Page 17 of Rumor Has It

There is no us.

LINDY

And whose fault is that?

Yours.

I silence Lindy’s texts because I literally have no interest in dealing with that whatsoever. Garrett confirms he will be over in a little while. And then I flip through my contacts to my sister and call. It only rings a couple of times before the line picks up.

“Hello?” she says.

“Hey, sis,” I say. “What’s up?”

There’s silence over the line for several seconds, and I wonder if the call dropped but then I hear it. She’s crying. It’s not full-on sobs, just a very calm and quiet cry like she’s hiding it. Which she probably is if the kids are home.

“I’m moving back to town,” she says. “Next month, I think.”

“What?” I ask. It’s not that I didn’t hear her, but I definitely need clarification.

“Doug and I are getting a divorce,” she says, her voice strained.

“Shit, Poppy. Are you okay?” This has to be devastating to my little sister. She and Doug have been together for a long time. They have a little boy together, for fuck’s sake.

“I will be, yeah,” she says. “Honestly, I saw it coming. We’ve been drifting farther and farther apart these last couple of years.”

Well, shit. I guess that makes it both better and worse all at the same time. On the one hand, if they’ve drifted apart, it’s for the best. On the other, I’m sure everyone involved would rather it not have happened at all.

“What’s the plan?” I ask. If she says she’s moving back, I’m sure there are a lot of logistics to sort out.

“He offered to let me keep the house, but I don’t want it. If I’m going to be a single mom, I want to be back near my family.”

It’s worth noting that she’s been a stay-at-home mom since they had my nephew, Jake. He’s almost six. Poppy’s got a college degree, though, and she’s not short on contacts, so I’m sure she can find a job.

“Well, I hate the circumstances, but it will be nice to have you here,” I say. “It’s not enough to only see you on holidays.” Growing up, I was pretty protective of Poppy. She’s only a couple of years younger than I am, but it didn’t stop me from watching her like a hawk sometimes.

“I talked to Dad,” she says. “He needs someone in the office to do the books, and Mom doesn’t want to anymore. So I’m going to put my accounting degree to use and run the numbers side of things for you guys.”

This breaks my heart a little. Because as nice as it will be to have her so close and see her every day, I know she never really wanted to fall into the family business. It’s not like she viewed it as beneath her or anything. She just wanted more than a small-town rinse and repeat. Which sounds bad, but I got it. I wanted more for her too.

“Anything you need, you let me know,” I say.

“Thanks, big brother,” she says. “I’ll let you know more when I know more. It’s all still pretty new.”

I tell her I love her and to give Jake a hug from me, and she promises to reach out if she needs me, no matter what time of day.

Ellie walks in as I hang up, a smile on her face and bags in her arms. I think about how on any given day and then the next, my life can be so different. Things shift and sway, can be built and can crumble all in the same span of time.

TWELVE

ELLIE

This morning, Mr. Sanders, the principal, asked me how my weekend was and had I told the truth, it would have fallen into a complicated mess of too much information. So instead, I hit him with a cursory “Fine, and yours?” so I didn’t have to attempt to explain how it was a perfectly balanced mix of nice and weird and sad and stressful.

No one should tell their boss that in a single weekend, they were rejected for being too fat, slow danced with their best friend in such a way they’re now part of the Cardinal Falls’ rumor mill—which is wrong, obviously—rescued a baby opossum while they were drunk, cuddled with their best friend—who’s now staying at their house—and also that their car still isn’t fixed. I can’t imagine that would go over too well, especially since he likes me and I hope to replace him as principal next year when he’s set to retire.

I guess I can always look forward to having my car back today. Of all the things mentioned, that’s the least complicated one. I also suppose I should count my blessing of having a nice Sunday. Two people doing laundry is easier than one. I also managed to get my shopping done, and having Garrett over so he could watch the game with Theo went surprisingly well. Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t have anything to say about Theo staying with me this week. Or maybe he has plenty to say about it, but Theo is the only one getting the earful. Thinking about it now, I’m willing to bet that’s exactly it.

Kelly Ann pops her head inside the lounge reserved for faculty and staff just as I’m putting my packed lunch into the fridge.

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