Page 93 of I Got You

“My brother is a surgeon. I bet he’d be happy to give you a tour and let you interview him.” The entire room turns to look at him. Both Cole and Hank are speechless.

“Sold,” Garrett exclaims, handing over the envelope.

Todd holds up the envelope inspecting it.

“Wait.” Hank jumps up. “I’ll shovel your driveway the entire winter.”

“You suck,” Cole says, but then looks to Todd. “You can be my date to this year’s benefit. Think of the networking opportunities.”

Todd laughs. “That’s tempting.”

“Ha,” Cole says.

“Free haircuts for a year,” Simone barters.

Maggie pinches my calves like she knows she called this.

“Deal.” Todd hands the envelope to her, and she waves in the air.

Simone beams. “Alright, suckers. What do you have for me?”

And so it goes as I watch this family be a family with traditions, laughter, and teasing. Everything I dreamed of as a child but never had. Everything, as a man, I’d never allow myself to find. My chest aches right in the center, but a ring of warm hope surrounds and eases it. I’ve been welcomed here, but the fear of it all disappearing remains.

Maggie leans against my leg, but I’d like to pull her into my lap and hug her for allowing me in. She’s given me a chance to see and feel what this is really like.

The envelope gets passed from Simone to Gwen to Sadie to Nick, where Cole negotiates a ride to church and Sunday dinners which earns him the envelope.

“One of those tickets is mine,” Hank demands. “I won those.”

“Well, you should’ve kept better track of them.” Cole grins, opening the envelope with four lift tickets. “You give me my Airpods, and you’ll have a better chance of going.”

“I want to go.” Teddy jumps up. “You’ve got to take me. I’m cute and will help you with the ladies.”

We all laugh.

“I don’t need help with ladies.” Cole throws the crumpled-up envelope at him. “If I did, I’d take Liv.”

“Yeah. Take me,” Liv says as Cole scoops her up. “I was getting pretty good last year.”

The bantering and bartering continue, filling the room with joy and laughter as these kids claim and negotiate exchanges over gum, lucky socks, fake poop, and all kinds of other useless shit.

Maggie tips her head back and looks at me with a bright smile like she’s the one who won the game. “You should’ve played. You might’ve had a chance at getting your sweatshirt back. I guess you’ll just have to wait until next year.”

Next year. I like the sound of that.

Chapter 33

MAGGIE

I tiptoe down the stairs and turn the lights off in the kitchen. Our Thanksgiving was a success on all levels, including completely wearing out the kids. I grab a bottle of water and carry it to the bedroom, where I find Shane propped up in bed reading. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing his big body in my bed.

I climb up next to him. “I’m pretty sure they were all asleep the second they laid down.”

He sets his book in his lap. “They all had fun today.”

I bump his shoulder. “How about you?”

“Yeah. I had fun. Even bingo was fun.”

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