Page 11 of The Summer We Mended
In the other room, Blaze sang off-key while Lily sat beside him with a book.Her posture was too careful, like she was mimicking how to be present.
“She’s not okay,” Anna whispered.
Margot’s smile softened.“No.But she’s trying.And she needs you, even if she doesn’t know how to ask for it.This might be the thing that brings her back.”
“I hope so,” Anna murmured.“Because I can’t do this alone.”
“You’re not alone,” Margot said, placing a firm hand on her arm.“You’ve got me and Cody.And you’ve got her.Just give it time.”
“I didn’t know…I should’ve known because she rarely answers her phone, and when she does, she’s so quick to hang up.I should’ve come to check on her.”
“Nonsense.”Margot waved her off dismissively.“There’s no sense in beating yourself up about any of this, okay?I’ve been here, keeping an eye on her.Cody, your Aunt Claudia, and Uncle Henry have been checking in, too.You’re just like your mother, though, thinking that you need to fix everything for everyone.You have a family to take care of, and those kiddos need you more than anything.Especially when I’m here to look out for your mom.”
Anna nodded her head before she reached out and squeezed Margot’s hand.“Thank you.”
Margot just smiled before she went back to unloading groceries and cleaning up the house.Lily sat on the couch, watching and talking to her grandkids, but she seemed a bazillion miles away.
An hour later, Margot walked into the living room.
“Who’s hungry?”she asked.
“Me!”Blaze shouted excitedly.
“Well, then I have something special for you outside,” she answered with a big grin.
Blaze practically catapulted out of the chair and raced out the back.Nora shook her head and rolled her eyes before she stood up.She reached back and took her grandma’s hand in hers, leading her outside.Anna followed.
Margot had lunch waiting on the table out back, sandwiches stacked high with cold cuts, chips in bright ceramic bowls, and slices of watermelon that glistened in the sun.She handed Blaze a paper plate with exaggerated ceremony, saying, “Sir Blaze, your royal feast awaits.”
Blaze giggled, bowing.“Thank you, Lady Aunt Margot.”
Nora rolled her eyes playfully.“She’s just Aunt Margot, Blaze.”
“Excuse you,” Margot said with mock offense, her hand on her hip.“I’ll have you know I’m royalty in at least four imaginary kingdoms.”
The twins were laughing as they took their seats, kicking their legs under the picnic table.Anna smiled, grateful for the ease in Margot’s voice, the warmth that always radiated from her.The kids adored her.She wasn’t really their aunt, by blood anyway.Margot and Lily had been best friends for over fifty years; they were more like sisters than anything.
It was a few minutes later when Cody appeared around the side of the house, his presence so familiar and solid that it pulled Anna’s attention instantly.He walked with that same relaxed, confident gait he always had, and the twins leaped up the moment they saw him.
“Uncle Cody!”they shouted in unison.
He scooped Blaze up into his arms and swung him around, laughing.“You two grow taller every time I blink.What’s in this Vineyard air?”
“Magic,” Nora said seriously.“Aunt Margot says so.”
Cody grinned, setting Blaze down as the kids immediately asked, “Where’s Aunt Nessa?”
The question hung in the air like a small crack splitting the moment.Cody cleared his throat, glancing at Anna, who winced inside.She should’ve remembered to explain.
“We’re not together anymore,” he said gently, crouching down so he was eye level with them.“But she still cares about you both.Things just change sometimes, okay?”
The kids nodded, subdued, and Nora leaned against him quietly.Anna’s stomach tightened with guilt.She’d been so focused on getting back to the island that she hadn’t thought to prepare them.Subconsciously, maybe, she’d still been hoping her brother would find his way back to Nessa.But that hadn’t happened.Not yet.
For a moment, Anna really looked at her brother.She observed him closely and quietly.Much like their mother, he was struggling, too.David and Cody had been extremely tight—they’d talk on the phone numerous times a day, usually.Anna knew that her brother wasn’t handling it well.It was why he had pushed Nessa away and came back to the Vineyard.He needed to be close to his mom, because he thought that’s what his father would’ve wanted.
Cody had his own demons to fight himself, from a tour in Afghanistan that he didn’t like to talk about.She could see the emptiness in his eyes, but her brother was better about putting on a show than their mother was.
Cody didn’t let the moment settle into awkwardness.He stood up and clapped his hands.“All right, who’s fast enough to catch me in tag?”
