Page 20 of Grace Notes
“I mean—Tayte likes to joke a lot,” I offer. It’s a non-answer, and we both know it, but if she wants to be in denial, I’ll have her back until she’s ready to admit otherwise.
“Yeah,” she says more to herself than me. “Yeah, he does.”
Each of us turns back to the projects in front of us. Avery and Tayte continue to do their own thing, and I let them because of all the things that have gone wrong while planning this ceremony, that would be the least of them. At least from this, I’ll have something made by Avery’s hand.
“Uncle Tayte, that’s not the way you do it.”
I turn toward Avery’s angry voice just in time to see her swat the centerpiece out of Tayte’s hand. For a moment, I’m frozen, my mouth agape, unable to believe what I just witnessed.
Avery’s arms are crossed over her chest, an angry scowl creating a wrinkle between her brows.
Tayte looks over to me, his eyes wide and helpless, and it snaps something in me into action. “Avery Marie, come here right this instant.”
She turns to me, eyes wide and brimming with tears, and a piece of my chest rips open. I’m surprised no one could hear the audible crack.
Avery doesn’t move, so I start to open my mouth again, demanding she comes to me, when Tayte stands up from his chair. His face is smooth, none of the surprise left from a moment ago. When he squats down in front of Avery’s chair, she tilts her head the other way, ignoring him.
“Avery Bug, look at me,” my brother urges. At first, I’m not sure she will listen to him, but slowly, she turns her head toward him, the tears falling against her eyelashes, and my heart shatters.
Tayte reaches out his hand, wiping Avery’s tears away with this thumb. “You know what, Bug? It’s okay to be angry. There are lots of times that I’m angry. But it’s not okay to hurt someone else when you’re angry—even if it’s just their feelings. We all love you here,” he says, stopping to look around our little circle, meeting each of our eyes before he turns back to Avery, “and we know that you are dealing with some big emotions—things that aren’t exactly fair. We are here to talk, but even if you can’t, you have to find a way to release some of those emotions because you can’t keep them bottled up in there.”
He taps a finger over her heart and Avery’s lower lip trembles. I have to turn my head so she doesn’t see me crying. Mia, who is standing beside me at this point, has tears in her eyes, but she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at Tayte like she’s never seen him before. The truth is, she hasn’t—not like this, anyway. Tayte hides this side from her, and I’m not sure why.
Leaning in, Tayte whispers something in Avery’s ear, and when he pulls back, Avery has a small smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Tayte,” Avery sniffles.
Tayte opens his arms, and Avery falls into them, finding comfort. My brother stands up with my little girl still tightly held in his arms and then turns to me. Avery’s head is tucked under his chin, so she can’t see me.
“Thank you,” I mouth, thankful that he could de-escalate that situation before it turned into more. But I know this isn’t the end of it. Avery needs help, and whether Brooks wants her to or not, she needs to go to therapy.
Nodding, Tayte winks at me and offers a half-smile. “Avery and I are going to go inside. Do you ladies need anything?”
Mia is still staring at Tayte, her mouth half-open, and I’m tempted to reach over and close it just to prevent her from drooling.
Realizing that he’s partially talking to her, Mia clears her throat and darts her eyes away from him before bringing them back.
“No,” Mia croaks the word, barely making it past her lips. Cleaning her throat one more time, she tries again. “Nope.”
This time, it comes out much stronger, but Tayte still looks at her like she’s grown a second head, then spins on his heel, marching inside with my daughter.
Despite the turmoil roiling in my stomach, I can’t help a small chuckle when Mia meets my gaze. “Smooth, Mia. Smooth.”
______________________
“Emryn, are you listening to us?”
Georgia sits to my left and Mia to my right. We are having brunch and ironing out some details of the vow renewal. When I told them I was struggling and worried about getting things done on time, they both immediately offered to help. Mia suggested we meet for brunch, and now we are here.
It’s nice having friends, something I never really let myself have outside of Brooks before. I made Brooks my whole life, and last year, I learned that while I love him, it’s also too nice to have a piece of me that is just me. I met Mia when I started subbing at the school. She helped me realize that I wanted to go into the teaching field, and even though I met Georgia through Grayson, I still consider her one of my best friends.
I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, and try to focus on the two women in front of me. “I was listening but kind of zoned out for a minute. I was mentally running through my list of things I need to accomplish.”
Offering them a wince in apology, I grab my drink and take a small sip, loving the tangy taste of the orange juice as it passes my lips.
Georgia claps her hands, “Lay it on us. We are here to help.”
Beside me, Mia nods in agreement while chewing thoughtfully on her toast.
