Page 23 of Run Home
ME
Ian is at Mom and Dad’s for a short break. I’m driving down Saturday morning to stay the night so I can see him. Any chance your crew would want to join?
It’s not long before he answers. I think Griffin takes his role as my protective older brother as seriously as I take my role with Ian.
GRIFFIE
I’ll ask Danae. Now that they’re out of school, I bet it would be possible. But even if she and Jason can’t join, I’ll go with you. I haven’t seen Ian since Christmas.
ME
Yeah, me either. It’s hard now that he’s holed up in a biology lab halfway across the country.
GRIFFIE
Did he tell you how the research is going?
ME
Yes. I pretended to understand. You can ask him yourself this weekend.
GRIFFIE
I’ll also pretend to understand.
Danae texted back that they’re in. We can all ride together in my Jeep if you want.
ME
Sounds good! Let me know what time to be over at your house. I’ll bring all my best road trip games to play with Jason.
GRIFFIE
Just don’t bring any annoying games.
ME
Dangling my feet off the ledge of the tree house, I lean back on my hands to look up at the night sky.
After an entertaining—and mostly well-behaved—drive from Kansas City to Tulsa with Griffin, Danae, and Jason, our whole family spent a lively day together. Sawyer and Anne brought their three kids over for dinner, and Miranda and her fiancé, Jordan, came over after work. All four of us older siblings collectively smothered Ian with love as the long-lost baby home from college.
My parents doted on all four of their grandchildren, including Jason. He’s getting more comfortable with his future cousins and even played catch with Sawyer’s oldest son, who’s a year older than Jason.
We grilled steak and chicken for dinner along with a full table of summer side dishes—baked beans, potato salad, pasta salad, fresh veggies, and triangles of watermelon. After we sugared up the kids via popsicles, we sent them home with bright blue lips and sticky shirts. It was a perfect day filled with family.
But now, I’m soaking up a few minutes of alone time in my old favorite spot. Dad and Griffin built this tree house once they settled here in Oklahoma, but it had been sitting empty since the older kids outgrew it, so I claimed it for myself.
Danae and Griffin are inside talking with our parents and Ian while Jason takes a shower against his will. I’ll rejoin the conversation soon, but I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to stare at the stars. After all, you can’t see quite as many in the thick of the city as you can on my parents’ property on the outskirts of Tulsa’s city limits.
Holding my left wrist in my other hand, I brush my thumb across the tattoo there, a small bird perched on a branch. My reminder to myself that I’m loved, that I’m going to find my place to belong. I remember the pain of the needle inking it onto my skin, and an echo of pain pricks my heart. Being around my older siblings and their significant others awoke an old longing deep inside me.
A longing to be loved. To be someone else’s most important person.
Sighing, I look down at my feet, kicking them back and forth in the air.
That longing has gotten me in trouble before, and I don’t know if I’m capable of exploring it again without drowning.
