Page 18 of Twisted Fate

Vance

My mother-in-law was sittingat the table with my daughter when I walked into the kitchen. I’d forgotten that she was coming over this evening and was a little startled to see her there.

“Darla,” I announced, setting my keys and messenger bag on the counter. She stood, and I enfolded her in a hug. Darla had treated me like one of her own since day one. We were close but had drifted apart a little in the past several months. It was hard to be there for each other when we were both devastated and grieving. I was glad she’d come, though. It would be nice to have some company.

Charlie slipped out of her seat and wedged herself between her grandmother and me. “Daddy,” she demanded, lifting her arms so I’d pick her up.

“Hey, munchkin,” I greeted, smacking my lips against her cheek in a loud, dramatic kiss. She giggled, and the sweet sound was like music in my ears. “Were you good for Delilah today?” She nodded emphatically, dark curls bouncing around her head.

“Is that true?” I asked playfully, turning to Delilah for confirmation. She stood at the stove, icing a cake. I was momentarily distracted by the action. If I wasn’t mistaken, it was a hummingbird cake she was icing and that was my favorite. It was one of Darla’s specialties. My gaze lifted to Delilah’s face when she turned to me, and I sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

Her smile was forced, her eyes weary when she replied, “It is. She did great today.” She returned her focus to the task at hand as unease twisted in my gut. Something was wrong. I turned to face Darla, but she busied herself with helping Charlie back into her seat. When Delilah was finished, she covered the pan with a lid and opened the oven to check on whatever she had cooking in there. I tried to sneak a peek inside, but she closed the door before I could see what she was making.

She studiously ignored me and went to Charlie, kissing the top of her head. “I gotta go, sweet pea. I’ll see you later.” Charlie turned in her seat and demanded a hug. Delilah obliged, pulling her in close and cradling Charlie to her. She and Darla shared a long embrace, and for a moment it felt like I was intruding on something. The two were obviously close. After all, Darla and Delilah’s mom Debra were the ones who coordinated the adoption. Delilah had said Darla was like a second mother to her growing up. I wasn’t sure what happened between them in the span of the few years following the adoption since it seemed they hadn’t maintained much contact at that time, but I was glad to see them leaning on each other.

Finally, Delilah pulled away and headed for the door. “Goodbye, Vance,” she said quietly, not sparing me another look. Something didn’t sit right with me, so I followed her out.

“Lilah,” I called, and she froze. “Are you alright?” She turned halfway toward me, giving me only one side of her face.

“I’m fine. Just tired,” she said, and just like that she was gone. I didn’t even get the chance to ask her to stay for dinner, something I was making the effort to do more lately. She fixed Charlie and me these amazing meals every night, but rarely got to enjoy them. I was trying to change that. I was beginning to think of her as a friend, and friends ate dinner together, right?

I returned to find Darla sitting with Charlie once again. She looked up when I entered the room. “Did something happen?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to where Delilah had disappeared a moment ago. Darla winced and ducked her head. Standing, she crossed the distance and stopped directly in front of me.

“I may have let the cat out of the bag,” she said in a low voice, nodding toward Charlie. “About her going to therapy,” she clarified. “I thought Delilah already knew. I’m sorry.”

I let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. It wasn’t that I was trying to keep it from Delilah; I just hadn’t told her yet. She probably thought I was intentionally keeping her in the dark. I hadn’t meant to. As her nanny and teacher, she probably needed to know these things. Besides me, she spent more time with Charlie than anyone else. It would only benefit Charlie to have everyone involved in her care to know what her needs were.

“It’s okay. I should’ve told her.” I assumed there would be strategies the therapist could teach us that weallneeded to use.

“How are the two of you getting along?” she questioned, her voice laced with concern. Darla knew we’d had a rocky start, but things were going more smoothly now.

“Good,” I replied. “She’s great with Charlie, and Charlie adores her. It’s still a little unsettling, though.” She nodded her understanding. I didn’t need to elaborate on why it was unsettling. She could see just as well as I could how much Delilah looked like Sarah. It was the same with her and Debra. I suspected that was why Darla kept her hair colored blonde. It set her apart from her twin.

The timer on the oven chimed, and Darla went to it, silencing it with the press of a button. She grabbed two mitts and pulled the piping hot dish from the oven. “I was thinking,” she said as she placed it on the cooktop, “it’s been so long since I’ve kept Charlie overnight, that maybe she’d like to stay with me and Bob this weekend.”

My knee-jerk reaction was to say “no.” The thought of Charlie being that far from me for that long damn near sent me into a panic. I hadn’t been away from her for more than twelve hours at one time since before we’d lost her mom. Being away from her for the entire weekend was asking a lot. But Darla needed this, and so did Charlie. She loved her grandparents, and my in-laws treated her like gold. I didn’t have a good reason to say no.

“Okay,” I agreed, and Darla’s eyes widened in surprise. My acquiescence clearly caught her off guard. “I’m sure she would love that.” Darla looked so relieved, I thought she might cry.

“Thank you,” she said, clasping her hands to her heart.

“You’re welcome,” I croaked out past the guilt clogging my throat. She’d been hurting, mourning just as hard as I had. She’d lost one daughter and the other lived out of state, and I’d been clinging to Charlie so hard, she’d barely gotten to see her the last several months. She needed some time with her grandchild, and I’d been buried too deep in my grief to see it. But miraculously, I felt the fog begin to lift. I didn’t yet feel like I could fully catch my breath, but I wasn’t suffocating beneath it either.

After dinner, I packed a bag for Charlie to take to her grandparents’ house. I waved goodbye to her from the front porch as they pulled away. The excited smile plastered over her face proved that I’d made the right choice.

I stepped inside and returned to the kitchen to clean up. Once the leftovers were put away and the dishwasher was running, I went to the family room and plopped down on the couch. Now that I had the house to myself all weekend, I had no idea what I was going to do. That dilemma was solved for me a moment later when there was a knock at my door.

I opened it to find three of my friends standing on the other side. “Hey,” they all said in unison, drawing out the word like they were celebrating my appearance. Donny, Blaine, and Garrett stood on my front porch with their arms raised in the air like they were welcoming me home instead of the other way around.

“What are you guys doing here?” I’d seen each of them since the funeral, but never all together like this. Like old times. One by one, they’d come to the house, offering their condolences along with their company. It was all a blur and hadn’t been that comforting at the time. There wasn’t anything that could’ve pulled me out of that funk, no matter how hard they tried.

“We heard you were free for the evening, so we decided to crash your peace and quiet,” Donny announced, his lingering Brooklyn accent coming through.

“How did you—” I began, but instantly knew. Darla. She planned this. And if I had to guess, my mother was involved too. She had all my friends’ numbers.

“Get ready, man. We’ve got a movie to watch,” Garrett commanded.

“What movie?” I asked, still trying to shake off the surprise.

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