Page 148 of The Sweetest Return

Danielle looked physically wounded. “Why would you say that while I'm eating?”

Kayla looked up. “What happened?”

“Pancakes,” Keith said immediately, putting another bite on her plate. “Pancakes happened.”

Pops chuckled.

Mama smiled like she'd accomplished something and passed me the hot sauce.

That was family. They could embarrass you, feed you, get in your business, judge your decisions, and love you so thoroughly there wasn't much room left to hide.

Brunch kept moving because families knew how to carry worry and appetite at the same time. Danielle complained about a client. Pops asked about Jones Outdoor’s weather schedule. Mama informed me Sister Linda thought the short ribs at North & Vine were too salty, which apparently meant one woman from church had become my executive chef's supervisor.

For a few minutes, I almost settled.

Then my phone buzzed beside my plate.

My stomach dropped in a different direction.

Aubrey: I thought we weren’t ending because of anyone else.

I stared at the message long enough for Pops to notice.

“You need to take that?”

“Yeah.”

I pushed back from the table. “Excuse me.”

Nobody asked, which was how I knew everybody wanted to.

I stepped through the kitchen and out onto the deck.

The morning air had warmed, but it still had enough bite to help me think. Pops had planters along the railing, herbs Mama actually used and tomatoes he grew every year like Pittsburgh’s weather had said something slick to him personally. The yard stretched behind the house, grass cut better than anybody else’s on the street because Pops would rather pull something than let the neighbors think he had fallen off.

I leaned against the railing and typed.

Me: We didn’t.

Her reply came fast.

Aubrey: Don’t insult me, Dre.

I closed my eyes briefly.

Me: I’m not.

Aubrey: Then tell me the truth.

A few seconds passed.

Aubrey: Was she why you couldn’t really love me?

I looked out over the yard.

Every easy answer came first. Every defensive one. All the ones that would make me feel better and treat Aubrey like she was stupid at the same time.

She wasn’t.