“You know that from experience, do you?”
I twisted around, my mouth dropping open, but she’d already sauntered off, dragging my dad off the couch to head to the kitchen and help.
Lunch wasn’t anything fancy, just simple sliders with salad, but as long as Garrett didn’t go all caveman on it, there’d be plenty. I was a chair short, so Jamie and I shared one, each balancing on an edge as our elbows sparred for space.
“I talked to Brenden this morning. He called while we were at the fundraiser.”
“Oh?” I asked, talking around a mouthful of lettuce. My brother wasn’t a fan of talking on the phone, so I knew my mother had a point she was working up to.
She took another bite of her slider before she answered, putting her fingers to her mouth and giving me the universal sign for chef’s kiss.
“He’s going to visit for Christmas.”
My fork froze halfway to my mouth, “Really? How’d you convince him to do that?” My brother didn’t avoid us or anything, but his schedule was fluid and usually increased around the holidays, so he rarely made it.
She waved her hand. “He had some project get canceled so he decided it was a sign for him to finally make a trip out here.”
I turned to Garrett, who was shoveling food in his mouth, listening intently. “Brenden is my older brother. He works in the film industry, so his schedule changes month to month. Makes it hard to plan trips.”
My mother cringed. “Speaking of schedule changes, honey, do you think Layla could hang out with Jamie tomorrow? We’ll still have him over tonight, of course, but we got asked at the fundraiser to attend another event tomorrow, and it’d be hard to take him with us.”
My stomach dropped. “She can’t, she’s performing at the farmer’s market again.” Shit. I couldn’t take the day off, there was literally no one to cover for me for that shift, and it was payroll. It couldn’t not be done.
“I’m sorry,” she said at whatever expression was on my face before looking over to my dad, “Maybe we can—”
“I got him.”
I turned to the man beside me, my mouth parted. “What?” I asked, even though he’d spoken clearly, and I’d felt every letter of the sentence echo inside my ribcage.
“I got him.”
I shook my head, resting a hand on the muscles of his bicep and feeling the way they tensed underneath my fingers. “No, it’s okay. I’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure you could, just like you always do, but I want to. He and I can chill and battle it out on some games until Layla gets home.”
“Oh my gosh, can I, Mom? Please?” Jamie begged, hopping up and down in his seat.
“You don’t need to do that, Garrett,” I said, unsure how to process his open willingness to help. He didn’t even care that my parents were here and listening with rapt attention and bated breath to see if I’d relent.
“I want to, Maddie. Jamie’s the coolest person I know, we’ll have a great time.”
I looked from his calm face to Jamie’s puppy dog eyes and broke. Rubbing a hand down my face, I muttered, “I’m sure I’ll regret this.”
Garrett leaned over, patting me on the knee. “Only in the best way.”
“All right, bud, you heard Grandma, take a quick shower and pack a bag. I’ll drop you off on my way to work.”
He groaned, falling backward onto the couch. “I don’t get why I couldn’t just leave with them now.”
“Two reasons. One, because you need to shower your soccer filth off, and two, so you could hang out with me longer. It used to be you wanted to hang out with me.”