. I mean that your bond with her was different. I know Nana loved me, too. That’s never been a question. I’m not worried about favorites. Y’all’s relationship was different.”

“Yeah.” I don’t need to add how desperately I wish to talk to her or hug her one more time, or how deeply the loss has impacted me. Maybe this is what most people feel like losing a mother they’re close to. My reaction to losing Stephanie will never compare to this and I can’t bring myself to feel guilty about that. “What does all of that mean?”

“It means, I think you should consider if you want to keep the house.” Liv shrugs like the answer is plain as day. She pulls away softly and turns to close up the dishwasher.

My eyes widen at her back. “What would I do with it? My business is established. I have my own place.” An apartment with a lease I need to renew. I never signed the form this week.

“Don’t be silly, Maci.” She takes too long to dry her hands on a hand towel. “You can move your business.”

Her hand comes up to stop my anticipated protest. “Yes, you would need to transition. Maybe you could travel between here and Austin until you’ve built a large base. You don’t work a nine to five.” Her eyes are piercing again in that honest way Nana used to do. “And an apartment hardly ties you to any one place for the rest of your life.” She leans against the counter and crosses her arms.

“Ok, you’re right about that.” My eyes drift and I trace the grain of the butcher block counter with my fingers. “I’ll think about it.”

Liv gives a sharp nod of approval. “Good. Now take the trash out.” We laugh, but I wrap her in another tight hug before following orders.

“I love you.”

“I loveyou.”

Chapter 18

Maci

Crickets chirp outside the living room window as I sprawl on the couch, reading one of Nana’s books. When my phone vibrates from a text, I jump. It’s on the tray table where Nana used to keep hers. I reach for it, expecting to see something from Izzy or Leah, even though we saw each other today.

Cowboy:

How was your day?

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