Page 9 of Returning to Everton

“So, what I’m sayin’ is... If this is what y’all truly want, and you really want me to be a part of it... I think I’m willin’ to give it a shot. I want to get to know her,” I tell them.

“Yes!” they all shout, which gets Logan’s attention.

“Daddy? What’s everyone so excited about?”

We all laugh. Oops, didn’t mean to be that loud. “One of our very close friends is moving back here, and we haven’t seen her in a long time. We’re all just so excited to hear she’s coming home, buddy,” Kayden says.

“Oh, okay. Is breakfast almost done, Uncle Hudson?”

“Ummmm yeah. Just give me a few more minutes, bud.”

“Okay, I’ll go watch tv. Call me when it’s ready?” he asks.

“You got it, bud,” Hudson says.

I look around Hudson at the ruined breakfast. We all completely forgot about it. I don’t know how we missed the smell of burning food. Guess we were all extremely focused on the conversation at hand.

“Well, looks like it’s a magical breakfast this morning,” Hudson chuckles and waves his hand at the ruined breakfast. Red sparks flow from his hands to what’s left of the breakfast he cooked. When the sparks dissipate, the food is gone. He then sends his magic to the table, where he conjures platters full of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and glasses of orange juice.

I holler for Logan to join us at the table, and everyone takes their normal spots. It’s a pretty quiet breakfast. Everyone is lost in their heads, thinking about Rowen and what it means that she’s coming back. I really pray for the guys’ sake this works out like they want it to. I just hope she doesn’t crush their hearts again.

4

Rowen

It’s been a week since I decided it was time to move back home. One very busy week filled with laughing and packing. For some reason, I thought it would take us longer to pack up our whole lives. Well, either we were very motivated, or we really don’t have as much stuff as I thought we did. The only thing not packed in the living room is the tv and, of course, the couch since that’s just going in the moving truck. The dining room is packed and ready to load in the truck too. Heck, both of our rooms and our bathrooms are boxed up. We each have a suitcase of clothes and toiletries left. Plus, the sheets on our beds and our pillows. Most of the kitchen is packed too. Really, we’re down to just stuff we might use before we leave.

“Mommy, there’s nothing else to pack,” Violet points out. “How much longer ‘til we get to leave?” she asks with a sigh.

“Well, we still have a week before we’re supposed to leave, baby,” I remind her.

She huffs at me. “But, Mommy. We’re all packed! Can’t we just go now?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. Let me call the movers and see if they can move our stuff sooner,” I relent, because that’s really the only thing stopping us from moving sooner.

“Okay, Mommy!”

I get my phone out and call up the moving company. “Magical Movers, this is Christy. How can I help you?”

“Oh, hi, Christy. This is Rowen Thompson, I’m on the schedule to have my things moved to Everton next Friday. Well, we’re done packing it seems, and I wanted to check and see if you have anything available sooner?”

“Oh yes, I remember you and your cute little girl, Mrs. Thompson. Let me just check our schedule for you.”

“Thank you so much, Christy.”

I look up to check on Violet while I hear Christy typing on the computer. She's sitting on the couch watching tv until she feels me looking at her. Then she looks up at me and smiles.

Christy comes back and says, “Okay, Mrs. Thompson. We can load up your stuff Monday morning and get everything there Tuesday if that’s alright? We have movers available to load the truck, but we don’t have any available to move it and unload it at your new house until Tuesday.”

“That would be fine. That actually gives me time to get there and get the house keys and everything set up at the house.”

“Terrific! Well, I moved you to Monday at eight o’clock.”

“Great! Thank you so much, Christy. You just made my daughter very happy.” We both laugh at that then hang up the phone.

I walk into the living room to tell Violet the good news. “Well, Bug, looks like you got your wish. The movers will be here Monday to load up our stuff. Then they’ll bring it up on Tuesday. That means we’ll be heading up there Monday once the movers leave. Hopefully, we have the house situation sorted out by the time they get there.”

She hops off the couch and jumps up and down, screaming. I laugh at her antics. She is clearly ready to get to Everton and start her new life. Can’t say I blame her. I’m pretty excited myself. Violet finally calms down and goes back to watching her show. I text Quinn to let her know we’ll be a little early, so she’ll be ready for us.

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