Page 30 of Shortcake
I gulped, studying the beautifully intricate calligraphy that spelled out Addison Grace Evans and the Texas postmark overtop the LOVE stamp.
It had to be Hope’s handwriting. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she was perfectly elegant and probably slept with her hair perfectly coiffed in a French twist. She probably whipped out her ol’ calligraphy brush and India ink, and created beautiful word art while she sipped espresso from beans that she roasted herself.
I gulped and tore my eyes away from the stupid invitation and her stupid perfect handwriting. “I don’t know, Finn.” Oh, God. My voice was getting that high pitched screechy quality that it gets just before I start crying. I started to pace, my coffee getting colder with every passing second that I didn’t sip it.
But because my apartment was so small, and my bed, cafe table and chairs, couch, bookshelves, and TV took up approximately 90% of the space, I was basically just spinning in a circle—walking three steps, bumping into the arm of the couch. Walking another three steps, toe tapping the chair at my cafe style dining table.
“It doesn’t have to be a thing, Addy,” Finn said, an attempt to calm me down.
I froze, midstep. “Doesn’t have to be a thing?” I repeated. “It very muchdoeshave to be a thing, Finn. Just because you’re gung-ho to meet her and apparently strike up a newfound relationship with our estranged father doesn’t mean we all are.”
Except, I was the only one who wasn’t ready. My brothers had all made that very clear. I was the only wild card.
Thankfully, Finn didn’t throw that in my face. Instead, he just said, “Our whole lives, you’ve always told us how badly you wanted a sister.”
“Not like this.” The first tear slipped down my cheek and I clamped my eyes shut, swiping it away with the back of my hand.The only tear, I told myself. I will not shed another. Not for this. “How would you feel if you found out Dad had another son… not a daughter?”
“A brother, or a sister, it doesn’t matter—”
“It matters tome.” Something pinched just below my rib cage. “Iwasn’t enough for Dad to want to stay. But this daughter,shewas. He stayed with her. For her. He raised her… not us.”
Finn was quiet for a long moment before he said, “None of us were enough for Dad to stay, Addy. But that’s not Hope’s fault. Just like it’s not any of our faults that he didn’t stay either.”
My heart sputtered like a dying engine. “Why her and not us? Why did he choose to care for her?”
“The only person who can answer that… is Dad. And to get to that answer, you need to first talk to him.”
“Fine. But do I need to talk toher?”
“Addy—” Finn started with a sigh, but I cut him off.
“I just need more time.”
It was a lie. I wasn’t sure what I needed, but it wasn’t time. I’d had plenty of time to wrap my head around the idea of Hope. And with each passing day, it just got harder and harder to reach out.
I stared at my untouched coffee cup. I loved coffee. Seriously, I looked forward to my morning cup of coffee when I went to bed each night. But now, I wasn’t even sure I could stomach another sip after this conversation.
“Okay,” Finn said. “If you need more time, then you need more time. But will you let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you? I’ll zoom with you. We can do a giant zoom call with all of us and you don't even need to say a word other than ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ to her.”
I had to admit, that sounded reasonable. Maybe Icouldmeet her sooner than later… if it wasn’t one on one.
I opened my mouth to answer but instead inhaled a cloud of smoke.
Smoke.
Smoke?! What the hell? Were my Pop-Tarts burning?
Coughing, I whirled around to face the kitchen, looking first at the toaster.
The toaster looked fine, so I moved onto scanning the rest of the kitchen, gasping as my eyes landed on the smoke pluming out from behind the refrigerator.
“Oh my God! Finn, I have to go!”
“What’s wrong—”
Before he could ask any more questions, I hung up on my brother and rushed for the sink. Yanking the cabinets beneath open, I grabbed the class c fire extinguisher as flames licked out from the wires behind the fridge.What the actual fuck!?
I aimed the hose behind the fridge and pulled the nozzle. Foam exploded from the tip, covering the flames in only a minute.
