Page 16 of Connected By Souls

Sighing, I open my truck door and let Nala jump in. I know I need patience right now, but I’m tired of waiting. I’ve been waiting my whole life. I can see she’s getting more comfortable with me, and that’s a start. It’s only a matter of time before she’s mine again.

I pull up to my parents’ blue Key West-style house and turn off the engine. My parents live on the other side of town, only about a twenty-minute drive from my house. My sister moved out a couple of years ago to get an apartment with Mav’s sister, Sophia, so my parents sold our childhood home and got a smaller house on the canal. My dad always wanted to be on the water with a boat lift and private dock, so when they were able to downsize, they went for it and bought a cute three-bedroom home. About a year ago, my mom’s parents, known to everyone as just Mimi and Papaw, ended up selling their home and building a loft above the garage. With both of them in their seventies, it just made sense so they didn’t have the upkeep of a whole house. They’re closer to the beach here, so they can do their daily walks together while Mimi collects her sea glass for her jewelry line. Papaw helps Dad with the fishing charter business, which is a win-win for everybody.

I open the door and let Nala jump out. Excited barks come from the backyard as Nala’s dad, Hurley, runs around the corner. The two greet each other, running around and rolling in the grass before they take off for the backyard. Laughing at them, I grab my bag of margarita ingredients and head inside the kitchen.

Cutting up the cilantro, my mom looks up and smiles. “Hey, you’re here! Did you get some pages done like you wanted?” Wiping her hands off, she takes my bags and pulls me in for a hug. You would never know that my mom is fifty-two with her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail and wearing a white sundress over her bikini. She always says she’s going to age slowly like fine wine. My blue eyes stare back at me as she looks at me.

“I did.” I return the hug and squeeze her tight. “What do you need me to help with?”

“First, get those margaritas going so I can have one.” She laughs.

“On it.” I start taking out the ingredients when Mimi comes walking into the kitchen.

“My favorite boy is here!” Mimi comes over to give me a hug with a big grin on her face. Mimi is in her mid-seventies with light blonde hair just above her shoulders. She’s wearing a swimsuit under her coverup with a baseball hat that saysWorld’s Greatest Mimi. She’ll probably outlive us all with her spunk and positive outlook on life. She always said she would live well past a hundred, and if anyone could do it, it would be her.

“Hi, Mimi,” giving her a big squeeze and lifting her up. At only five feet, Bella and I passed her height years ago in middle school.

“Put me down, you giant. I deserve a margarita after that. I’ve been waiting all day for one.” Her eyes shine with amusement.

“Ah, so that is why you’re so excited to see me. Nobody makes them like I do, admit it.”

“And give you a bigger head than you already have? Never.”

Laughing, I start to mix the ingredients. “You’re fooling no one. I’m the margarita king, and everyone knows it.”

Both my mom and Mimi bust out laughing. “Remind me to put that on a t-shirt for him for Christmas.” My mom tells Mimi.

“I’ll wear it with pride.” I start to cut up the limes and rim the cups with the juice for the salt. Mixing the ingredients, I hand one to my mom and Mimi and load the rest on a tray to take outside.

I see Bella sunning by the pool, and my dad and Papaw are talking at the grill. Luna’s floating on a tube in the pool as I pass by. “Hey, baby girl! How’s my favorite sister doing?” Luna is sixteen years younger than me and the baby of the family at only twelve years old. Her long brown hair is slicked back from the water as beautiful green eyes find me. She has a dusting of freckles on her nose that I absolutely adore. She definitely has a soft spot in my heart.

She tilts her head back and gives me the biggest smile. “Hi, Noah! Are you getting in the pool later? I know we can beat Dad and Bella this time at double chicken.”

“Oh, it’s on! I brought my suit just in case. They won’t know what hit them.” I grin at her as I make my way to Bella to give her a drink. “Hey, sis, your favorite brother has arrived.” I hand her a margarita. Bella is twenty-four and beautiful. I may have the girls lining up for me in this town, but the guys don’t know what hits them when she enters a room. Her long blond hair flows around her pink bikini top as she notices me.

Pulling down her shades, she peers at me from above as bright blue eyes stare back at me. “Favorite brother, huh? You get to be my favorite brother while I’m not yourfavoritesister?” She takes the drink.

“Oh, you know that I have no favorites. I just love to tease Luna and put a smile on her face, but the good thing about being the only brother is that Idoget to be both of your favorites.”

She takes a sip of her margarita. “Mmmmm.” She puts her shades back up and tilts her face to the sun. “I guess you can be my favorite brother since you know how to make a damn good margarita.”

“I knew I could win you over. You’re way too easy.”

“Yeah yeah, just keep them coming.” She tries to hide her smile. Grinning at her, I make my way over to the grill.

“Something smells good.” I set the tray of drinks down on the table next to the grill.

“I added some new blackening seasoning I bought at the farmer’s market. I think these may be my best yet.” Dad’s green eyes light up with excitement. “I see the girls made you make margaritas already.” He laughs before grabbing a drink.

My dad is older than my mom at fifty-six but still looking as fit as ever. His dark brown hair is trimmed short like his facial hair, with a few grey hairs mixed in, giving him a distinguished look. He’s a little bit shorter than me at 6’2.

“As soon as I walked in the door, they asked me.” My dad chuckles and opens the lid to check on the fish. I turn towards Papaw. “How was your walk with Mimi today? Find any new sea glass pieces?”

Blue eyes meet mine as he grabs his drink. “We did. Mimi found a special pink one that’s hard to find, so she’s pretty excited to start on her new pieces.” Mimi and Papaw, like my parents, have been together since they were young and still going strong. They spend most of their days combing the beaches hand in hand, searching for the perfect shell or sea glass piece. When he’s helping my dad on the charter boat, Mimi works on delivering her jewelry to local stores in town. “That’s good. I can’t wait to see them.” I take a sip of my margarita. Maybe I could ask Mimi to make something special for Emma. My thoughts drift back to her as my dad and Papaw discuss the upcoming fishing trip.

Dinner was fun as usual, with lots of small talk and joking around, which led to a lot of game talk about taking each other down with double chicken after we finished eating. Since Luna is older now, we won a couple of rounds against Dad and Bella, which made Luna super happy. Mimi even joined in on the fun, hopping on Papaw’s shoulders to take on Mom and Dad while we cheered from the sides, knowing that Mom fell off on purpose to give Mimi the win. The margaritas may be to blame for that, but at least all Mimi has to do is walk up the stairs to the loft.

Later after everyone went to shower and get ready for bed, I sit down next to Bella on the lounge chair overlooking the canal. We sip our drinks while Hurley and Nala sprawl out beside us, exhausted from their evening of play.

---