Page 9 of Only This Once
Piper looked up from her book with a puckered forehead, her eyes slowly focusing behind her new glasses. “Oh, hey, AuntJulia.” After the acknowledgement, the nine-year-old looked back down at her book.
Julia smiled as she opened the closet to grab a hanger, starting to hang up the jackets that spilled off the entryway table. When she was done, she pushed the mail into a neater stack, then made her way to the kitchen.
Rachel dumped a box of ziti noodles into the already boiling pot. The garlic bread was arranged on a pan, waiting for the oven to preheat. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she’d shoved the sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows.
“Anything I can do to help?” Julia offered.
“I’ve got it,” was Rachel’s immediate response.
“Ben is late again?” Julia asked. “I thought this was his weekend.”
Rachel’s jaw tensed. “Don’t start.”
“Mom!” Rachel’s son called from his room. “Where’s my laptop bag?”
Rachel closed her eyes, breathing out. She opened them again and shouted back, “Did you check by the desk?”
A door slammed, and Julia watched her nephew rush into the living room. “Hey, Sammy,” she greeted, watching him freeze, his shoulders tensing before he ignored her and kept going.
“It’s Sam now,” Rachel murmured.
“Oh.” Julia winced. “When did that happen?” She followed behind her nephew. “Sorry about that. Hey, Sam.”
“Hi,” he muttered. Julia suppressed a smile. Her nephew wasn’t quite a teenager, but he was already perfecting his lack of interest as a preteen.
“Need help looking for your bag?” Julia offered.
Sam bent down by the desk, lifting the bag in answer.
“Guess not.” She watched him load up his laptop and charging cable. “What game is your favorite lately?”
He turned toward her, let go of the bag, and started talking a mile a minute, including hand gestures. Julia listened to him ramble, smiling.
The doorbell rang, making Sam pause mid-explanation and run to the door. “Dad!” the boy shouted after he opened it, accepting a hair ruffle.
Julia leaned against the hallway wall and studied her ex-brother-in-law. He still looked solid and had an easy smile. The man hadn’t been abusive or anything, though he hadn’t been happy when Rachel called it quits “out of nowhere.” He shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d been doing the bare minimum long before she gave up.
Rachel moved to the kitchen entrance.
Ben looked up, his eyes widening when he saw Julia, but his gaze slid past her to Rachel, then looked away altogether. “Sorry for being late. An interview ran long.” Her ex-husband was a detective, wearing his normal badge and gun on his hip.
Rachel nodded. “I understand. Things happen, but I’d appreciate a phone call next time or we’ll have to reschedule the weekend.”
Ben’s lips tightened. “It was only an hour.”
Rachel didn’t respond. She just stood there, her gaze steady.
Julia was proud of her. Her sister never would have said anything before.
Ben blew out a breath but nodded. “I’ll do better at calling.”
Julia would believe it when she saw it, but she bit her lip so she wouldn’t stick her nose into it again. Her sister hated that.
Rachel turned her eyes on her son. “Did you pack up your laptop?”
“Oh, shoot,” Sam muttered, hurrying back to the living room.
Piper moved up behind Julia, putting her book in her backpack before zipping it.
