Page 19 of Grace Notes
Chapter 11
Brooks,
I’m worried about you. I woke up this morning to find you pacing back and forth across our bedroom floor. You tried to play it off as being unable to sleep, but I know you are worried about your dad. I get that you need time to process things, but don’t forget to talk to me, okay?
Let me carry some of that burden with you.
Kip said he would call the doctor, and we have to believe him. That’s all we can do, but I think we also need to be understanding. He’s scared, Brooks, and he’s only human—so don’t hold it against him if it takes longer than your timeline.
Find me when you’re ready to talk.
Love,
Emryn
Chapter 12
Emryn
“Is this how you do it, Uncle Tayte?” Avery asks from beside me.
The whole family is over to help with the decorations for the ceremony—which might have been a mistake. By the time this day is over, I might be bald, but I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about getting my hair done if I was—one thing to take off the list.
“Sure, pumpkin,” Tayte says, a mischievous grin on his face. “It looks beautiful, and I’m sure your momma will love it.”
He turns to me and winks, making me want to sock him in the mouth. But then he would retaliate, and I learned the hard way I’m not faster than him.
Oh, the joys of having a big brother.
Avery turns back to her task, content to have a compliment from her uncle. Today is a good day for her. She hasn’t been quite so angry, but I’m still holding my breath, waiting for it to change. It’s been like a snap of the finger lately, and her mood plummets in the other direction.
“Tayte,” Mia, one of my best friends, scolds from under her breath. She is sitting beside him—a surprising choice, seeing how they are both constantly at each other’s throats—and leans in closer so that Avery doesn’t hear, “you’re supposed to be helping her.”
My brother looks at her, confusion written in the way his brows dip together. Lifting up the centerpiece, he says, “I did help her.”
And when I see it, I can’t decide if I want to laugh or cry, so instead, I snort, covering my bases for both.
“You helped her?” I ask, my voice on the edge of breaking with hysterics. Tayte looks at the centerpiece in his hand, paint smearing the edges of the wooden slab that will hold the flower vases. “The paint is supposed to be on the vase Tayte, not the wood.”
He shrugs. “We thought it would look better this way.”
Mia snorts, mumbling under her breath. “Of course, you did because you have the mentality of a five year old.”
I would have thought that Mia would have learned by now that her snide comments are like poking a bear. It only eggs my brother on.
Tayte’s mischievous grin turns into an all-out smirk. Reaching out, he pulls Mia’s braid, and she swats his hand away. “You know, Mia, when you’re mean to me, it makes me think you like me.”
Mia scoffs as if that’s the furthest thing from the truth, but I don’t miss how her lips tilt up just an inch before she forces them down.
“You wish,” she says, flipping her hair behind her so Tayte can’t reach it. She picks up her drink, content to let the conversation drip.
But for once, the teasing drops from Tayte’s face when he looks at Mia. “Yeah, I do.”
Mia nearly chokes on her drink, but Tayte just sends her a wink and turns back to Avery.
Once she can finally breathe again, Mia looks my way. “He was joking, right? Tell me he was joking.”
There’s panic laced in her voice, her breaths coming out a little erratically.
